Another ordinary day

Gerritt's playdough doggie (in case you can't tell, it has blue eyes, orange paws, blue tail, red leash as well as multicolored hat)


Thanks to playdough, Gerritt has transformed himself into a clown!


Gerritt's typical pose when he is asked to do something he doesn't want to do - he pretends to be sleeping & even makes snoring noises (he did this when I asked him to use his potty)

Today was a really productive day. Gerritt & I woke up at 8:30 am (Sophia usually gets up at 6:30 or 7 am). The first question out of his mouth was, "Can you stay home today, Mommy?" I've been working a lot for the past few weeks & Gerritt really missed me. After being reassured that I will be home with him & Sophia for the next 2 days, Gerritt happily proceeded to the potty.
After feeding kids their breakfast, I started making dinner (I know it's early, but better do it first thing in the morning while I have the desire & the energy). Today I made a roasted chicken recipe using my crockpot. The use of a crockpot is a must in this cold, rainy weather. Inhaling the delicious aroma of slowly cooking food is one of my favorite things about the fall season.
After loading all of the ingredients into the crockpot, we watched the Batman movie, created playdough art & built castles out of wooden blocks. Sophia took a 2-hour nap. We all headed to the Crossroads Mall as soon as she woke up in order to ride the train & the Mary-Go-Round, visit our favorite toy store, have a snack at Starbucks & pick up a few new books at the library. What really made me happy was finding two last Halloween costumes on sale ($4.97 each instead of the usual $22.50) in my kids' perfect sizes at the Old Navy to be worn for the next year's Halloween. In order to truly appreciate this find, you need to know that I've already made at least 3 trips to the Old Navy, 2 trips to Target & 1 trip to the Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts to scout the discounted Halloween costumes. Target's & Jo-Ann Fabrics' costumes did not impress me. The Old Navy's costumes are my favorite because of their price & quality, but the only costume I found at its post-Halloween sale a couple of weeks ago was that of a witch. Needless to say, finding the dragon & the bumble bee costumes in sizes 4-5T made my day!
Thankfully, Sophia started to feel remarkably better today (another cold started 3 days ago & she has been miserable with constantly runny nose; red puffy eyes & poor appetite). My Mom & my American Mom Chris have birthdays only 1 day apart, so I've talked to both of them to wish them happy birthdays. It is such a coincidence: my Mom's birthday is on November 14th (she turned 60 this year) & my American Mom's birthday is on November 15th (she turned 65 this year). I guess, I was meant to have a Scorpio mother!
Our nanny left for a 3-week vacation to Russia starting today, so I am looking forward to spending more time with the kids. Unfortunately, I don't have much vacation time left (thanks to frequent mandatory low census at my work), so I can only afford to take 1 week off without pay. My husband will take 2 weeks of vacation to fill the void. It should be interesting!
I gave Sophia a bath & she promptly fell asleep at 7 pm. Since Gerritt didn't take a nap today, he fell asleep at 7:30 pm, allowing my husband & I some uninterrupted time together. All in all a very satisfying day!