Halloween Cousin Birthday Party

We had our annual Halloween / Cousins Birthday party at Aunt Erin's house Saturday. We celebrate Avery, Morgan, Grayson, Hunter, Beckett and Nolan's birthdays. It's like a mini-Christmas!

We always like to do a family costume (well most of us do!). This year we were the Scooby Doo crew!

We played some games. Mama and Papa brought vampire blood for the losers of the games to drink!

Aunt Sandi got the kids water bottles and let them put stickers on them. We all played a few games of Rummikub, of course!

Then is was cake time! Erin got each kiddo a giant cupcake!

Even Calvin got to join in and celebrate his half birthday since he's the only cousin without an October/November birthday.

Then the kids got candy!

Here they are checking out their hauls!

Volleyball champion

Morgan went with my parents to watch Grayson's championship volleyball game. Avery was at Willy Wonka rehearsal. Grayson's team lost the first game, then won the next two to secure the championship! Morgan had fun cheering him on!

Cuddler

 Milo is such a cuddler... he has to be laying on us or near us all the time!

Haunted Hustle

Our PTA had a fun run/walk on Friday night called the Haunted Hustle. Everyone was encouraged to wear costumes. The girls wore their costumes for this year - Avery is going to be a cheerleader with her friends; Morgan is going to be a killer clown. We didn't do the full make-up for this run and she didn't have her knife. So, she looks more cute than killer here! This was also the first night we let Morgan wear an actual shoe instead of her "boot". We told her not to run the mile, but to just walk. Of course, we saw her take off running at one point. Luckily, her foot was fine after the mile of walking/runing.

Morgan hanging out with Birdie and Lizzie, friends from school and karate!

Avery walked with us and did cartwheels down the street!

We lucked out because the rain held off until we got home!

Avery's Halloween Dance

Avery's dance school had the kids do Halloween dances for the parents this past week. Here is her jazz dance. She has a lot of fun with the class because she gets along so well with the other girls. Also, they love the teacher Miss Izzy!

Ugh

Well, apparently lice is going around the school and Morgan ended up with it. If you recall, last time there was a lice outbreak at school in early 2019, Morgan also picked it up. She's got so much hair and it's so long... and she's a hugger! At least this time, we recognized what it was a earlier. Unfortunately, the lady who came to our house last time is no longer doing treatments, so we ended up going to a salon where lice removal is the only thing they do.

Avery and I got checked out and both of our heads were clear (which is pretty surprising). But, Morgan had the full treatment. The poor thing got her hair combed out for 2.5 hours and then we left with the oil treatment in her hair. We have to comb through our hair every day to make sure nothing comes back on Morgan's head and that Avery and I continue to be clear. Morgan's hair is so thick that it takes a long time!

Cousins Sleepover

Matt and I went to a party in the city, so the girls went over to Aunt Erin's for a sleepover with the cousins. They all slept in the boys room together (well, Hunter had an early baseball game, so they moved him to guest room!)

Leftie

You know your kid has a bum foot when all you see everywhere are left shoes!

 

Dogtopia Ad

Milo made it into a Facebook ad for Dogtopia, basically showing how great their groomer Kimberly is. So, they showed a bunch of dogs with crazy fur and then after photos of them looking cute. Ha! Milo has gone in looking pretty scruffy for his haircuts, so I get it. Kimberly always does a great job on him! For his picture in the ad, they did a side-by-side.

11 year check up

We had the girls' 11 year old check up on Tuesday afternoon. The girls always dread going because they hate getting their fingers pricked for the hemoglobin test and of course, they hate getting shots. They had to get their "6th grade" shots because they are already 11, so they weren't excited to find that out when we got there! So, they had to get the meningitis vaccine, the tetanus shot and they also got flu shots.

Both girls are healthy and doing great. Morgan is now 5 feet tall! Avery is about 4'10", so just a couple of inches shorter than Morgan. I wish I knew how tall I was at their age, so I could compare. The doctor said they are only trending to be 5'4" to 5'6". I thought that sounded a little short, but who knows. If they are anything like me, in about a year, they will get a big growth spurt and shoot up. Time will tell!

The pediatrician reviewed Morgan's x-rays and thought the break on her pinky toe was near a growth plate, so she wanted us to follow up with an orthopedic doctor. So, we went to see him on Wednesday afternoon. He said Morgan has an extra growth plate in her foot and it's not affected by the break in her pinky toe. That's good news. The bad news is he said she needs to wear that post-op hard soled shoe for 3 more weeks to make sure her toe heals properly. We will go back then and make sure the break has healed before he will release her for sports/PE. So, that pretty much means she's out for the rest of the soccer season. Ugh.

The day after the girls got their vaccines, Avery was not feeling well. Normally, I would just assume she was fighting off some random kid virus, but she kept complaining about her neck hurting and being stiff. I actually think she was having a reaction to the meningitis vaccine, but who knows. She rested pretty much the whole day and even got a nap in with Milo on the couch! By Thursday, she was fine.

