Happy Halloween - Part 2

Happy Halloween!

It's a beautiful, beautiful day in Colorado ~ mid 70s, sun is shining, and bright blue skies!!! This is supposed to be the warmest Halloween in Colorado in 60-something years!!! Our little pirate and our little astronaut will be able to trick-or-treat tonight without snow suits, hats, and gloves to cover up those expensive, I mean, cute costumes...and I won't freeze my ass off following them up and down the street. Okay, that's a lie...I never go with them when it's cold... I make Scott do it...so, really he won't freeze his ass off this year and I might just be able to go along for fun :o)...it's a wonderful thing!
Both kids woke up before the sun was up and were ready for school with time to spare...that's an unusual event in our house! Unfortunately, I made the decision to let Ben have a sucker after breakfast ~ because it is Halloween, after all! Heeellloooo!! He rewarded me for my generosity by puking down the front of him on the way to his school. I admit...smooth move on my part, huh. Crap! Lesson learned! :o) It was definitely a too-much-sugar combined with driving in the car, combined with all the excitement of Halloween ~ after he 'spit-up', he was running around and playing...so I know he feels fine. We are headed to the Bergs house later this evening to trick-or-treat and I think Ben is going to find most of his candy mysteriously disappear when we get home ~ clearly, he can't handle that much sugar :o)

Something we learned about both of our children this year ~ they take after me and HATE all things scary. Like me, they can't handle it! Cailey: The kids at school told Cailey about the Bloody Mary myth ~ turn around 13 time saying 'Bloody Mary' and then look in a mirror...Bloody Mary is supposed to appear in the mirror and either scratch your eyes, pull you through the mirror, or slit your throat. It's a story even I heard (and tried) when I was little ~ which I told Cailey...but she was still so freaked out that she wouldn't go to sleep. I tried covering the mirror in her room ~ she wouldn't accept the idea that, even if it were true, she had to turn around 13 times first and if she didn't do that then Bloody Mary wouldn't appear...geeessshhhh! But, she was still scared and ended up in our room shortly after we all went to bed. Ben: Ben is completely scared of all scary and spooky sounds! It's actually sort of funny and I must admit I get a kick out of his reaction when we put the Spooky Halloween Sounds CD on...which we put on more now that we know how much it scares him :o) Oh, come on...you know you would think it was funny, too.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Happy Halloween - Part 1

Ben had a small Halloween 'parade' through his school today. They also had a party with lots of treats. Not sure why they had it today because they are doing one tomorrow, too. Maybe it's to accommodate the part-time students. Oh, well. Ben will have two big Halloween days. Unfortunately, he's not as excited about wearing his costume as I thought he would be ~ that figures. I think he will get more excited tomorrow when he sees Cailey, Matt, and Zach dressed up. Cailey will have a big day with school-wide parade and classroom party. Then, we are going trick-or-treating with the Bergs and Ben and Cailey are already excited about that. Cailey will be dressed as a pirate, Ben is an astronaut/'rocket ship driver'. I am going to be a witch...okay, let the one-liners begin. I don't know if Scott is going to dress up? Hmmm...I guess I should find out. :o) Just a couple of pictures from today's parade.

Re-dedication

Cailey's Brownie re-dedication ceremony was tonight ~ they were re-dedicated as Brownies for another year! Yeah, Cailey. They also helped bridge the Daisy troop into Brownies. So cute.



After the ceremony, Cailey and I had to rush home and gather up the yummy spaghetti dinner I made for Lisa and her family. I am part of a baby sitting co-op and one of the extra things we do is make a meal for the new moms in our group. Happily, this group is fertile and a new baby has arrived about every month recently. Unhappily, this means I have to fit in extra dinners and delivery to my already super busy schedule. I like doing the meals, though. I can only imagine how nice it would have been to have 20 or so meals delivered after the birth of my children...yes, I can only imagine since I am not having any more babies and I don't get to take advantage of this particular perk ~ that sucks...that really sucks :o) Then, we had to pick up Ben from school, drive to Castle Rock, hold the new baby (of course), and then come home and get our own dinner prepared and served. Ugh...it was a late night. I am tired, tired, tired.

