Our Five Ring Circus: Week(s) In Review {Weeks 43 & 44: 365 Project}

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Week(s) In Review {Weeks 43 & 44: 365 Project}

WEEK 43

OCTOBER 21st

We were so emotionally drained from the day before that we decided to spend the day at home.  The girls and I were supposed to attend an Itty Bitty Halloween Party, but I decided that our family being together after such a big loss was more important.  That evening, Grant, the kids, and I played outdoors for a bit before heading inside to get ready for another school week.  My sweet friend, Tracy, brought over the Halloween party goody bags and some food from my other amazing friends.  I was very touched!

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OCTOBER 22nd

Lexie woke up with a high fever, so we drove Dylan to school, then took her to the doctor for a rare sick visit.  They said she had an upper respiratory infection.  That evening was the first viewing for Grant's dad.  It was an incredibly emotional and difficult evening.  We were shocked at the amount of people that came to the funeral home.  Afterward, the family met back at Grant's Nannie's house so we could just decompress a bit. 

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OCTOBER 23rd

The kids stayed home from school so they could attend both viewings for Grant's dad.  It was a busy day for all of us.  After the first viewing, which was surprisingly packed, we went back to Grant's mom's house for dinner.  Lily was a ball of energy, so I took her home and my dad came over to watch her.  At the second viewing, they had the masonic funeral ceremony and the town firemen came in to their funeral ceremony.  That coupled with a never-ending line of people made us stay late.  It was amazing how many people came to pay their respects to the mayor.  After everybody cleared out, we said our final goodbyes.  It was practically impossible to do.  We returned to Grant's Nannie's house briefly, then headed home.

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OCTOBER 24th

Grant's dad's funeral.  It was truly one of the most beautiful and touching funerals I've ever gone to.  That alone deserves it's own post.  Afterward, we all gathered at a local banquet hall for a wake.  A friend of ours took the kids home with them to play.  After the wake, Grant, Lily and I headed home for a quick nap before picking the big kids up and going over to a friend's house for dinner.

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OCTOBER 25th

Lexie woke up with another fever, so after Dylan got on the bus, she went back to the pediatrician for another checkup.  They said she was nearing the end of being sick and could return to school the following day if she was fever free. She finally started to improve around noon.  That evening, our sweet friends took us out to dinner at the Olive Garden, then returned to our house to visit.

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OCTOBER 26th

Lexie returned to school. Missing 4 days was crazy to me.  They hardly ever miss school! True, they had a reason to on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it figures that Lexie would get sick on top of that! After I picked her up, we visited Grant's mom for her birthday, then visited my parents for the afternoon.  That evening, went to my sister's house for our new annual Halloween dinner.  It was a lot of fun!

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OCTOBER 27th

We had a lazy morning/early afternoon at home.  It was pouring down rain, so we were unable to make it to ZooBoo or the Pumpkin Patch.  Instead, we loaded the kids into the car, did some shopping, and went out to dinner.  When we returned home, we went into a frenzy, cleaning and setting up for a little Halloween party.  Our group of friends came over and it ended up being a lot of fun!

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WEEK 44

OCTOBER 28th

Once again, the rain canceled our pumpkin patch plans.  We went over to Nannie's house to watch the Steelers game with Grant's family.  It was strange getting back to our regular Sunday tradition without Grant's dad being there.  After having dinner with them, we returned home to prepare for the upcoming school week.

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OCTOBER 29th

After a regular Monday, Grant and I took the kids trick or treating at our local high school.  After that, my friend and I met another friend at the mall and we took our kids trick or treating there.  We ended all that fun with dinner and playtime at McDonald's.  My friend and her family came back to our house to visit for a bit.  Her kids ended up spending the night at our house because school was canceled the following day due to the storm.

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OCTOBER 30th

School was canceled, even though the storm was mild.  I took the kids to storytime at the library.  They had a great time creating their own Halloween cookies after the story!  That evening, we went to a friend's house for dinner. The kids had a lot of fun playing!

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OCTOBER 31st

Happy Halloween!!! It didn't feel much like Halloween, due to trick or treating being postponed.  Dylan did have his Halloween party at school, but Lexie had a normal school/gymnastics day.  After gymnastics, we went grocery shopping.  That evening, my friend organized a fun dinner/trick or treat night through their house for the kids! We ended up having so much fun!

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NOVEMBER 1st

November?!?  This year is just flying by!  The kids had a scheduled 2-hour delay at school, so we got to sleep in a bit.  Once they got on the bus, I picked my friend up so we could do some Halloween clearance shopping.  We got some amazing deals on costumes.  Lexie has a costume for next year and Lily is costumed for the next 3 years for the grand total of $20!  After picking the kids up at school, we spent the afternoon at my parent's house.  We had dinner with them before returning home.

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NOVEMBER 2nd

I drove the big kids to school, then dropped our SUV off to get some repairs done.  Grant, the girls, his brother, and I took his mom out to lunch, at Olive Garden, for her birthday.  That evening, we went to our friend's house for dinner.  While there, we ended up having an impromptu 11 PM photo shoot.  It was so much fun!

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NOVEMBER 3rd

Happy 15 months, Liliana!!!  We had a lazy morning and spent the early afternoon at home.  We went to Grant's cousin's son's birthday party at 4.  It was nice seeing his family!  It was trick or treat night, but we had to miss it.  That's okay, though.  We had front row tickets to the Barnum & Bailey circus!!! It was a memorable night!

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9 comments:

  1. An emotional time best spent surrounded by family and friends!

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  2. You are so great at documenting your family's days - the photos are fantastic!! I love Lily sitting on the table eating and the one of all the kids piled on Grant - priceless!

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  3. I'm happy there were lots of moments of joy during a pretty difficult time over there. The kids are as adorable as always!

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  4. Your kiddos are always so cute :)

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  5. Front row tickets to the circus? How awesome! That's definitely worth missing trick or treating.

    Our kids didn't get to trick or treat either. I was really bummed for them, but they handled it well.

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  6. Cute pics of the 2 weeks. You are awesome at documenting everything.

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  7. So sorry to hear about Grant's Dad. Isn't it so nice to know that your kids got to make such great memories before his passing?! Love the Halloween costumes! Jayden was an army man too!

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  8. They all look so cute in their costumes!

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