The Horrible & Wonderful Month of November

A few months after we moved into our new house, we had a couple of floor tiles that started to sound hollow. Over the next several months more and more started sounding hollow. Then around June/July when the weather got hotter, some of them started popping up off the floor entirely. We submitted a warranty claim to the builder, and they immediately determined that all our floor tile would have to be removed and redone. It then took them several months to investigate and decide if the fault was with the tile layer, or with the tile itself. Meanwhile, more and more tiles kept popping up.

Finally they determined that the fault was with the tile itself, so the tile company agreed to pay for a replacement. However, since the tile was at fault, we had to pick a different tile. They didn't have anything else that was close to what we had, so we ended up choosing a tile that was a lot lighter color, but still with the faux-wood look. I wasn't sure if I was going to love it or hate it, and I was really stressed out. They scheduled the replacement for the beginning of November, and delivered a POD to our driveway to move our things into. We booked an Airbnb nearby since we needed to be out of our house for a week.

The photo above is before, and the photo below is after. In these photos there's not a huge difference, but in real life the new tile is quite a bit lighter overall. Much more white and much less grey. It did turn out looking really good though, so I'm pleased.

This was during. They had to first remove all our baseboards, then pull all the tile up off the floor (somewhere around 2000 sq. ft.) and then add a filler to float the floor so it would be level, then install the new tile, then install new baseboards and paint/caulk them. It was a LOT of work!

Right before we moved to the Airbnb Colby and Kylee tested positive for Covid, so they got quarantined for 10 days from school. Skyler and Ally tested negative, and as such, they got quarantined for 20 days from school. Don't even ask me how that makes any sense. Their quarantine lasted until Thanksgiving Break, so they were actually out of school for an entire month. And this all meant that while we were in the Airbnb without all our toys/games/yard, etc. ALL the kids were home. And I had Bronchitis at the time (also negative for Covid), so it was a smidge miserable.

In the midst of quarantine and Airbnb'ing, Colby had a birthday. Luckily I already had all his gifts, and I brought decorations and things from our house before we moved over.

We had planned to go to zoo for his birthday since him and Kylee got out of quarantine the day before and Skyler and Ally's quarantine period was NONSENSE, but I was too sick. I did manage to drag myself out of bed long enough to make him "a turtle cake just like Skyler had". I had big plans to make this turtle cake better than the one Skyler had, but in the end it turned out about the same. I was just super glad to get it done. I took a nap while it was baking, and a nap while it was cooling. It was brutal.

This happy face made it all worth it though! I can't believe out baby is already five years old! Where in the world does the time go?!?

The day after his birthday Colby lost his first tooth. He came home from church very upset and telling Andy "I just want you to take it out!" We had made macaroni for lunch and he felt like he couldn't eat his until his tooth was out. When Andy agreed to "take it out" for him, he opened wide and just let it go. No tears, no fear. He was so happy to be able to eat his lunch!

When he looked in the mirror he was a little bit worried about his missing tooth, but then I showed him that Skyler lost his first tooth at about the same age, and then Skyler showed him that all his teeth have grown back in, so then he was fine. 

When I was sick Colby spent a lot of time hanging out in my bed with me. He kept falling asleep, and he is so sweaty! That wet mark on the pillow is Colby-head-sweat.

On the day that he finally got to go back to school, he was so excited! He was ready like 20 minutes early and he just stood in the kitchen watching the clock.

Here's another finished tile photo before we moved all our stuff back in.

This one is random, but one thing we realized about living in New Mexico is that the flowers bloom and the grass stays green all the way into November/December. It's so great!

 

Halloween!!

Kylee decided to be an M&M for Halloween, and she made her entire costume herself. We bought a blue shirt from the $1 store and she painted the M on it; and we also bought elastic and tulle from Walmart (for about $3) and she made her own tutu.

Colby's pre-K class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch about a week before Halloween. Each kid had to have a parent attend, so I went with him. In the morning it was super cold and I worried that we might be miserable all day (Colby wore shorts!), but luckily it warmed up and was perfect weather.

We got to ride a tractor out to the pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin to bring home. Colby picked the biggest orange one he could find, and then helped me pick a white one so we could have one of each.

After the tractor ride we ate snacks, then headed out to try some of the games and activities.

Then we stopped for lunch, and then headed into the Corn Maze to find our way through. It was shaped like the United States and had signs that told you which state you were currently in. Colby found the Florida sign and informed his whole class that that's where he was born. I was surprised because I didn't think he knew where he was born!

