Boys are a Mess

Well, it was bound to happen. 
I've heard stories from other moms.
I've never dealt with it. 

Until now. 

Unfortunately...it probably wont be my last. 

Cade's "Self Haircut"

I probably overreacted a bit when I saw him.  But when I first saw him I flipped a little bit...and accused Wade of giving doing it.  Wade looks at me like I'm loony toons and says, "Really?  You think I did THAT?"  After realizing it's not that big a deal.  I grabbed my camera, then promptly gave him a summer haircut. 

So Wade travels.  A LOT.  Many times my kids think this is a good time to get sick.  This particular night JP probably had an hour and a half of sleep.  Total.  That's being generous.  He would not let me hold him.  He didn't want me to put him down. 

After an hour of screaming in my arms, I took him to bed with me.

 Where he screamed another 30 minutes. 

So I took him up to his crib,

 and let him scream for almost another hour. 

Went to get him again,

cause I guess I'd rather him scream with me than without me.  

And repeat that cycle...many times.

Well I get the kids off to school and this is what greets me.  He'd pooped his pants so I changed him in the middle of the night--so he has mismatched pants.  Pulled one sock off.  Crazy Einstein hair, drool stained shirt.  BUT. Happy as a clam...

 No signs of the miserable night before.

Wait.  Here's a glimpse of the little boy I knew that night with his stinker scowl face...

Stinkers that they are, I wouldn't trade them for anything.  They make my heart smile. 
AND..my life is never dull.  Case in point...I'm pretty sure this isn't how I left the bathroom. 

I'm just a LITTLE behind.

So it's December and I'm blogging about October...sheesh. But this was such a fun trip I wanted to capture it so when I get around to scrapbooking it, I will remember it.
First time ever.  Tulsa vs. Notre Dame. 

No question that we'd be going.  Football is Wade's passion and Notre Dame is legendary in football circles. Wade has ALWAYS wanted to see a game there. 
We stayed in Chicago Friday night.  TU hosted an Alumni party at the House of Blues. Lots of fun.  Saw a full moon for a while that night (walking in front of me)...thanks JJ.  Had a blast with some dear friends.  Wade's friends were there, my friends were there, a bit of family....it was a great mix.  Even met up with a few friends from the area that weren't headed to the game.  We rented some vans to take our group to South Bend Saturday ...in our little group we had 19 of us!  Then we met up with some different friends that were tailgating in different areas.  As my friend Jennifer would say...it was EPIC!  Wonderful trip, lots of memories.  Loved hanging out with the old crew...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Friday afternoon at Navy Pier with some of DDD Sorority sisters. 
(2 of them live in St. Louis, sad that we had to go to Chicago to see each other).

2 peas in a pod.  I'm convinced these 2 are the same person in different bodies. 

   okykpogkjihyotjiwpkequharthrjurgjiyjskirygtkogrokjdyuokrwikjyiojkreiowajrgtkizt0oprgt

(stepped away and 'someone' got a hold of my computer).

Some of Wade's best friends...

Me and the Hubs at House of Blues

Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya.

Clarissa.  Levi's wife.  Really an amazing gal.  Neonatal nurse in KC.  No wonder we get along so well...we're married to the same person.

We had family there too (no kids, just adults). Katie and Wesley.

This is who Wade becomes around these guys.

They never have ANY fun at all ;)

 

My girls. We gotta stay friends cause we all know WAY too much about each other. 
Katie, who lives in Chicago, saw me walking down the street, jumped out of her cab and ran to catch up. She met up with us at HOB later.  Ginny who came in from DC for the game.  Love that girl! Wish I got more time with them. 

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA

This is the chapel the players attend Mass.  After, they parade across campus to the stadium.  Everyone lines the trail as they make their journey. Makes me want to watch Rudy just thinking about it.  Notre Dame has a majesty about it.  From the Golden Dome to the Touchdown Jesus.  There's a lot of tradition and history.  Beautiful campus and everyone was so friendly.  A student had been killed there a few days before we arrived.  He was recording practice for the team and high winds knocked down the tower he was on.  They had a moving tribute for him pre-game.
 

 Our good friends...the Gillens

Really an unbelievable finish.  28-27 (Tulsa Wins!)

Final play of the game...we intercept it in the end zone.  Again...epic.

Had to get a picture of the scoreboard next to "Touchdown Jesus"

After: You would have thought we just won the National Championship.  Everyone was jumping up and down high fiving everyone around them.  Going crazy.  It was wild.  So. Fun.

Proud Former Lettermen---pretty sure each of them would give up a limb to have a chance to play down there with the boys.

 Of course got to get the fam in again.  Pec, Wade and Wesley...Joyous after that victory.

 

Had major plans to drive back and party all night in Chicago...however the 2 hour ride from South Bend to Chicago sobered us all up.  Instead we got a table for 19 ate deep dish Chicago pizza, celebrated our victory, and all called it a night.  And what a night it was!

