ANYWAY...
Last week marked multiple Halloween parties for all 3 kids. Connor went to his best friend Alex's party as this guy from the movie "V for Vendetta"...
Emmy wore a pseudo-costume to her party. She went as an Angry Bird from the popular smart phone app.
Since Simon is in 2 different preschools, he had two different parties to wear his costume. I had a serious scatterbrained mom moment on Wednesday when I dropped him off to Miss Debbie's in his costume, only to find out her party was on Monday, or Halloween, which would make more sense! He wore a skeleton costume that Zach and I made 12 years ago for Connor. I remember Zach free-handing a skeleton on white fabric just after looking at a picture, and me meticulously cutting out bone after bone. We used fabric glue to attach it to some black sweats, and it has lasted this long and looks great. We were just lucky that Simon wanted to wear it because he's pretty strong minded when it comes to what he likes and doesn't like and there is NOOOO persuading him otherwise. This picture is of him waiting on the porch at 5:00 Halloween night for trick-or-treaters to come along.
The sorting ritual
I've also been dealing with a knee problem this month. I had planned and even paid to run in the Provo Halloween Half Marathon, but during training I ran into an IT band issue which isn't a serious problem, just painful. It pretty much stopped me in my running tracks. I have tried to do stretches and exercises that supposedly help it, but I'm having more pain, not less. I saw a sports medicine doctor who x-rayed it and verified that it is just an IT problem and not stress fracture or cartillage issue. My next step is physical therapy if I can't solve the problem on my own. It's just so frustrating because by the time I fix this, I will be starting completely over as a runner. I'm trying not to completely drop the ball on exercise, but having to work out with pain is a detractor for sure.
Zach has a new toy that he is enjoying. Luckily, it isn't a new car. It's an itty bitty video camera called a GoPro Hero that he can attach to just about anything, so of course he is attaching it to his car. Here is the first video that he made and Connor edited. It's pretty cool and I have to admit I'm thinking about ways I can use it.
He and Connor are also using it to do a 15-second time lapse video promo for TCBY that will show in the Sugarhouse dollar theaters.
He is also finishing up painting a few airplanes. I think I will always have planes somewhere in my kitchen, front room or bedroom but I've come to terms with it and it doesn't bother me like it used to. And lately he has been having Simon help him in ways that he can.
What else? Simon is becoming quite the little tennis player. He and I have been going outside pretty much every day lately to hit balls in front of our house. I've found that if I toss it just right, he will hit every single ball. I'm hoping that I am grooming a future tennis partner for myself since Connor and Emmy don't seem to be all that interested. I am still playing tennis with the same group of ladies that I started with last summer. Last winter we played in the Liberty Park bubble once a week, and starting next week we are playing indoors at Coach Mike's near Hogle Zoo every Monday. I've met some of the coolest women through that group, and we've developed some fun friendships with lots of "ball" humor.
Things to look forward to in November: getting my final family pictures back from my brother, seeing my sister Erin over Thanksgiving, going to see Anjelah Johnson with Emmy (female comedian), Zach's sister Audrey getting married and moving into our neighborhood, and 1 month closer to getting a new nephew (Melissa is due in December!).
