I've got to play catch up on this blog before Christmas arrives in a little over a week.  How does the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to get shorter every year, and how do I never plan accordingly for the time crunch?  Feeling a little chaotic over here, which is why this update may seem a little chaotic as well.

Our second Halloween on Barrington and Nick and I never pass up an opportunity to dress up.  I saw this costume last year at a Saint Patrick's Day parade and knew instantly I had to convince Nick to stroll around in this getup.  He quickly agreed, because nothing really embarrasses him.  

I don't think we will ever be the family with a Halloween theme due to the very opinionated and determined kids in our family.  I usually don't buy/organize costumes until a week before Halloween because Audrey and Ethan have always changed their minds multiple times before the final decision.  This is what everyone ended up showcasing and thank goodness that green faceprint washed off.

Between October birthdays, Halloween, ball, and an upcoming Thanksgiving, our anniversary sometimes gets pushed to the back corner.  Last year we celebrated 10 years at the Marine Corps Ball, so for 11 years I knew exactly what we had to do:  mark off a bucket list item and see a show at The Kennedy Center.  We felt fancy and sophisticated the entire night, until we swung through McDonalds for dinner on the way home.  

Each blog update usually has a little snippet about the kids and I can't resist this time.  Ethan's brain still intrigues me every day.  The way he can build with anything, find a use for everything, and come up with little games, is just fascinating.  He could sit for hours and create.  I think he will be drawn toward any STEM related activities.  For example, just the other day he drew a refrigerator on the Etch A Sketch.  An accomplishment I couldn't even achieve (I tried). 

Elle.  How boring life would be without her.  Every single time we get in the car, the socks come off and turn into mittens.  She has started calling me "Mom" which I always quickly correct to "Mommy" and is one tough cookie when it comes to wresting her brother. 

Life would be pretty boring without Audrey as well.  She is proving every day how outgoing and social she.  She loves to talk.  Nonstop.   She has grown to love chapter books. She had to miss school for the first time a few weeks ago due to Hand/Foot/Mouth and she was so upset about missing her schoolwork.  She is competitive with herself and very determined.  

A quick blurb for anyone looking for dinner ideas...a friend gave me this book for my birthday and I've already tried so many recipes.  All delicious and makes me super excited about meal planning every week.  

After six months of being sans my Aggie ring, I received my new one on November 6th.  Many may not understand, but I feel like myself again with this back on my hand.  More so that we live in Virginia and an Aggie ring is rare to find.  I'll never let this one leave my hand.  

We were a little spontaneous over the Veteran's Day weekend and on a whim decided to book an AirBNB in the mountains.  This was located only a few hundred feet from the Appalachian Trail and held true to the description of a cabin...look at all that wood!

A gorgeous little cabin that even had a "millionaire" staircase, according to Audrey.

The gorgeous view that we woke up to.  Fall in Virginia is breathtaking.  

We hiked and basically took some time away from the hustle and bustle to relax and enjoy the outdoors as a family.  A much needed little vacation.

Our time at parks is slowly dwindling due to the cold weather (its actually snowing outside as I write this) but we sneak in as much time as we can to be outside.  I love this picture of Elle and her friend Jake, because they are sporting the same bruise in the same spot on their forehead.  Hilarious. 

Onto a Nick update...he never fails to amaze me either.  He is a jack of all trades, for sure.  We decided the basement bathroom needed a major facelift and in less than a week, he was able to transform a 1980's disaster to a modern day space.  I just love the whites and grays.  How he knows the process of laying tile, dismantling plumbing, installing toilets, etc. perplexes me and I'm thankful for his extreme handy man skills. 

Thanksgiving 2017 included such great memories, and I love that we had the chance to get all of these cousins together.  

As always, Audrey demonstrated her true mommy skills and instinct while caring for Mae over the visit.  She changed diapers, fed, sang and read books to the younger cousins.  Audrey will make a fabulous mother one day.  

We dined on fried turkey and so much food I am still sporting the tire ring around  my waist.  Totally worth it, though.  

Since Thanksgiving, we've been busy getting in the Christmas spirt with a few Christmas parties, breakfast with Santas and events.  

For the past two years, I've wanted to attend the Christmas laser light show at a local high school's planetarium and while the show was simply amazing, the best part about the ticket purchase may have been this statue of their mascot.  Looks exactly like Wayne, and made me miss him incredibly.

I'll wrap up with a night at the Nutcracker.  The USO offered free tickets for their military appreciate night and Nick entered and won the lottery.  Audrey had been sick with a little stomach bug the entire day, but managed to make it through the first half of the show before getting back in the car and getting sick :(  Poor girl hung in there so we could all enjoy the show.  

A mirror that I broke on Thanksgiving has been removed from the house and I hope that ends our streak of bad luck.  In less than three weeks, we dealt with walking pneumonia for Ethan, Hand/Foot/Mouth for all three kids (Ethan barely ate for three solid days), a stomach bug for Audrey, a sprained ankle for Nick, a bruised and hurt shoulder for Nick, and a pulled back muscle for me that left me in agonizing pain.  Today is the first day I feel normal again without tremendous pain.  All of that  had to be related to the mirror, this superstitious girl says.  Fingers crossed our bad luck has run out, so my next update won't be all doom and gloom.