Playing Catch-Up

So it has been forever since I have posted. I guess I have been too busy living life lately. So here is a list of what we have been up to:

• Shawn and I went to Mexico. We had such a great time and got very tan. I have a post halfway finsihed. Hopefully I will get around to finishing that soon. 
• We had Halloween. Syd was a white ninja, Brynn was a black fairy, and Claire was a frog. Halloween made quite an impression on Claire. She has been telling everyone for weeks now that she was a frog for Halloween and got a bucket of candy. Good times.
• Syd and Brynn are both losing teeth like crazy. Neither of them can eat apples. 
• Claire had a bad cold last week. It resulted in some breathing treatments like we had to do here. Not as bad as last time but still not fun. She is on the mend now.
• Brynn got whatever yuck Clarie had. She has completely lost her voice and it is killing her to not be able to talk. She sound like a froggy.
• Shawn and I have started exercising in earnest lately. We joined a Crossfit gym and are loving it! Our workout on Friday went as follows: 100 pull-up, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-up, 100 squats. Today we are sore everywhere. I honestly have not had this much fun working in years. 
• I have sworn off surfing craft blogs. They just make me feel incompetent as a homemaker and a mother. Don't get me wrong, I still love to craft, I have even done some fun things lately, but I am so over comparing myself to those perfect people out there. Take me as I am, people.
• I spent the afternoon learning interesting facts about the red fox for a report SYd is doing in school. Did you know that the average life-span of a red fox is only 2-4 years? 
• Exciting family gossip: Jake and Shanna are having a baby boy in March! I cannot wait to be an aunt again. Shanna is 5 months pregnant and barely showing. Sigh. I console myself with the fact that I am all done. Ha! Bart and Katie are moving to Georgia and have just bought their first home. Guys, I am genuinely excited for you, but just so you know I will not be visiting you in the summertime. The humidity would kill me. Christmas at your house next year?
• We took Syd in for some official allergy testing. She was pretty much allergic to everything we had her tested for: peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, green peas(weird, huh?), dogs, and cats. This really doesn't change anything but at least now we know these things for sure. We now are the proud owners of 4 more epi-pens and under orders to keep the cat out of Syd's room. She was kind of devastated about this because the two of them love to sleep together. At least the poor kid doesn't know what she is missing the the nut department.
• We had a muskrat fall into one of our window-wells last week. It scared the crap out of me with all it's scratching at the window. We put a 2x4 down there with it and in crawled out. The girls were both sad when our visitor left. Muskrats are lots bigger than I thought. We are talking cat-size. 
• Shawn spent the last two weekends at a Woodbadge training for scouts. He got a new neckerchief and some new patches so it was a success. Actually he said it was really good and educational, plus he got to camp outside in November.
• Shawn and I are re-watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". If all of you vampire fans out there want a good vampire story, watch Buffy. Seriously, Edward has nothing on Angel.
• I sometimes hate Blogger because it is hard to maneuver in. Pretend that the picture is where you would think it should be.
• I have been feeling super-content and happy lately. My family still does not pick up their socks and there is still laundry all over the couch all the time, but things are good! I love my family and I am also the proud owner of a new pair of happy pants. What more could a girl ask for? I promise more pictures next time. Love to all of you!