No school! The horror!

I hate scheduling dentist appointments (for me or for the kids) because you have to book them six months in advance (our practice is really big, and they always ask you when you're checking out to book your next check up, and they book up quick, so rescheduling at the last minute can't ever happen without a 3-month wait).

 The problem is, I never know what I am going to be doing in 6 months, and I always manage to book the most inconvenient time in the universe.

Like yesterday. Ben had to be on campus by noon, and the kids were off school for teacher professional development, so I had to rush home from giving a midterm from 8-9:15 am to feed everyone an early lunch and wrangle them all at the dentist, so Harry could get a check up at 11:30. HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN THAT WOULD HAPPEN when I booked the appointment in April?

Harry and Jack are on different schedules because it got to be really tricky to take everyone at the same time, but I am starting to think it's even worse to have them at different times because I am just getting screwed by scheduling karma more often.

Anyway, Harry went back in the exam room all by himself, and he was chatty as every, despite having someone's hands in his mouth. When the hygienist came out at the end to tell me he has 5 loose teeth, she congratulated me on the baby and said how exciting it was that it's a girl. Harry told me on the way out that she is also having a baby but hasn't found out the sex yet. Such a conversationalist, that one.

 It was a screamy 30 minute wait

Ben was home after dinner, and that afternoon dragged on and on while I sat on the basement floor surrounded by toys and had small people yelling at me and ordering me to bring them things.  I also felt really crappy (a cold--nothing serious), so I didn't go back to campus for a meeting like I usually do, but I totally regretted that decision hour four million of the afternoon).

Jack took this serious selfie during yesterday afternoon's interminable playtime. 

Cooper is part ape (mostly ape).

Today, the big boys and I were supposed to go ice skating and to a movie (Hotel Transylvania) while Cooper stayed home with a sitter, but that outing was canceled due to atrocious behavior, s we went to Trader Joe's instead where Harry and Jack pushed little carts and counted on Mr. Screams to distract me while they piled hundreds of dollars of junk food into their carts and mine (it totally worked-- I didn't realize what had happened until I was entering my PIN number).

All 3 boys ate pizza, strawberries, and Halloween Joe Joes for lunch.  They trashed the place while I made lunch and whipped up some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  Look at he back ground-- trashed!

Seriously trashed.

Never fear, by the time the muffins were out of the oven, it looked like this again.

Aaaaaah...

They boys played hide and seek while I cleaned up lunch and put away laundry, and it was adorable.  Jack shut the door of every room he hid in-- a dead giveaway.  Harry got sick of waiting and his disembodied voice wafted through the house: "I'm in the closet.  Come find me."  Putting towels away in the kids' bathroom, I found Cooper with the step stool pushed up against the tub, standing on the stool, wrapped in the shower curtain-- such a good hider already.

We have been letting Cooper curate the bottom shelf of our bookshelf, and this is his current collection:

Oh!  My lovely friend Kate sent me a box of completely precious baby girl clothes.  How awesome is that?  I am especially loving the dress on top-- newborn Harry had the boy version of that outfit from Carters-- so, so cute, as is the rest of it.  What a great package--totally made my day!