On we march to the end of October. This will be one of those chaotic weeks. We are beginning the week with Ashley showing signs of getting sick. Cough, drippy nose, but no fever. We’ll see how this plays out…

Tomorrow is pretty normal. On Tuesday, I have a doctor check-up and Ashley has piano lessons. On Wednesday, I have a staff meeting (which means I get home around 6PM), Ashley has karate at 6PM, and Kayla has a band concert at 7PM (she has to be there at 6:30PM). On Thursday, I have conferences at school which means I get home at 9PM. Friday is a half-day for me, but I will be dropping off some donated books at Kayla’s school , helping get her ready for her Halloween dance, then dropping her off at the dance before going to my dance class. That careful precision is kicking in!

Gizmo is here and doing fine. He never even acted weird on the first day. He remembers being here last time, and he is even behaving with breakfast and not standing on our faces at 5AM. He’s so comfortable, he is reverting to his “dat” ways…

He wants to go in his carrier, but it is closed.

His little ear is healing just fine too.

Today, we had another guest. Caleb came and played with Kayla (Ashley kept her distance) while Erin and I worked on a Halloween costume for Caleb. This costume needs no explanation….too cute!

How is that “bottle” keeping its form around his shoulders, you ask? We cut strips from a pool noodle and sewed them in! I did the same thing on Kayla’s costume. She is going as a dragon with wings, and the noodle acts as the top support for the wings. Those noodles are amazing things. They provide support, but are totally flexible. Caleb was playing cars with that costume on, and he could bend and flex all he liked.  I have also learned that nail polish works great to keep delicate fabrics from unravelling. Kayla painted the edge of her wings with nail polish to keep the metallic fabric from shredding (it was too delicate to hem properly). Erin painted the edge of Caleb’s label with clear polish.  I will post pix of the girls’ Halloween costumes after our trick-or-treating on Sunday.

I will close with a picture of Ashley’s tree in the back yard. It is an Autumn Purple Ash, hence the reason it is her tree. It colored out really nice this year, with different layers.

Once the school year starts, it’s amazing if we can get through a week without losing something, most of all our sanity! Tuesday nights = piano lessons, Wednesday nights = karate, the first Thursday of each month = band lessons. Add in concerts, recitals, staff meetings for me, work related events for Kevin, and pretty soon we have a jam-packed calendar! So that’s why the blog posts are few and far between.

Today is a quick update. Yesterday, the girls had no school for a teacher institute day. They spent the day hanging out with Gramma and Caleb. The girls took turns reading with Caleb.

Of course, the first thing Caleb wanted when he saw Kayla was a song. He looked right at her and said “mash banana time”. He wanted Kayla to sing the banana song that she learned at her church retreat this summer.

The girls also spent some time working with Gizmo. He has had a rough couple of weeks! He was looking super shaggy, so a trip to the dog groomer was in order. But he apparently got the new trainee or something, and she managed to slice up his poor little ear! Nothing anyone did could stop it from bleeding everywhere, so he visited the vet, who smashed the ear down against his head with bandages.

The poor dog was crazy for days likes this, hiding and shaking. Finally, Gizmo’s real vet saw him and switched him to a bandage that allows air to flow so the ear could heal. It’s like he is wearing a gauze hat, with tape to keep it from falling off. He is still acting weird, but seemed a little better when we saw him.

I love how the vet cut the hole for the other good ear to poke through! For a dog that relies on scent and sound, this has to be so confusing and scary for him! His prognosis is good – the ear will heal but it takes time and it will leave marks. And he didn’t even get a full haircut! Under that bandage is long shaggy hair!

Ashley is excited because her friend Cami will be in town tomorrow, and she will spend the afternoon with us. They haven’t seen each other since August, so this will be nice.

Kayla and her friends have started something silly at school. They have designated the last Friday of the month as “Fancy Friday”. What that means is that her group of friends dress a little nice, bring food like cheese cubes for lunch, and work together to bring a tablecloth and utensils. They then eat their lunch with the utensils (PBJ with a fork and knife), and drink things holding up their pinky. Amazingly enough, the usually strict lunch moms have allowed this. I gave Kayla some of those plastic utensils that look like real ones. I am hoping to get a picture of this somehow. I think one kid even brought a tiny vase with plastic flowers!  It’s cute and silly.

Next post probably won’t be until around Halloween – costume time! And time for a certain Mom to get rolling on making those costumes….