Bucket List, one more check off the list... 

Fall Holiday...

Halloween Festivities.

Wade and I went to Chicago (another entry yet to come...) and we got back to St. Louis the afternoon of Halloween.  We hadn't yet carved our pumpkins so we put off the unpacking and did what needed done.  Pumpkins carved and pumpkin seeds roasted....check.  

This year Riley did hers entirely on her own.  She drew out her design, she gutted, she carved... 

Well, she did get a little help.  JP was very helpful in helping her make a big mess. 

Sampson to the rescue.  God love that dog.  He cleaned up anything he could get to...

 

Costume changes and trick-or-treating...check.

Annual "dressed up" kids picture...not so check.

This is the best I could get...JP was uber cooperative, as you can tell.   

Once again we celebrated the Wilson Christmas early, to ensure all of us could be there.  We took the kids to the Transportation Museum which we was fun for all ages.  The picture I took of the group of kids isn't very good...but I like this one below...love that you can see the boys exploring up ahead of the group. 

This.  This is my favorite picture from the whole darn weekend.  These 2 really got to spend some good bonding time.  The girls usually dominate in these get-togethers so I really loved that everyone had a friend to buddy up with and no one got left out.  These two were like peas and carrots (name that movie...)

Meet my nieces and nephews...

That's Aiden rocking out to the Dora guitar.

Garrett is the elusive picture subject.  He's hard to capture.  He was enthralled with playing here so I did get a sweet picture of him playing.

Kate' and Kelsey opening their Christmas gifts.  Love the excitement on Kate's face!

Miss Violet...the youngest of the group...isn't she just adorable?

Grant. This one might be our performer...he was cracking us up at dinner (video).

This still makes me smile...love how he was so happy to entertain us.

  Love watching the dynamics of different families and the similarities/differences.  For the most part all the kids got along really great.  Sure there were a few disagreements, but all in all, they got along, they respected each other, and they truly enjoyed being together. 

I really have loved watching my brothers turn into fathers and am so happy for the families they've all created.  I know I say this a lot, but I feel so truly blessed!

Lil' Punkin'

In the interest of simplifying my life I wanted to try to get caught up here on the blog.  So here's a real quick synopsis of our pumpkin patch outings. Hopefully it will jog my memory when it comes time to scrapbook it. We had three trips to the pumpkin patch this year.  One with Cade's class, one with Brooke's, and one as a family.

JP was really ready to get out at this point and get his own pumpkin.  Which we let him do...

Of the different places we tried, this was our favorite.  They had a playground, bouncy, hay mazes, and lots of other fun things for everyone.  The kids had a blast (literally).  This is them doing the "Pumpkin Chuk'in" where they blast a little pumpkin at a target...  

My Lil' Punkins...

Really enjoyed this pumpkin patch.  Got some local goodies...honey, relish, and watermelon rind jelly...which none of us had ever had, so we just had to try!  It's umm...interesting.

Went to Grants Farm for their special Halloween night with one of my oldest friends. We all had a really great time.  Here's a pic of each kid...JP didn't cooperate but here's the other 3. 

Paparazzi

Paparazzi Mom.
Lots of pictures that I just haven't had the time to post, but love them for different reasons. Thought I'd throw a few out tonight. Have some adventures to post next time (Halloween, Pumpkin Patch, Holiday Get-Togethers, Vacations, etc...)

But I'm falling way behind and just wanted to post a few.

This is what happens when you have siblings to pester you.

Brooke! Get out of my picture.

Cade!!! GET OUT OF MY PICTURE!


OK Mom...take my picture...just me please! Hurry!


How we spent every Saturday, every Thursday, and a few Sundays for the last 3 months.
(side note: JP was WAY under dressed this particular day...can you tell by his "I'm freezing" face?) We bundled him up with a blanket, but he wanted his arms free to snack.




The little one adores the big one.


This picture is from Brooke's birthday back in August, but I just really love it.
(Brooke, cousin Kelsey-3 weeks her junior, and Grampa)



Wade and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We got all dolled up and went downtown to have dinner at the top of the Millennium Hotel. It has a restaurant at the top that rotates in a complete circle so you see the entire city. It was wonderful. Really enjoyed being with Wade (AND) not having to cut up anyone's food, while actually sitting down for an entire meal and getting to eat it while its still warm. Had a picture of us, but frankly I look terrible and I control the blog...so no one will ever see it!


Big Pimpin' JP



One of my favorite pictures of Riley. She's really a beautiful little girl inside and out. Oh sure she's giving me gray hair and major paybacks for how I treated my mom...but I love her "to the moon...and back".

Go Cards!

Cade lost his first tooth, followed shortly by his second tooth. Third is now wiggly.

Just love this pic of Brooke.

I mean seriously... he could talk me into anything.