Happy Birthday, Ed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ED! HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY!! WE LOVE YOU!

Ready To Run

Cailey had a Fun Run at school yesterday. Thankfully, it was a warm and beautiful October day for a run! She completed seven laps in the 30-40 minutes they were alloted ~ her goal was eight...but she still seems very happy with her seven. She did a little running, a little walking, a little walking/running backwards, a little skipping and twirling (it is Cailey, after all!), and a lot of smiling. Cailey was very tired after the run and felt a little sick to her stomach ~ I think it's because they didn't give them enough water during their run...but that's my opinion.

She will be home all next week for Fall Break and I am sure she will be bbbooorrreedd. Maybe I will find something that we can do in the afternoon.

Careful...

Short story: Scott was driving with Cailey and Ben. They got caught in a traffic jam because of a car accident. The police were directing traffic but, apparently, not very well. While driving past, Scott yelled out the window, "Get your head out of your ass!" Ben decided to put his two cents in and yelled, "Yeah! Get your head out of your glass!" HA HA HA HA...careful what you say, Daddy! Scott said he was expecting Ben to say 'ass', but thankfully Ben thought it was 'glass'!

I won! I won! I won!

I finally ventured into the world of eBay. I really wasn't resistant to it, I just haven't found anything on eBay that I really, really wanted that would give me reason to sign up and go through the 'hassle'...until now.

Ben wants to be an astronaut or, more specifically, a 'rocket ship driver', for Halloween. So, I have been searching online for a costume. I have gone to Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, Party City, and a Halloween store in search of a costume for Ben. I have tried to convince him to try a Buzz Lightyear costume ~ that's a sort of astronaut, right? No, apparently not. I have tried to convince him to try Spiderman, Batman, a pirate...anything. But, no. He is sure he wants to be an astronaut. He's such a good boy and I really don't buy him much...he isn't into toys that much and I have so many hand-me-down clothes for him that I rarely buy him new clothes. It was killing me that I couldn't come through for him on this one request. I could only find the astronaut orange flight suit in an almost-too-small-size at the Halloween store ($30.00 and it does not include a helmet). Still, I tried it on Ben and he said, "That's not an astronaut!" ~ he didn't understand the whole 'flight suit' thing...he wants the helmet and 'space suit'!!! So, I caved and ventured onto eBay yesterday. I found this costume:

Ben thought this was the best costume EVER! Unfortunately, I couldn't just click a button and buy it ~ it had 5 hours left in the bidding. So I called Juli ~ the eBay buying expert, in my opinion ~ and she gave me tips on bidding for items and getting set up in eBay and PayPal. I made my first bid with 30 minutes left in the bidding and then waited...biting my nails and counting down the seconds until the bidding ended ~ hoping some loser didn't swoop in at the last minute and outbid me before I could make a counter bid! At 9:45 last night, I became the proud owner of the little rocket ship costume and I could finally say..."I WON!!!" Funny how paying for an item, a used item at that, can make you feel like you won the lottery and smile and cheer while you actually hand over your money. This is how they should do taxes...you should have to outbid someone else on the amount you are willing to pay...then when you 'win' you will gladly hand your money over. Okay, clearly there are some holes in that idea...but it could be worked out. This 'bidding' stuff puts a whole new perspective on paying for stuff :o) As a bonus, I didn't pay as much as I thought I would for this item so I bought another eBay item...the astronaut helmet!!! The one that comes with the rocket ship is more than a little dorky ~ you have to admit, this one is much better and worth the extra money :o)

I feel like the best mommy in the world right now! I can't wait until they arrive and Ben can put them on!

Careful what you say.

