This week was actually way more interesting than it looks in iPhone photos. I just spent nearly all my free minutes with my headphones plugged into my phone listening to podcasts while I tried to get the disaster that is my house under control. I’m happy to report about a 50% improvement. It would be closer to 100 if there weren’t two small people who make more messes literally SECONDS after I clean them up.

Sunday:

I promise we did lots of things, but the only picture I have is the gingers helping me pick fabric at Joann’s.

Monday:

Princesses love iPads

Princesses also love paint dots

Tuesday:

Morning person

Practicing his long jump

Hugging her dog-brother

Wednesday:

This might not impress you, but that’s 50 cents less than the actual price, thanks to Stop & Shop points.

If they made the salted caramel kind I would be the happiest person EVER.

Mystic

Thursday:

This girl loves school, except for the days she doesn’t, in which case OMG THE SCREAMING.

Waiting very patiently for her brother.

Friday:

Princesses want their quesadilla RIGHT NOW.

I’m trying to decide if this stuff will look ridiculous in our slightly-smaller-scale dollhouse

Saturday:

THE EXTRA COUCH IS GONE AND MY LIVING ROOM LOOKS LIKE A LIVING ROOM!!

Finally started decorating – one week to go!

This week I am going to finish 90% of my Christmas shopping, bake a zillion things, decorate for Caroline’s birthday AND Christmas, have a coffee date with a friend, clean the house for my parents and my in-laws (yaaaaaaah!) and possibly dye my hair rose gold.

Today Evan’s school is canceled so we have the morning to decorate the Christmas tree the kids and I chopped down and brought home and got in the house ALL OUR OWN SELVES. Or really, my own self. The kids weren’t very good with the hand saw.

A short list of things of all sizes that I am thankful for right now:

1. Pie and yoga pants. Those count as one thing.

2. Podcasts. I would never clean anything in my house if it weren’t for podcasts. They are extremely distracting. A short list of my favorites: This American Life, How To Do Everything, Pop Culture Happy Hour, RadioLab, Stuff You Should Know, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Planet Money. They make me feel smart.

3. A dishwasher. Doing all those Thanksgiving dishes by hand would have taken forever.

4. My children, who told me today they were most thankful for Mommy.

5. The moment when Evan told me he really believed in Santa…and then when he hugged me because I started crying. CHILDHOOD IS MAGIC.

6. Everyone who has supported me in any way as I started my photography business. It’s been (is) terrifying but I cannot wait to see how much it will grow in 2014.

7. Facebook. I am never lonely or bored or without validation when I have an internet connection.

8. Amazon Prime. Absolutely, totally, without question worth the subscription. The amount I save on shipping is crazy, although I’d probably buy a lot less stuff if I couldn’t get it in 2 days without having to go get my credit card from my wallet.

9. My husband, and the fact that he still goes to work every day to support us instead of running off the Mexico where the military will never find him. I almost wouldn’t blame him at this point.

10. Now it’s Christmas! SANTA. I KNOW HIM.

There are approximately 2 bazillionteen more things I am thankful for, but right now I’m thankful for warm coats and Starbucks since I promised the kids the aquarium, Santa, and the town tree lighting tonight.

Here are some not very good pictures of our boring, non-Pinterest, at-home Thanksgiving that I didn’t really edit and you probably don’t care about unless you are a relative very concerned we might not have had a proper meal on real plates at the table. Happy Thanksgiving!

I bought a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey and just sort of…winged it. Considering I was taking stuff in and out of the oven above and below the bird I’m shocked it came out delicious, with enough leftovers for sandwiches.

Potatoes with cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, bacon and chives > boring mashed potatoes

Wish bone! They failed.

CHEERS!

Don’t worry, it’s cranberry-apple sparkling cider, not “Mommy juice”.

MORE CHEERS!

Leftover begging face. It worked, obvs.

Time for pie!

The correct pie-eating method.

I actually saw my husband this week! On more than one occasion! It was actually the best week we’ve had in a really long time, even if the kids were so exhausted by Sunday they both passed out at 5 pm.

Sunday:

Early morning photo session at the arboretum

Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream at Taste of Mystic

More perfect weather. Well done, Connecticut.

Monday:

Playing SO NICELY together before school

Daddy met the bus for the first time ever

GO TO CHILI’S AND ORDER THIS THING IMMEDIATELY

Tuesday:

Still wicked happy to get on the bus for school every day

Twirling is her favorite

Squeaky clean

Wednesday:

I AM READY FOR THE BEACH WHY ARE WE NOT AT THE BEACH?

NOW we are at the beach. He spent 2 hours in the (cold) water.

FASHUN

Thursday:

Imaginary hopscotch

Basically all my pictures are waiting for a bus these days.

Hide and seek! BET YOU CAN’T FIND CAROLINE.

 Friday:

Eat this with cream cheese and/or honey.

