October highlights {toddler cuteness, Hallowboo, ladies night out, organ dedication, Halloween, bonus round}

 1) toddler cuteness. the babies are more accurately described as the toddlers now, but I think they'll probably always be "the babies" to us even when they're teenagers. I keep saying that they're at such a fun age together (even when the fun turns into mischief) but this time I really mean it! 

if the shoe fits?

Elizabeth loves folding laundry and can actually fold towels, washcloths, and pants correctly. this was her first self-directed attempt. that dress is not meant to be one-shouldered, by the way!

homework time (yes! E is left-handed, like her mother! my only left-handed child so far) 

the new daycare arranged a family field trip to the local volunteer fire department and they had a blast!

fun during basketball practice

"it's a balloon!"

2) Hallowboo. we hadn't purchased this year's Halloween costumes yet but the weather was going to perfect and Nick had the day off, so we seized the opportunity to go to the Halloween fest at Idlewild. one benefit to the sheer crazy-making amount of stuff we have is that there were plenty of costume/dress up options at hand, including this froggie costume that my mom sewed for me when I was Elizabeth's age! I thought it was so sweet that she wanted to try it on and grabbed a few pictures before she changed her mind (I thought she would want to wear one of our many princess dresses). but no! she insisted it was her favourite and, spoiler alert, she ended up wearing it for actual trick-or-treating instead of her special costume to go with the 2024 Super Mario Brothers group theme. 

Wonder Woman, a pig, Harley Quinn, and a frog

this picture cracks me up with Greta's looooong leg. this might be the last year she can fit through! 

in the Three Bears' house

we take this picture every year for Nana, who loves pigs

I couldn't help but flash back to 2015...

Greta at age 2

the day had some hiccups including horrendously long lines for food, some rides closed down for the season, and much distress over the gift shop being sold out of the small bags of "gold and ore" to use in the mining stream (the available bags were $35 and $70 each, so, no!). but looking back at the pictures, you'd never know that! 

digging into the treats they got at Storybook Forest

Victoria's cheese face slays me

the sword in the stone slides about six inches back and forth so the kids always think they actually have a shot of pulling it out

we ended the day with a special "yeti spotting" train ride

no yetis were sighted but they did pump out stage fog over the river to great effect

3) ladies night out. three, in fact! one friend organized a whole group to go to our local comedy club and see Jen Fulwiler, an absolutely hilarious Catholic mom and writer whose standup is always relatable and yet not raunchy. it was a pretty good crowd for a random Tuesday night and I spotted no less than 5 other friends from various other Catholic circles in the audience! my only regret is not waiting in line to get a picture with Jen. I would definitely see her show again if she comes back into town. here's a full length show she recently released on Youtube -- enjoy! 

the second was a night out with Blair and Amy at one of our favourite bars, Urban Tap, sampling some of their spooky cocktails. Urban Tap will always hold a special place in our hearts because Blair had double jaw surgery the month before and wasn't able to eat solid food for several weeks. she messaged them to ask if they would have any type of soft or pureed food that she could eat at their Halloween brunch later in the month and they immediately wrote back that they would make some "spooky soups" available just for her. not only are they the sweetest, their cocktails and food always hit the spot! 

finally, there was a completely unexpected ladies night at the theater! I switched my normal Sunday evening show time for a Tuesday night due to travel plans and who should happen to be sitting directly in front of me but three of my now-retired coworkers! turns out they have had season tickets for the Tuesday night shows for over twenty years. it was so much fun to see them and I just love that they have continued this tradition. 

the OG front desk crew... those were the days!

&Juliet is such a funny show -- the music is all a medley of pop songs that fit perfectly into the reimagined story-within-a-story of Romeo & Juliet if they hadn't died. many of the songs on the soundtrack are now on my running playlist!

4) organ dedication. coinciding with Nick's new job as the director of music for the Pittsburgh Oratory was their capital campaign with funding to build a new organ and redesign the chapel with an enlarged loft. finally, on October 25, the organ was officially dedicated with a private evening of prayer, a vespers service, and a recital given by Kola Olowabi (organ professor at Notre Dame). the organ itself was designed specifically for our chapel space and built in Washington state by Paul Fritts & Company. afterwards we enjoyed dinner and cocktails. I am so proud of Nick and so grateful to the Oratory community for prioritizing beautiful music! 

they set up a viewing screen at the front of the chapel so we could all see Dr. Kolowabi's incredible playing

the bishop climbed up into the loft to bless the organ

here's the choir singing the Magnificat during vespers. this gave me chills!

giving tours of the organ afterwards; he's explaining that all of the wood inside the case, that almost nobody will ever see, is built of the same beautiful high quality wood on the outside of the case.

Mr. Fritts in the red tie

every detail is so gorgeous!

how I love this man!

5) Halloween. I was traveling to California for my cousin's wedding on Halloween itself, so we took the kids to a trunk-or-treat with friends the weekend before Halloween. the group theme was Super Mario Brothers, although Elizabeth refused to wear her Donkey Kong costume after the first time she tried it on. score again for Grammie with the frog costume! 

Yoshi and Luigi

her little tail was so darn cute, but her headpiece kept falling into her eyes

despite telling me multiple times that this was the costume she wanted when I was placing my order, she most definitely wanted nothing to do with it

Princess Peach, take two. the initial costume I bought was on sale on Amazon for about $15 and was super cheap material with a flimsy paper crown. this version was $30 and just what she had in mind!

ready to hit up the trunk-or-treat

they had a really cute setup with game and prizes inside

these kids have been friends since they were babies!

Greta went with friends to Fright Nights at Kennywood, where she made friends with every "scary" clown she met

God bless Sabrina, who came out to help Nick with the kids while I was in California for the weekend. from left to right: Princess Peach, a Toadstool, Mario (our neighbor friend), Yoshi, Luigi, Bowser, and a very disgruntled frog

the intrepid trick-or-treat crew with pillowcases in hand (the little ones went home after an hour or so)

6) bonus round. some miscellaneous highlights I don't want to forget! 

I passed the PANRE-LA, the recertification exam PAs must take every ten years! you answer 25 questions from home each quarter for at least 8 quarters, or up to 12 quarters until you meet the minimum passing score. so it's not as high stakes as the original exams given at a testing center, but still, it feels good to check this off my list until 2035 and I was happy to pass after the minimum required 8 quarters! 

I won a pair of Tifosi sunglasses from Another Mother Runner -- I'd been thinking about buying them during their Labor Day sale but never did. they have special nonslip pads on the nose bridge and polarized lenses to ward off glare while running. the sunglasses retail for about $25 so not a super high value prize but still more of a splurge than the typical $10 sunglasses I buy at Walmart. this was such a fun and useful surprise! 

she has the trampoline all to herself while the big kids are in school!

and finally, Nick's new toy! he bought this used and picked it up right after playing for afternoon mass, hence the fancy duds. 

watching Daddy

I made him pose in front of his shed. I think this is what his version of heaven will be

a few weeks later on an unseasonably warm day. this photo gives me 70s vibes from the lighting to Elizabeth's dolphin shorts! (and no, she doesn't get that close to the mower when it's actually running!)

Your turn: Does your family celebrate Halloween or go trick-or-treating? Have you been to a live comedy show and if so, who was it? Or if not, who would you love to see? Do you maintain any type of professional certification?