Pictures and more pictures

So apparently it has been almost three weeks since I last posted. Oops! In order to catch up, here is a selection of pictures from that time.

Checking out Jayden's new toys in her fancy new hair bow. Obviously Donatello is our favorite!

Going for a drive together. They're getting so big so quick.

Adding a passenger - riding with the Cat in the Hat.

And then boating. A busy day!

Getting ready for the Seahawks game! Tough loss, but fun to go to a real live football game.

It would be on the day that it was 100+ degrees...

Some of us did not make it through the whole game. Dakota and I were sweating it out together.

Family photo op.

Jayden was "Star of the Week" a couple weeks ago. That means that Jayden got to be teacher's assistant for the week, got to share his favorite book, got to share is "all about me" poster and got to take home "Funky Spunky Monkey" for the week. It was a fun week, if not a little stressful for me to think of things to do with Funky Spunky Monkey for the week.

On Monday night, we just ate dinner with him, and he snuck a drink of Jayden's drink. Oops!

Tuesday night, everyone got a treat at In-n-Out. 

On Saturday, Jayden got a haircut (finally), and Funky Spunky Monkey got to tag along.

Maxwell and Jayden goofing off in the swimming pool.

Dakota sweetly looking on as her brother and Maxwell swim.

Funky Spunky Monkey and friend (named Funky Punkin' Monkey by Jayden) also got to watch the boys swim - they're in the background.

Dakota and I did a little yoga later. Her downward dog isn't so bad - and her heels are on the ground!

Funky Spunky Monkey and friend got to take a ride in the fire boat. We were very careful not to get him wet.

Check out Dakota's moccasins! I adore them. She is still getting used to wearing them - they are a tiny bit too big - but they are so cute!

The TMNT siblings. Dakota's t-shirt says "Be Fearless." They are great.

Silly faces for Gramma.

Dakota running in the grass. Her favorite way to run, with her arms out behind her.

Riding the carousel. Dakota's first time on a horse by herself. It was a mini carousel, so it was a little less scary, I think.

Hi Gramma!

All twisted up in some balloons.

A side note: Last time Dakota wore this dress, it went past her knees. I guess she's done some pretty serious growing recently. We haven't measured her, but it's clear she's sprouting up. I couldn't believe how short this was on her!

Today (Sunday) we hit up the Discovery Cube for some Halloween fun and...

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Exhibit!

These giant TMNTs were so cool. I tried to get Jayden to take a picture in front of Donatello with the same pose as Donatello, and Jayden looked at me like I was crazy. I even demonstrated the pose to show him what I meant. And he just stared at me (as did the various children and adults around me...). Oh well. I thought it would have been awesome.

Wearing a ninja outfit (Maxwell had just taken his off). Maxwell showed me some ninja moves. Jayden, again, looked at me like I was crazy. 

Skateboarding with Michelangelo.

Looking calm and peaceful with Gramma.

Crawling through the secret lair, trying to avoid the ropes, sort of.

Shooting pizzas at the bad guys. Photo credit to Jen (Maxwell's mom). It was harder than it looks - Jayden just got one bad guy. But he only got three tries, so that wasn't so bad.

Tomorrow we are off to the pumpkin patch with Jayden's class in the morning. Dakota is going to school so that we don't have to drag her along with us. Mom and I are thinking about having a few hours to ourselves after the pumpkin patch - we'll see how we feel tomorrow.

Life has been insane recently - a lot of work at home and at actual work. And lots of things going on. I have been feeling very overwhelmed and maybe sort of lost or without focus, but I am trying to just be in survival mode. I have only felt this bad in the last couple of months. I am hoping it's a perfect storm of events, including Carmen's surgery (and general inability to participate in family stuff), losing a number of attorneys at work and just having a whole lot of responsibilities come up. I guess I would like to know that one day there is a light at the end of the tunnel, one day I won't feel overwhelmed by someone else coming to clean my house, one day I won't feel like I'm on the verge of committing malpractice. One day I will feel like I can exercise again so that I can feel like I am myself again. I don't expect to be the same as I was pre-kids, but I would like to find some parts of me again, even if those parts are evolved/altered/adjusted.

Hope you all are well!