not blonde

honey and I were invited to an avs game through a business connection so we stayed in a fancy suite. it was a fun change for a night, but definitely not the same experience as being down close to the ice and in the action.

also, my honey is so disturbed lately about how dark my hair has gotten and that I'm not blonde anymore.  I told him it just depends on the lighting and I can sometimes still call myself blonde.  expect who are we kidding? I'm going to always call myself blonde regardless of how dark or white or gray my hair gets.

blonde.

not blonde.

not blonde.

I'm really not blonde anymore. 😢

I paid for a hair cut

I've only paid for a haircut once in my married life (although there could be one additional time that I'm not remembering) because I've somehow gotten by with my mother in law cutting my hair for the first chunk of years, Emmy doing a big chop at the beach, Jodi adding some layers in there, and then my mom doing tiny trims for the past 4+ years as I've grown it back out.  anyway, it's been long for a while and it's looking REAL scraggly so it was time for a cut... and I had no mother or mother in law nearby to help.  luckily, my friend Kristy cuts hair so I went to her.

so many years ago after my last real cut:

ta da!

pampering for us all... we gave Andrew a little mani pedi.

 so basically, it took a number of inches to get my hair from one witch's broom to another.

so worth it... I'll be happy to pay for any haircut Kristy wants to give me.

the red pants dress rehearsal

I let Elizabeth ride in Abigail's carseat on the way home from the gym.  she thought it was amazing.  

I time all of Brady's reading lessons.  because I'm weird.  I even sometimes pretty the lap button with each section.  right now all the sections are to read the words, read the words again, read the story, and then read the story again while answered comprehension questions.  I think this lesson was something like 3 minutes, 1 minute, 8 minutes, and 7.5 minutes.  the various parts of the lesson vary but we were almost right at 20 minutes!  I will say though that I've started doing tickle breaks in the middle of the lesson which helps Brady stay engaged and motivated and I pause the timer while we do our tickle breaks.  but the actual learning part of the lesson was 20 minutes.

I'm not sure if it's because it's just her nature or if it's because she's watched and learned from Brady, but Elizabeth is starting to be sooooo cute with Andrew.  even the way she says his name is adorable. she's kind of a punk (like giving him a binky and then taking it away again once he's stopped fussing) but it's just really fun to watch.

when he's not being neglected, Andrew is just the happiest kid.

I started stressing about what I would wear to the hospital board holiday party.  I had an idea in my mind (pretty much the only option I could come up with from my closet) and was curious if it was weird (so out of my comfort zone) or if it was something other people would wear.  what would we do without google?

these brothers have a strong bond already.

I love that Andrew looks like he's doing a gangster pose.

have I mentioned before how Chris gets jealous that when he and Brady and Andrew are all together, Andrew mostly just looks at Brady and not really at Chris?  I told him it was nothing to be offended about, just that Andrew probably preferred Brady and thinks that's his father since he's always around.  ; )  my honey loves me.

don't mind this kid.  just doing his hair before heading up for bed.

also, this is his hockey outfit.  he literally wears it for every moment we are at home... even while sleeping.  I thought for sure it would taper off after he got tired of the long undressing/redressing process involved in going to the bathroom... but nope.  going strong still.  Abigail wore princess dresses, Brady made up a hockey uniform.

I texted weed and asked if she would help me with my outfit.  luckily she was an enthusiastic yes.  jacket was a gift from aunt libby, shoes from target, pants inherited from grandmother.  thanks, granny!

and because I love before and after pictures...  just kidding.  kinda.

I considered this black clutch.

until I realized that the teeth marks would be super visible if I set this on a table.

enter Chinese wallet!  I really just needed it to fit my phone and lip gloss so it was the perfect size.  mother... do you remember where grandma got this?  I was sure I'd remember but of course I've forgotten.

and my completed outfit.  since the clutch is from grandma and the black shirt I wore under the blazer was actually purchased for me by my mother... I felt very well dressed by the strong and giving women in my life.  still an outfit totally out of my comfort zone, but I felt special getting to wear and use these items from some of my favorite people.

and that concluded my dress rehearsal.

