Permanent Pedi

Katie came up from the basement this afternoon and said "Mom, Mom, look at my toes!!"

She had given herself a pedicure.

With a Sharpie:

Halloween

We had a lively Halloween. The neighborhood was hopping despite the chilly temps. Katie and Ceci didn't remember last year so were thrilled all over again to get candy from strangers and managed to keep up for a while in the mad sprint from house to house with their cousins and big sisters.

Here is the crew:

Sophia was Hannah Montana. The wig didn't last long.Katie put on a hat but didn't want to ditch the tiara:
The adults on Greenwood dress up as well. Our neighbor John was Batman:
Ceci was very concerned to see the Riddler a block later. We assured her that nothing bad would happen to Sean's dad:The real excitement of the evening was the arrival of cousin Daniel at 10:15pm. Elizabeth went home and her water broke while reading stories to Anna:

And of course there was the day after candy breakfast. Sophia took an inventory to make sure her full size Skittles were still there. We passed out 400+ pieces of candy. I couldn't believe how many large candy bars they got. Must have been someone new to Kenilworth Gardens.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch for our annual trip to pick out pumpkins, see the giant pig, ride on overpriced carney rides and polish off a six pack of apple cider doughnuts. It was a chilly but beautiful day and the girls all had fun. They got to run through the corn maze. Whenever Ceci and Katie are allowed to just run and run they have a blast.

Katie is my runner. I'm hoping she pays me back for my racing heart most of the day with a track scholarship. Today at Ella's skating lesson I literally looked away for a minute and she had run away from me onto the large ice rink...onto THE ICE. Another mom there said to me "you really have your hands full." Which I hear ten times a day. It's like when a stranger is staring at me and doesn't know what to say that's what comes out. Then she said: "I recognize you from pick up at Harper School. That one really can run. I've always wondered how you do it." Katie loves to just take off running. She's still doing that road runner sprint where her upper body is still and her little legs are a blur. On the way home from picking up Sophia she'll run for a long block without stopping a smile on her face the whole time. She just loves it.

The biggest take away from the pumpkin patch was that there are more chickens in the world than people. On the tour of the barn we learned that and Sophia reminds us from time to time. Usually when we're having chicken for dinner.

Here are some photos from the afternoon:

The Marathon

Rick ran the Chicago marathon and did an awesome job!

I brought the girls and my mom and dad helped me while we cruised around the city catching Rick at various points in the race.

Our first stop was mile four. We soon realized as runners kept peeling off behind us that we were standing in front of the first set of trees along the course. We called it the pee tree and I kept having to tell the girls to turn around and stop looking at the urinating runners which were fascinating to them.

Here are Katie and Ella blowing on a dandelion.

Unfortunately we saw him more than he saw us. At one point all seven of us stood on a corner in Little Italy for 30 minutes waiting for him to come by. We finally spotted him and all were yelling and screaming. He totally ran past us without looking up. He just ran by looking straight ahead and unfortunately like he needed some encouragement. So we jumped back into the car and headed to mile 22 at Comiskey Park where we did catch him. While waiting for him at Comiskey the girls started sticking their hands out and got excited when the runners were slapping them. Katie and Ceci were trying to get in on the game too but faced the wrong way. I think Ceci was waiting for the errant runner coming the other direction and was confused when no one was coming toward her.

Here are Luke and Katie ringing cowbells that were passed out to the girls. I was hearing those bells in my head for a week after the race. We insisted Luke take home that bell to get back at Hans and Cathy for the High School Musical microphone they gave Sophia for her fifth birthday.

Maddy and Sophia wearing their dads' medals:

Ella's on two wheels

We took off Ella's training wheels. She is a little speed demon on her two wheeler. The walk to school to pick up Sophia had gotten pretty painful. For Ella, because her bike kept tipping over and for me following with 60 lbs of twins in the stroller stopping and starting and picking up Ella each time her bike toppled. I told her she needed to learn to ride without the training wheels in order to keep riding to school and she was excited. It only took about an hour for her to be comfortable without the training wheels.

Now the challenge is keeping up with her on the way to school. I have to run with the stroller so now we're both getting a workout. She loves riding her bike and rides with Rick when he runs.

She's so proud of being able to ride her bike. When we're talking to an adult she'll whisper in my ear "does she know I can ride a two wheeler?" and then I'll tell her to let them know.

Soccer girl

We opened a youtube acct, finally! Rick posted a video from Sophia's soccer game this morning. She had an awesome game and scored two goals. The part Rick taped with his Iphone here is one that hits the post. She's got the gold jersey and blond ponytail. You can tell she's very aggressive and loves soccer.

Go Hornets!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4bikQ8IlX8

Fall

This morning was the usual rush to get everyone into the car and to school on time. As I'm yelling at Sophia and Ella to buckle their seat belts, Ceci says

"Mom! Mom! LOOK!"

I'm annoyed and turn to ask her what is wrong. She points out the window to the tree next to us. I still don't get it. "Whaaat?? We need to get going."

"Look at the tree mom, it's yellow!"

I realize that this is the first Fall for Katie and Ceci since they were one last year. She was staring at the leaves turning on the trees. It was a nice wake-up for me to stop and enjoy the "firsts" my girls are experiencing.