BFFs

I can’t help it, this might be my favorite set of photos ever (also, Evan took this, he was like “TAKE A PICTURE OF THE PRINCESS!!!”)

  Saturday:

“Daddy made yummy pancakes!” he says in the pancake restaurant.

Fairy Princess Caroline reads to Candy Crush Dragon Daddy

And Daddy reads to the gingers

I had forgotten how nice it was to have someone to help with bedtimes or go out to dinner with or help wrangle the kids at the apple orchard. I know I’m not a single parent – NOT EVEN CLOSE – but doing all the parenting on a day to day basis was really starting to wear me down. But a week of school and TWO meals out (not to mention a beach day where the kids built sand castles while I read a magazine) plus seeing my husband enough times that our conversation didn’t go like this: “HiIhavetobebackatworkinsixhoursbutIneededtotellyouIamoutofdeoderantandalso
canyoufindmykhakihatIloveyougoodnightzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

I don’t have a lot of hope the next week will be as nice, but I have two super fun things coming up (a Saturday in NYC with the kids and THREE DAYS in Atlanta without the kids) that are going to make September just totally fly by.

I keep thinking I must be getting close to my 3 year anniversary of these posts, but I am too lazy to actually do the math in my head. This week has been exhausting in a good way (work!!) and a bad way (when did my children go deaf??????) and next week looks exhausting too (NO REALLY, WHY ARE THEY DEAF????) so basic math is one of those things I can’t be bothered to care about. I really am just that lazy and stupid.

Sunday:

My very make-shift newborn set up in a client’s apartment. I’m pretty proud of my fake-studio skills.

BABY FEVER: LEVEL CODE DOUBLE RED ACHIEVED

Dancing to the band at Hot Summer Fun on the roof of the Mohegan Sun parking garage

Monday:

One of those Top 10 for Kids is probably a bad idea.

Surreptitious grilled cheese eating

For someone who BEGGED for mac and cheese, that face is not happy enough

Tuesday:

She said her first day of school sign says “Caroline goes to big girl school”

A pumpkin mocha iced latte, that’s what

Hand stamping some thank you cards to go in my fancy professional type photographer packaging

Protecting Brutus from a thunder storm

Then we went to the beach…

Then we went to the country….

Wednesday:

…so it’s not surprising Wednesday looks like this….

…and this. (They both went to school Wednesday and I went to work, there are just no iPhone photos.)

Thursday:

The definition of “partly cloudy” – and pretty good for a family session

Greek food, get in my face

Sun-streaking

Friday:

Because that’s what stickers are for.

The pavilion at Rocky Neck all opened up for a wedding

Well done Connecticut (with an assist by Long Island in the background)

Saturday:

Model poses

She would ride the carousel ALL DAY if they let her

I promised him a bouncy house but it was gone, so I finally FINALLY bought him the light up bubble gun he’s asked for at every fair and carnival and festival and parade we’ve been to for the last year.

We successfully ate ALL THE THINGS this weekend, so I’m totally stuffed and feel like I could sleep for a million years. Considering it’s 6 pm on Sunday and Caroline just put herself to bed, I think the feeling extends to the whole family. Even E, I guess, although we’ve literally only seen him for 15 minutes since Tuesday, so who knows. I’m hoping next week gives us a little more family time, even if there is less deliciousness.

A while ago, my friend Jill took pictures of her dog. They were beautiful and the post made me cry, because noooooooo dogs are not allowed to get old and sick and I refuse to even think about it when it comes to my own dog. It was bad enough when my vet put the “Senior” sticker on his chart.

Brutus is basically the best dog ever. I have friends who I’m pretty sure like my dog more than they like my kids. He barks at strangers and looks very scary (extra important since our neighbor’s house was robbed a couple weeks ago) but once he’s done acting super excited to meet you he will be your best friend forever. At the worst he might lick you to death. When the kids were babies he made an excellent pillow and would lie on the floor for hours so Evan could rest his head while he drank from his sippy cup. Now that they’re big and they “forget” not to ride him like a horse (it’s frowned upon in this establishment) he stands still and lets them until I can chase them off. He just wants to be fed, lie near his people, and let out occasionally. He appreciate a people-food snack every once in a while but Caroline has literally SHOVED cheese into his mouth and he won’t eat it until she drops it on the floor and he’s sure she doesn’t want it. Like I said, best dog ever.

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His only bad habit is he’s terrible on a leash, so we don’t walk him as much as we should, so he doesn’t get any better on the leash, so we walk him even less. It’s an unfortunate circle. But now that the kids can both walk around the block without a stroller and I can have both hands free for the dog I’m determined to make it a family habit. The kids love it and Brutus loves it and it tires them all out. Win-win-win.

That’s why we were out the other night when I realized the sun was setting just over our hill and it would be a great time to take some dog-kid pictures of my own. These aren’t technically perfect and not exactly how I would have planned a photo shoot – DON’T EVEN ASK about Caroline’s outfit, I’ve given up – but they might be some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken.