Just madness.

We are in the middle of just madness. The schedule that Carmen and I have over the next few weeks is insane.  But first, of course, the kids.

Look how long her hair is! I feel like I should get her hair cut, but at the same time it's growing so nicely I hate to cut it. I guess we'll see just how badly I mess it up as it gets longer and longer!

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend, which was so fun. The church next to our house has a pumpkin patch, and all the pumpkins come from a reservation in New Mexico - it's one that's in a series of books I have read, but I can't remember the author now. Mom/Ellen, maybe you remember?

In any case, they have some awesome pumpkins! As one of Carmen's friends said, the selection is like the pumpking version of Carmen's hat collection. About right.

Siblings. Love.

White pumpkins! And more siblings.

Family photo! The first family photo since June-ish, besides our professional family photos.  

Our pumpkin selection. Jayden of course chose the biggest (tallest) pumpkin he could find, and then we find out they charge by height. It was awesome. But they were super cool - we got all those pumpkins for about $50. Insane.

And then it was back to the grind. I had a conference in Anaheim, which was great since I still can't leave Carmen home alone with the kids overnight. His shoulder is better, but it still hurts him and he can't lift Jayden yet. Probably at least January before he can lift Jayden. This conference is pretty much the major consumer law conference in the country, so I was so grateful it was in Anaheim this year! And, even better, I got to speak. Of course they scheduled me for the last session on the last day, but still. I got to speak. At a national conference! And it meant I got free registration, which my boss also liked. We also got a shout out for the Ninth Circuit case we just one, and I got to speak on an informal panel about another home improvement scam going around California, and probably coming to a neighborhood near you. In any case, because I had this conference, Carmen got to chip in. He picked the kids up and dealt with dinner and bedtime on Thursday, and dropped the kids off on Friday morning. And today he had them pretty much all day until dinner time since the conference ended today. It was exhausting (conferences always are), but I'm glad I was able to go and be reinvigorated at least about my consumer work. I missed the kids a lot, though.

Because, really? This little girl is just a doll. The shirt is a little too small, but it's the one that says "creativity is contagious, pass it on." So of course I love it.
One of these days I am going to get one of those t-shirt quilts made from the kids' t-shirts and onesies that are particularly memorable (Jayden's "peas out," this shirt for Dakota, etc.), but until then I will store them very carefully in a random duffle bag in their respective closets. 

And then, Friday night Jayden challenged me to a drinking game. "Mommy, whenever I take a drink, you have to drink too." Mind you, he's drinking apple juice and I'm drinking white wine. Jayden chugs his apple juice for what feels like an hour, and I'm choking and coughing on my wine. Wine is not to be chugged, is the moral of the story. Oof.
Luckily, Carmen soon turned on Pandora and a dance party broke out!

Dakota and her daddy are lifetime dance partners. Daddy starts singing, whether it's a real song or one of his nonsense songs, and Dakota rocks out. Always. It's so cute.

Freshly washed, hair and body. And playing peek-a-boo. Where's Dakota?!? There she is!!!

Since I was working today, Carmen went on a solo parenting adventure. It was good for him, and good for the kids. It's so important for them to understand they can rely on their daddy the same way they can rely on me. After swim class they went to the park and Jayden was the best big brother. He helped his sister down the little slide (after she flew off the side the first time down - amazingly Carmen caught her) and down the big slide too. And she loved it. Like brother, like sister - both adore the slides and can happily do without the swings. 

I made it home in time for dinner. We went to sushi, where Jayden had a bowl of miso soup, an entire California roll and a few pieces of a roll Carmen and I ordered. He's a monster! And Dakota had a meal of rice, tofu and vegetable tempura. Yes, really.
And then Jayden decided I needed to take five pictures of him, because, well, he's five and obviously. So here are Jayden's five pictures. I adore my kids. Really, I do. 

Believe it or not, Dakota was happy in this picture. She just looks angry because she's grabbing for my phone and I won't give it to her. But she really was laughing!

And THEN, we got home in time for another dance party. YES!

I swear Dakota is going to be our dancer. I want to put Jayden in break dancing class, if that exists. And put Dakota in every dance class possible. She just loves to move and she's not terribly off on the rhythm.

So. Our crazy schedule. Carmen left a couple hours ago to catch a red eye to Detroit. He gets back Monday morning. He will pick the kids up Monday so I can go to a board meeting. I'll take the kids to school Tuesday, and he'll pick them up so I can go to a meeting in Los Angeles (I was named a Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative - eek!). Then Wednesday he has an all-day meeting that could last until dinner or later. Then Thursday I have another evening event. Then Friday, my office has a Halloween party that both of us are attending. We have the weekend (relatively) free and then Monday is Halloween of course. My mom comes in Nov. 3rd to help me with the kids Nov. 4th because the kids are off from school. Carmen is in L.A. Nov. 5th. He is gone Nov. 9-11, I have an evening event Nov. 10th. He then leaves Nov. 14 and doesn't come back until Nov. 19 or 20, I think. I have a board meeting on Nov. 14th for a board I just joined, www.girlsontherunoc.org. I'm excited about it, but nervous at the same time. I hope I can find the time to commit to the organization, because I so strongly believe in its mission of empowering girls to be whatever it is they want to be. And then it's Thanksgiving. And then it's Christmas, New Years and basically 2017. I don't even know. We'll have 100 more events in December, but I can't even look at those yet. If anyone wants to meet at Disneyworld in January, let me know - we might be going during the week of Pro Bowl (which is the week before Super Bowl, so probably the last weekend in January).

I have been doing a lot of work with myself to try to improve my relationships with everyone in my life. I am not perfect, and I am not going to succeed 100% of the time. But I am going to get better. So, if I have been neglectful, I apologize. If I have been short, I apologize. And I promise, I won't start calling everyone every week, because I am just not good about picking up the phone. But I will try. And in the meantime, anytime you are feeling frustrated, just re-watch the video of Dakota dancing. That's what I'm going to do, because it puts a smile on my face every time!!!