Our ward held a trunk-or-treat since many people were not going to be going trick-or-treating since Halloween was on Sunday. I normally don't believe in trunk-or-treats, but we participated this time.

Colby really wanted to wear his Luigi costume from last year, but he couldn't find it when the time came, so instead he wore Skyler's Mario costume from last year and we just rolled up the pant legs.

Skyler really wanted to be a fireman and we hunted FOREVER online to find a costume he liked. It was supposed to arrive by Oct. 17, but it never did. At the last minute we decided to make him Harry Potter since we had stuff for that.

Skyler and Ally's Elementary school cancelled their Fall Festival because of Covid, but Colby's Elementary school (which is approximately .5 miles away from Skyler and Ally's) did NOT. So we all went to Colby's. Kylee was off galivanting with her friends that she ran into there, so I don't have photos of her.

A couple friends and I hiked Dona Ana peak on the 30th, and the weather was great! It's not a super long hike, but you can see really far in all directions once you get up there, and it's awesome.

Later that day some neighbors held a neighborhood Halloween get-together. It was really fun!

On actual Halloween Andy made us a bacon-wrapped mummy meatloaf.

He even decorated the table for Halloween, and made orange mashed potatoes with black gravy. The gravy was a little weird looking, but everything tasted delicious!

This photo is out of order, but on the 29th my friend Mel and I went mountain biking, and the weather was again perfect! I love that in the end of October the weather is still warm enough to go outside and have fun!

FCCLA Retreat

In October Kylee was scheduled to go on a Retreat/Training that was for all the State Officers of the clubs. I was supposed to drive her out to Sacramento Mountain Camp (about 2 hours away) on a Friday evening, and then the plan was for the kids to all carpool with their leads up to Albuquerque on Sunday, hold their rally with club kids from all over the state on Monday, and carpool home on Monday evening. However, at the last minute our district decided that Kylee's teacher wasn't allowed to go (due to Covid restrictions), and Kylee wasn't allowed to ride with or room with any other students. The state leader contacted me to see if I could attend the whole conference with her, and I said I only could if all the kids came because Andy was scheduled for 12-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. They really wanted Kylee to be there since she's a State Executive Officer for FCCLA, so they agreed to cover me and all the kids. When we arrived at the camp on Friday evening the first things we noticed was that they had a TON of ducks.

Our group was assigned a dorm at the camp, with the girls' rooms upstairs and the boys' rooms downstairs. Since I had all my kids, they assigned us a whole room to ourselves upstairs at the end of the hall, right across from a bathroom. There were 5 sets of bunkbeds in our room, so the kids were super thrilled that they each got to have a top bunk.

While Kylee attended all her training/retreat events (they did ziplines, ropes courses, games, etc.), the other kids and I just did our own thing. We got hot chocolate from the dining room...

...obsessed over catching a flying bug that went down the crack of one of the bunkbeds...

...saw about a million deer...

...played on the playground...

...followed the ducks all over the camp...

...went on a hike to see some Fall leaves...

...saw a ?bear track...

...played games in the game room...

...fed a LOT of bread from the dining room "day old bread for the ducks" bin to the ducks...

... and rented a paddle boat and kayak for the pond, which was a STEAL. The kids kept wanting to do it because the boats were all sitting near the playground, and I kept telling them I thought it was probably closed for the season cuz it was October. But then we saw some other people paddle boarding in the afternoon, so we went to the office to ask how much it cost and the lady was like "it's $2/boat per 90 minutes". I was like "TWO dollars?" Of course the answer is YES, we can do that. The only rule was that an adult had to supervise. I didn't even have to be in their boat with them. They felt so grown up doing it all by themselves.

On Sunday after breakfast we packed up and headed to Albuquerque. The hotel we went to was the fanciest one the kids had ever been to. It was super tall and had balconies on all the floors that looked over into the lobby, plus glass elevators.

Kylee was busy doing all her FCCLA stuff so the kids went swimming (the pool was 1/2 indoor and 1/2 outdoor).

On Monday while Kylee was presenting her FCCLA training (to 300+ kids and she did a great job!), I took the other kids to see the Albuquerque Temple. I didn't realize that it is closed on  Mondays for cleaning, but when we got there one of the guys had the gate open while he was working on something, and he was nice enough to let us in to walk around the grounds as long as we promised to stay out of the way of the mowers and leaf blowers.

This photo has nothing to do with the FCCLA retreat,  but a new custard shop opened up near our house, and for their Grand Opening they had 1/2 price off everything. We went, and it was fun. Colby refused to be in the photo with the ice cream cone guy unless I went with him. He's so strange about stuff!