Brady/norah, Elizabeth/me, homemade pizza

Abigail's hair is like fine thread.  and while she sleeps, rumpelstiltskin, weaves it into this.

every morning, a new 3-D creation greets me.  it's like cotton candy gone bad.

we're in December! so we kept the December page and sent the rest of the calendar to the recycle bin.  but how cute it is that Brady crosses off each day.  he calls it his chart.  I basically turned 2017 into a to do list when I gave him this calendar.  that kid.

I went to the barbell class and then listened/read scriptures while I stretched afterward.

this is Sarah.  I'm a bad friend so I took this picture of her.  she organized a girls night for my birthday and bought me pizza and I just sit on a park bench and take pictures of her looking like a crazy person.  and then she took Brady to Costco with her and Norah and kept him until 4pm.  she is a good friend.

and so lovable.

Norah pushing Brady...

Brady pushing Norah...

while Sarah and I Marco polo'd Marissa.  it was a beautiful moment.

Elizabeth was SO SAD that Brady got to go to Costco with Norah and eat samples and she had to come home with me so I let her ride in Brady's carseat.  the whole way home she's all "so fun!!!"  ha.

I mean seriously, look at that face.  pure joy.

our neighbors have those blow up Christmas decorations on their lawn and they look so nice from 4pm-6am but then when the sun rises, it's like there was a massacre at the North Pole.

Abigail was at school, Brady at Costco with Sarah and Norah, and Andrew asleep in his carseat... so Elizabeth and I had so one on one time and it was AMAZING.  oh my gosh, she is such a funny kid.  she started saying "oh goodness!" out of the blue and only sometimes says it in the correct context so that was fun.  also, she loves acting like a grown up or like she always knows what's going on.  and she's a ham for the camera.  and she was thrilled that we shared a banana and Nutella (if you haven't already... microwave a little bowl of it and it's basically chocolate fondue) together at the start of our lunch.  when she's not driving me crazy, she is seriously the best ever.  so entertaining.

so then I put Elizabeth down for a nap around 1 and then Andrew woke up and then I semi put Andrew down for a nap and he fell asleep while I was in the shower at 1:45 and I spent some time prepping grapefruit for dinner and making pizza dough in my blender and blogging and then picked up Brady (and my mod pizza that I left in Sarah's car last night!) and then got Abigail from school.  we had a good after school time which typically doesn't happen.  the kids helped me make little pizzas.  we made four small pizzas... two cheese, two pepperoni and Elizabeth saying peppy-oni made me want to serve that for dinner every night.  she is getting so vocal with expressing what's on her mind.  during dinner, honey got a few calls/emails that wrapped him up with work and occupied him till 8:00.  and then left him in a rough mood for the rest of the night after that.  I don't want to sound ungrateful because he's got an amazing job, but man, it consumes him.  so then the kids all went crazy at 7 when I asked them to get ready for bed.  why does this happen?! they'd been so calm and listening to that point and they instantly got soooo hyper and silly.  I know I'm a terrible mother but I pretty much hate the sound of my kids' laughter.  It almost always is when they're supposed to be doing something like getting ready for bed but they're just messing around instead.  I really shouldn't care except that I told them to get ready at 7 so we could have plenty of time to read Christmas books before bed... but they messed around for 45 minutes and Abigail barely scraped by to get ready... we had 7 minutes and used that time for one picture book, prayers, and one scripture story... during that 7 minutes, Brady finally decided to clean his room and finished two seconds after I announced to Abigail that it was lights out.  then he went ballistic because he missed his chance and I thought to myself for the millionth time... "this is why I hate the sound of my kids' laughter.  it's just a precursor to THIS."  ugh... anyway.  eventually all the kids were asleep and my kitchen was semi cleaned and I gave myself a pat on the back for surviving one more day.

but seriously... that time with Elizabeth today was pure gold.

three kids in a travel bed