It's broken

Like I mentioned, Morgan hurt her toe playing soccer Saturday night with Grayson in the basement with no shoes on. This morning, she woke up crying every time she tried to put any pressure on her foot. So, given our prior history of ignoring broken bones, I took her to the immediate care place near us for x-rays as soon as we were up and ready. She even got to ride in a wheel chair because they didn't want her hopping around.

I thought for sure it was just a sprain and we'd be on our way. Well, that wasn't the case. The doctor came back in after the x-rays and said "well, it's broken". I think Morgan and I were both kind of in shock. They said we had to tape the two toes together and wear this post-op shoe until she was feeling better. They said it could take anywhere from 2-4 weeks. So, Morgan has to sit out of PE, karate and soccer practice! That will definitely teach her to wear shoes from now on!

Saturday

We had a busy Saturday. After Avery's friends left from the sleepover, we had a quick lunch and then it was off to Willy Wonka rehearsal. They were working on her big scene, so she was really excited. She found out she'll have to do a "stunt", but she hasn't learned exactly how it's all going to work yet.

While Avery was at Willy Wonka, Morgan had a soccer game. It was rainy and windy, but no lightning, so they kept playing. One of the parents had brought a tent for all the parents to stand under, which was awesome. Morgan had a great game and the team won 2-1.

You can spot Morgan by the bright pink shoes!

After Willy Wonka and the soccer game, Avery and I went to help out with Beckett and Hunter's birthday party. It was originally planned for the park, but the weather was not cooperating. So, Erin was able to move it indoors to the rec center in a party room. She had an animal guy come, which the kids loved. Then, Avery made slime with all the kids, which was messy and fun! Then, Avery led a bingo game for the kids. The weather cleared up a bit, so the kids got to spend the last part of the party outdoors. Avery was a big help for the party, so Aunt Erin paid her for helping out. Avery was so excited! :)

After the birthday party, we relaxed at home. Erin and Grayson came over so Erin could have a drink and decompress from the birthday party craziness! Morgan and Grayson played soccer in the basement. Morgan ended up hurting her toe because they were playing with no shoes on and she tried to punt the ball and ended up stubbing her toe on the floor.

We went to bed early to catch up on sleep after last night's sleepover. We all slept like rocks!

Birthday Sleepover

Avery wanted to have a few friends over for a sleepover to celebrate her birthday this year. She invited Katherine and Elise (they are identical twins) and Maebel. We had the girls sleep up in the loft since Maebel is allergic to dogs and Milo rarely gets to go upstairs. I decorated the loft with balloons and streamer ands light per Avery's request. We still have a bunch of twin mattresses left over from their loft beds, so we moved those into the loft to make a giant sleeping area for the girls.

Opening presents and reading cards

Then, we tie-dyed hoodies! So messy, but the girls had fun!

Afterwards, they painted each other's nails with the new glow in the dark nail polish they gave her for her birthday.

Then, they watched shows and braided each other's hair.

We had pizza for dinner. Then, sang Happy Birthday and had treats!

We had LED hair accessories, so the girls loved posing with those.

Morgan and I had a sleepover in the guest room while Avery and her friends slept in the loft. Morgan fell asleep first (probably around 10:45). She had a soccer game on Saturday, so she needed to be ready! I thought the girls were calming down around 11:00, but then they got a second wind and started doing gymnastics and playing with the balloons! They also played Truth or Dare and Kiss/Marry/Kill. Two of Avery's friends fell asleep around midnight, but Avery and Elise stayed up really late. I kept telling them to turn off the TV and go to sleep. I think they finally fell asleep sometime after 1:00 AM!

The next morning, we had breakfast and the girls played together for a while. All of their games were canceled due to weather, so nobody had to leave too early.

They had a blast and are all planning to wear their new tie-dyed hoodies to school on Monday. I'll try to get a picture if I can since I forgot to get a picture of the finished products.

Parent Teacher Conferences

I got to talk to the girls' teachers for conferences the other night. It's the same story every time... Avery is very studious, helpful and the teacher loves her. Morgan is full of energy, makes everything fun and the teacher loves her. Also, Morgan talks a lot in class. :) Both girls are doing great!

Morgan's teacher had slides the kids had filled out before we came for conferences. Here are a few of Morgan's:

Yuck

Anyone want to guess what this is??? Well, I'll give you a hint... it's soaking wet and been in a backpack since the end of July. Um, it's Morgan's swimsuit and swim shirt from her last field trip during summer camp with the park district. She pulled it out of a backpack and handed it to me this week! It was still wet, but it wasn't moldy (at least that I could see). I was really surprised! I'm pretty sure that kid ignores me most times I say "make sure your backpack is cleaned out"!

Fun facts about Avery

 I love how she drew me taller than Matt! Ha! :)

5th Grade School Pictures

So, we got the school pictures back... they had her pictures taken first right as they got to school, so that was nice. I can't believe how old they are looking!

Soccer smile

Avery had another soccer scrimmage, which will probably be the last of the season looking at the weather forecast for her game this weekend. Her team lost, but she made a great play at the end to assist her teammate Cara in scoring a goal. :)