InstaFriday

I haven't shared the stories behind my IG photos in a while, so here are this week's {plus a few extras because I love y'all so much}.

Back when TJ was deployed I was determined to take the kids to church by myself.  It was not an easy task, but week by week we made it work with a lot of help from The Lord and a little help from our gold old friend In-N-Out. 

And so it continues.  Every week.  In-N-Out for lunch.  After church.  Every Sunday.  Did I mention every Sunday?  I might be shot for saying this, but I could gladly go a year without eating it...

After church on Sundays, TJ usually heads in to work to get his HPU homework/studying done...so we at home get real creative.  Just a little Crayola paint mixed with a squirt of lotion to make it less chalky, and we have ourselves a kitty and a Ninja Turtle.  All I see in this photo is Lilly's GIANT eyes that are popping with that splash of purple on them.  I think I should hide all makeup from her until she's thirty.

After Sunday dinner at Grandma's house, we headed to a pumpkin patch.  Caleb climbed up all the crazy blowup slides and obstacle courses.  Lilly went in a bounce house and pranced around with a little ghost/witch-on-a-stick {Halloween is her fave}.

Hey, it's our first real family pumpkin patch photo!  El Oh El, Lilly.
Oh, and in case you think it was perfect and completely #HAPPY like CC's shirt, let me just tell you about the few meltdowns over phrases like "one more time on the slide, Bug" and "one more minute" and "put your shoes on"...oh those shoes...sweaty sockless feet + Vans don't mix.  It was extra awesome when I was talking Caleb through his on-the-floor/in-the-hay meltdown, and multiple kids crowded around and stared.  STARED. 
Go'on brush your shoulders off...

I found this relic among my mother-in-law's bookshelves.  It's a book on the history of the City of Fullerton, written for gradeschoolers.  I read it, learned all about the history of Harbor Boulevard, Plummer Auditorium, and the El Camino Real.  If you did too, then you're in the coolest club ever.  Love me some Fullerton.

We discovered the coolest park in our neighborhood.  I can't believe we'd never been.  It's full of trees, benches, playgrounds, swings, and this totally weird cemented area on a hill that has a basketball court.  Made for a pretty sweet silhouette from below.

Caleb lost his SECOND TOOTH.  He pulled it out all by himself!  And when I went to wash it out in the bathroom sink, it slipped through my fingers and was washed away.  UGH.  I had a moment of "Do I open the trap under the sink and retrieve it? How many of these dead teeth am I gonna save??"  But then I pulled an old George Banks with Zuzu's petals and got his FIRST TOOTH, pretended I had just washed it, and let him put it under his pillow...after all, the tooth faerie did need to come. 
UPDATE: she left him two whole dollars!!

First Grade, school photo.  Shirt from Uncle Sean.  Cheeseface brought to you by the sight of a big camera.  What a ham sandwich.

This week was crazy busy.  Our car needed new brakes.  Brake pads?  Rotors?  Whatever, it needed to get done and my parents were so sweet to lend us their car for a few days.  When ours was ready, I took the kids up to visit Grandpa at the school where he teaches.  They had a ball watching California Screamin' on the smartboard and wrote out math equations on the whiteboard. 

Their current favorite is to play "Look Out Caleb"...it's where Grandpa throws a squishy ball over CC's head while they lay on the floor and giggle. 

Then we had date night with Tara.  Went and saw Gone Girl {which is INSANE}.  Since I got to pick Coke Zero over Diet Coke at the theatre, TJ made me get in the '89 Sheepdog with Lloyd and Harry.

And now I'm reassembling Cloud Cuckoo Land for CC since I'll be with my girls this weekend at the Beachpoint Women's Retreat.  HOLLA!

Happy Friday, Party People!

Linking up here on Life Rearranged.