November, Movember...

...try saying that five times fast!
       

  I have to start off by saying that I really don't post as often as I want to. I have this weird hang-up, that if I don't have my pictures edited and ready to post, I don't. I've decided that since life seems to get more and more busy as time goes on, I need to stop being so picky about my pictures and just post things as they are. Not all of them, but enough that I am at least posting something. Okay, so now that I have accepted that...I am here! Un-edited pictures and all.
         

 October/November has been a lot of fun...minus one small detail...which unfortunately for me, is my husband's moustache. (Is that really how you spell mustache??) Auto correct is saying so, but I am not convinced! Okay, I just googled it and on grammarist.com it says,  "Mustache is the U.S. spelling of the word referring to hair on the upper lip." (Insert word "Ewww" here.) "Moustache is the preferred spelling in all the main varieties of English from outside the U.S."  So I guess we Americans have made up our own version of the word then!  How'd we manoeuvre that one? I guess a rose by any other colour is just as sweet. Wait, that's not right...I always get my favourite colloquialisms mixed up. I guess I need to memorise them better. :)


Anyhow, the topic at hand...yes...Dan's facial hair. He has decided for the past couple of years to participate in the growing tradition of Movember. Who in their right mind, came up with the idea??? I have no clue. I wouldn't mind putting them in a strangle hold myself...but that's just me. I have NEVER been a fan of "the stache" and Dan's is absolutely no exception. I threatened him this year, that if he decided to start growing the monstrosity, I wouldn't kiss him for the entire month. He, of course, chose to ignore my threat. A daring move, I dare say...he may have called my bluff, and while I haven't entirely snubbed his lips, I have resorted to avoiding the top one all together. Ahem...I believe it's time to move on, I'll just say, that December first can't come quickly enough for me. (Love you sweet heart!)


Since my last post, we've had Halloween, Owen's seventh birthday, a major infection on Ellie's stomach, a Marine ball (I got to dress up!!) a swan boat ride on the Lagoa,  I received a new calling at church (primary president...Eeek!), a few of us have had some major sun burns and I did one amazing parallel parking job...while at the same time my friend and I almost got to see Justin Beiber. (That's a story in and of itself...poor Justin.)  

Life is going really well. I feel like we are all well adjusted and happy. The kids each have friends at school. I still feel bad that Ellie is home with me so much, but in only nine months or so, she will be gone much longer than I am comfortable with, and I know I am going to miss her like crazy! I've picked up a few photography clients recently. It's been nice to get back into something I love. I "bit the bullet" and began driving about a month ago. I'm very glad I did, because I don't feel trapped any more. I don't like driving here at all, but it's do-able.


For Owen's birthday, he had a few of his best friends from school over to swim. He was so excited. I love when Owen gets excited. He bounces and energy just radiates from him. He chose Nescau cereal for breakfast (think...Coco Puffs) and bacon, eggs and orange juice for dinner. We measured him and he was thrilled to be exactly four feet tall. I love that boy so much.


Logan's been going to Destination Imagination every week. He has a fun group and a great leader. He will be traveling to São Paulo in March for a competition. I get to go with him too, so I am excited about that! He also has speech twice a week. He is making a lot of progress. I am so proud of how resilient he is. He keeps trying, even if it's hard and it's paying off for him. He ran for student council and is the leader for his class. I helped him make posters for the bathrooms at the school last week. Apparently they have trouble flushing toilets there like we do here at home. I had him make some extras to hang up in the boys bathroom!


Lincoln is great. I feel like he is my "'ole reliable". He quietly and consistently does his homework and piano everyday. He's very good at studying alone. I have to be careful not to take advantage of that! He is also a really good swimmer now. He and Owen have turned into little fish here. It is so nice having a pool!


Ellie dipped her face in the water a lot yesterday. She was very proud of herself. We spend a lot of time with her little buddies, Calleigh and Easton, swimming and playing. Ellie likes to color and build forts and dress up in pretty clothes. She also likes being an ninja. (she told me to write that!)


I am overwhelmingly busy these days. It's amazing how much more work there is without a dishwasher and an easily accessible supermarket. It can get to one that has parking, but it's on the other side of the Lagoa, through a lot of traffic. It's just really unappealing. My other option is a fifteen/twenty minute walk to a little mercado and I have to have the food delivered, or carry it home myself. Logan was with me this weekend when I made the wrong choice to carry things home. The bags were so heavy, and Logan accidentally set his down too hard and broke the milk bottles that were inside. It was especially sad because they were the expensive milk, that tastes fresh. We splurge for it sometimes, and both bottles were ruined. He felt so bad because he didn't mean to and I really should have had the food delivered. Live and learn I guess!


What else? Oh yes, the Marine ball. It was my first, and I was also the photographer there (with Dan's amazing help). It was a lot of fun. However, in my 18th century opinion, every ball should open with a "Cinderella dance" and I have to say, I was a little disappointed not to have my waltz. DJ Casper's 'Cha Cha Slide', just wasn't the same thing. Don't get me wrong...I had a great time, and cha-cha'd like crazy, I just can't really picture Cinderella doing the slide. :)
I guess that's enough for now. I'll throw a few pictures on and be gone! I am sure I'll have lots to post about Thanksgiving next week! It's Dan's favorite holiday. Have a great week everyone!

Ellie and I have lots of time to do this these days.

 Halloween! We had a party at the kid's school and went trick or treating around some streets in Leblon with our friends. It wasn't the same, but I think we still had a good time!

Trick or Treating!

Even on Logan I don't like the mustache!

Oh, and Ellie and I got to go help out at the school on Halloween. Those kids were so spoiled, it was a lot of fun!

Ellie at the beach, being a good girl while I had a shoot. 

Ellie taking care of herself. Every "owie" needs a bandaid!

Owen's Seven!!

Pretty excited about Donkey Kong!

Breakfast of Champions!

 Swan Boats...note Dan's horrible mustache!

Home...

 This may be one of my favorite things that Rio does so far. For Christmas they construct this huge tree that is lit up and sent out on the water. They also build a huge stage and have concerts throughout the season. The stage can be seen from our balcony. It's really cool!

Ellie's tummy infection. It went from a tiny little spot on her stomach to this in less than twenty-four hours. It took two weeks of awful medicine (that she championed down, might I add) to get rid of this thing. She still has a scar though. 

My best parallel parking job ever. I did this. :) How did I get out, you might be thinking? Well, the man who helps with parking (who actually talked me into this spot) pushed the car in front of me forward to let me out. That's Rio!

 The kids lay out here after swimming every time. I think it's cute.

Finally, the Marine Ball!

Isn't he handsome? The ball was on the second of November, so he only had two days worth of mustache growth. :)