Back in the swing of things!

Good to be back! I've had a lot on my mind lately, and the blog has been put on the back burner. In the past month we have been so busy with our new schedule with preschool, storytime, sports class, music class, and my attempt to cook and clean a bit more around here! I've been enjoying doing some temporary work at my old job for a few hours on Monday afternoons while Felix is home with the kids, and we have also survived Levi's miserable week of  roseola as well as helping him wean from nursing.

But we still found time to have some fun.

A few weeks ago we went to see a one ring circus put on in a neighboring town. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was pretty surprised! They let the kids play in the ring before the show started. After about 5 attempts to grab a hula hoop in the mad rush of kids, and a little help from mommy, Emma finally scored one of her own......and she was not about to let it go!

 ....after swinging it around on her arm (which she totally rocks at, by the way)- it flew off and she nearly knocked this little girl to the floor as she ran after her hoop. It sort of reminded me of Jackie at our wedding during the bouquet toss :)

 Obviously, the cotton candy was a major highlight of the evening. We had front frow seats in the stands, which worked out perfectly to keep Levi in the stroller in front of us. However, Emma decided to get up and walk over to the concession stand to chat it up with the ladies. She walked right over and asked them for cotton candy, as if they were just handing it out for fun.

 Levi was so tired, he was such a trooper! I felt terrible when I looked down in front of me a minute into the loud show to see him screaming in terror!!! Poor kid was scared out of his mind :(

 It was an interesting show, to say the least. There were three of these lovely ladies, all dressed the same, dancing wtih their dogs. Super impressive.

 After the 2nd half of the show started, Emma and her friend Samantha lost all interest and put on their own dancing show in front of the stands. We left shortly after.

In other news, we celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and at the end of Yom Kippur I noticed Levi was feeling very warm and was coming down with a very high fever. I thought he was probably just exhausted and teething, gave him some tylenol and put him to bed. A few more days of high fever and I was getting a little nervous as memories came back of the time Emma was his age and turned into the exorcist, aka, came down with roseola. And sure enough, the next day, Levi broke out into a full body rash. Roseola had made an appearance in our home again. Unfortunately, Levi does not have a "comfort item" other than me. And he was still nursing several times a day, so he actually ended up nursing on me for hours. YES. Hours. In fact, the first night, he latched onto me for 3 hours after waking up at midnight and would not let me off without screaming for at least an hour. It was miserable, and I of course got sick from over-nursing with blisters and nausea. We were all miserable.

But, after a week he was better and I decided it was time to wean him. The first day was horrible, he threw himself on the floor, grabbing at my legs, just begging to nurse. Felix & I both thought to ourselves that it was like watching an addict in withdrawal, and it was so hard to watch knowing I could so easily make him feel better. But I'm glad we held strong, because I am so proud to say that he is now only nursing first thing in the morning. And, while I'm all for the health benefits of nursing my children, it was time. And we have noticed a HUGE difference in this little guy. I can't explain how nice it is to have him sit next to me on the couch to snuggle and just smile and be happy, instead of whining and trying to pull up my shirt anytime he sees me. He seems happier now, so it was definitely the right decision.

The following weekend we went to a local 'community day' at the preschool around the corner from our house. It was great to get out and see some friends and play. The kids got to pet some goats, play in the playground, get face painted, and go inside a fire truck. Levi loved the truck :)

 "Cheeeeeese". I have him trained well! As soon as he sees the camera, he poses and says "cheese"!

 Oh, feel the love! I know it looks like I dressed my kids in boy/girl tracksuits, but I didn't- just coincidence that their pants matched their jackets that day!

 Sports Class!!!!! I still can't tell if she likes it or not. She runs around and has fun, but the teacher is always calling her name to get her attention and get her focused back to the task at hand! They start off in this gymnastics set-up in the picture below, which she loves and seems to follow directions well. It is after they leave this section and move to the sports-drills section that she seems to lose it, rolling around on the floor, chasing after a ball, sitting on the bench, etc.

 Unlike the sports class, she surprisingly refuses to go to her ballet class at the "real" studio! I've tried bringing her twice, and both times she comes out shortly after and tells me she wants to go home. I really can't blame her. I watched the class and it does seem extremely boring. She tells me she doesn't like it because it is too hard and she isn't allowed to run. Apparently, she likes the little town run ballet class that she did over the summer, so we'll see. I think she has a lot going on as it is!!!

Other than that, we have been very excited about our Halloween costumes this year. The Little Mermaid! Emma is Ariel (an interesting look.....), and Levi is Sebastian! I tried to put makeup on little Ariel to help soften the look a bit, but I don't think it did much! I think it's the hair- out of control. And the costume is about 3 sizes too small, but she loves being Ariel. Luckily, I found another Ariel costume for her at a thrift store that is a bit more flattering, and she will be wearing that one for the rest of our Halloween appearances this year :)

 My little crab! He is so funny, as soon as I put on his costume he grabbed the claws and clapped them together "clap clap clap".

 Getting ready for our first outing to a Halloween party at the YMCA.

The next morning we got dressed up in costume again, very excited to head out to meet our friends at another party at the local playground. Felix was away in California,  and the kids & I walked out of the house only to realize the keys were now locked inside. Awesome. No car keys, no house keys, nothing. I was in the middle of plotting  how I was going to climb up on our roof and try to break into one of the upstairs windows when my friend called and came by to help. I was eventually able to open a small window and stick Emma inside to open the door. Of course, I made sure I was able to get in the window myself incase I needed to go in there and rescue her- but I was so happy to see her little smiling face proud of herself for getting inside and opening the door, saving the day! We eventually made it to the playground for some more Halloween fun- but our morning certainly set the tone for the rest of the day. I wish I could say I was in a good mood and positive, but I most definitely was not! There were bees flying all over the place which completely stressed me out, then Levi got a bloody nose in the bouncy house, and Emma threw a tantrum in the playground.

So, we have had a lot going on. The weaning from nursing was really taking a toll on me and I'm glad we are finally past it. I'm glad Felix is done with the long travel weekends for the season, and I'm glad we are over our illnesses and can make an appearance at the gym again. We have much to look forward to this week, and a big to-do list I want to tackle!