We're back from our quick trip to Mankato for Grandpa's funeral. It would be so nice to spend a couple days there - at least - but right now it's just not possible between me having a paper route and Cory working weekends. As it was, the sub I had lined up for the route cancelled the night before we left. I feel awful about leaving my boss hanging like that, although I did let him know as soon as I could and had told him about a week prior to that about needing a sub. I still have a job, though, so it must have worked out okay.

We left Thursday morning, which also happened to be Ella's fourth birthday! Before we left, Ella opened her gifts. She is a huge Dora the Explorer fan and received a Dora doll as well as Dora's twin brother and sister dolls. How convenient that Cory and I had found those on clearance at Kmart not long ago. We also gave her a new bike helmet and shoulder & knee pads, which she tried out right away despite the cold, rainy weather. Last, but not least, we added to Ella's beloved Pookie book collection with the latest.

On our way out of town, we stopped for a free breakfast at HyVee. For the past several years, our local HyVee has had an annual Harvest Breakfast that is free to the public. You receive a heaping plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, a cinnamon roll, and oj or coffee. It always draws a huge crowd and was very yummy.

Ella's wish for her birthday had been to go to Chuck E Cheese, so we stopped at the one in Sioux Falls on our way to Mankato. That's also where we lunched. We ended up spending about two hours there, and all four of the kids had a blast. We hadn't been to a Chuck E Cheese for more than a year, too, so that probably added to the thrill.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we headed straight for the funeral home in New Ulm to attend the visitation. The visitation lasted about three hours, and we spent the time visiting with many friends and relatives. It was really nice seeing so many people come to pay their respects to Grandpa. After the visitation, the majority of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren headed to my grandparent's place so everyone could have a chance to look through all of the things that had been left out and pick out things they wanted. It's really an odd feeling to go through belongings like that, but it's also necessary since everything will have to find a home eventually. There were a few things I wanted for sentimental value, including one of Grandpa's bibles. I picked one out that he received in 1969, and when I was looking through it after returning home, I found some handwritten notes, including one where he listed passages he had questions about and had even written some things in Greek. I also returned home with my grandma's sewing machine and all of her sewing supplies. I've never sewed, so this will be interesting. Accalia is very excited. I think I caved in to the peer pressure of my cousin Rachel and sisters-in-law Jessica and Kathy - all sewing machine owners - staring me down and challenging me to take it. Thanks guys!

The funeral itself was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'm not sure if it was the finality of both grandparents being gone, but it hit me harder than it seemed to with Grandma. I also had a hard time joining in singing the hymns. I would choke up every time one would start because I would immediately hear my grandpa's distinctive voice singing it instead.

We had to leave right after the service at the cemetery and made it home without incident. Cory worked last night, so that's why we were rushing once again.

Now we're preparing for the Halloween festivities! Cory is going to take the older three trick or treating this afternoon to the downtown area. The businesses always hand out candy for a couple hours, and I'm going to take that time to set up a little Halloween party I planned for the kids. Then we'll go trick or treating again in the evening. We're just going to go on our immediate block, and then Cory wanted to drive to a few different neighborhoods in town where the kids could actually walk door to door rather than trudging along looking for lit houses. Unfortunately we live in an area that is kind of hit or miss for trick or treating. I'm not sure if I'll go with them or stay home with Tylan and hand out candy. It depends on the weather and on Tylan's mood.

Now I have some party preparations to take care of while everyone is still sleeping.

Wow, I've gone more than a month now without updating! No really, I'm not trying to set any records. If you're truly craving somewhat regular updates from me, Facebook is probably your best bet at this point.

My grandfather passed away last Saturday, less than two months after my grandmother passed away. Of course we'll miss him greatly, but at the same time we're so relieved that he's no longer in pain or having difficulty breathing and that he doesn't have to be without his wife of 62 years anymore. I'm sad thinking that I have no more living grandparents - neither does Cory - and that I'm no longer someone's grandchild.

I wish I could say that all is happy and joyful on the home front, but that's far from the truth. I'm feeling so incapable as a parent right now. It seems that all four children are going through huge transitions, and I can't do anything to make things okay. Accalia's really having a difficult time with losing her close friends a couple months back. It's finally hit her that her BFF isn't next door and isn't coming over to visit like she thought would happen. She's lonely and wants her friends, and I wish I could make friends instantly appear. I talk with her about how all transitions are hard and that if she can make it through this, it will be so much better on the other side. She's joined 4-H and will have her first meeting next month, and I said that's the perfect place for her to make new friends. Keeping my fingers crossed... The good news is that she absolutely loves her ballet class and is extremely excited about the recital piece she's started to learn.

Cole is also having a hard time, and I think it's partly due to friends moving away, too. He's also been so intensely involved with legos and Indiana Jones and is now starting to lose interest and ideas for these things. That's been hard on him as he seems to be at a loss of what to do - of a new, intense interest to grab him.

Ella continues to challenge me daily as a parent. She's developed this screech when she's upset, and lately she seems upset a lot. She likes to use it in stores, too, when she wants something and doesn't have it and immediately goes into the screech mode that causes everyone around to stop and stare. Yes, you're welcome other parents. I'm the parent you're all relieved not to be at that moment. Someone has to take the job, right? At the same time, I can see little ways that she's learning more patience and more understanding. It's just taking a while. She turns four tomorrow, so maybe that will be a magical turning point!

Tylan is practically running everywhere now. Leaps and bounds with everything. Teeth are coming in. Hair is growing. Height is increasing. Verbal and physical skills improve every day. That means there's a lot of restlessness at night and a lot of frustration during the day when things don't go as planned.

And yes, I know that when the parents are stressed, that leaks to the children and can cause less than desirable behavior. I'm trying to work on that. Just feeling stressed and incapable and ick. Wishing I had a more positive blog update since I do that so rarely lately.