Ben has a good memory. But, it's just something I figured out recently. He now remembers things when I say, "Maybe later." or "Tomorrow we'll go swimming." Until recently, he would forget and I would get out of doing whatever he was asking about. Yeah...those days are gone. I told Ben yesterday about the Bugs! movie at the Wildlife Experience. Actually, I was talking to Scott about how much Ben would enjoy this show, since he is obsessed with all bugs, and Ben overheard us talking ~ so I told him, "Maybe we'll go see that tomorrow." Yes, you guess it. First thing this morning, Ben runs into our room, hops on the bed, and says, "Yeah, yeah, it's morning time! We get to see Bugs! movie today!" Oh, shoot! How did he remember that? Darn! So, Scott and I talked about it and we decided it would be a good morning activity. We headed to Wildlife Experience to catch the 10a showing of Bugs! on the IMAX screen. It's actually a great show and I would recommend this to anyone with little ones...Ben is three and sat through the whole 45 minute movie. It's not scary or icky and it's really informative. I doubt Ben cared about the informative part, but he did seem to enjoy all the creepy crawly bugs.

Lesson for today: Ben has a really good memory. I must be careful about what I say now and mean it if I say it's going to happen tomorrow! :o)

Wildlife Experience

Cailey's Girl Scout troop got to spend the night at the Wildlife Experience Museum last night. It was a fun night that started with a pizza dinner and cookies. Then, the girls learned about animal habitats and did a couple of activities/crafts about animal habitats. They also got to see a live salamander ~ named Sal. The girls then got to see a live tarantula, a snake named Opal, and a hedgehog (so cute!). The girls watched a video about bats ~ interesting animal. They did a scavenger hunt through the Colorado Walk exhibit and then got to run free through the Grossology exhibit and the Robot Zoo exhibit. Cailey's favorite part was the Grossology exhibit ~ she learned about poop, vomit, slime, smells. It was...gross. :o) The girls didn't get to sleep until 10:30! But, Cailey and I had the prime sleeping spot in a little corner of the Discovery Den in a hut that was used to watch videos ~ it was the perfect spot. We awoke this morning at 7:30a to museum lights being suddenly flipped on. Not so perfect. After gathering all our gear, we headed to breakfast and then watched an IMAX movie ~ Sea Monsters. That was very interesting. After the movie, the girls got to touch another snake ~ a boa named, Snake. We left for home and now I am in need of a nap. Enjoy the slideshow of Cailey at the Wildlife Experience.

But, I'm not sleepy!

Today Ben is home sick from pre-school. Scott came home for lunch to take Ben to a doctor's appointment ~ it's just a virus, of course. Scott put Ben down for a nap because I had a conference call that I had to be on. Scott left and one hour later I completed my conference call and went upstairs to check on Ben. I heard him coughing throughout my conference call, but I assumed he was sleeping through it. Um...no. As I walk up the stairs I see the hall closet door open and my little guy huddled in the corner, blankets unfolded, and band-aids all over. He sees me and immediately says, "Hi, Mommy. I not sleepy today." Benjamin!!! Yes, I went to get my camera and yes, it's a little funny. But, he's back in bed ~ I need that two hours of him sleeping more than he needs it (HA) :o)

O-H-I-O

I am back from my trip to Ohio! I went back to see Carrie and Brandon's new baby, Mason. I also went back for my 15 year high school reunion ~ yes, 15 years! Whew, that makes me feel a little bit old. I didn't bring my camera ~ on purpose ~ because I didn't want to lug it there and back and be worried about keeping track of it. So, the little video of pictures is a compilation of pictures that others took and sent to me...I am still hoping for some more. I will update the video when/if I get any more pictures.

Carrie and Brandon were gracious enough to let me tag along to their friends' house, Kristin and Rich, on Friday night. We had a wonderful dinner of Brats, sauerkraut, onions, German potato salad, and lots and lots of wine/champagne...and a late night...ouch. I got to meet their little boy, Grady, too. So cute!

Saturday we left for 'home' ~ the reunion was Saturday night. The reunion was fun and it was weird to see how much people have changed...or not changed (as the case was with some). I wonder if I look that different? Generally, everyone looked fantastic! We stayed out way too late (again...4am) enjoying a bon-fire at Angie's house!! I didn't have a husband or kids with me ~ I was going to live it up! Carrie's mom made yummy waffles and peaches, bacon, grits, and eggs for breakfast the next morning. Well, actually, it turned out to be brunch by the time we all got our butts out of bed :o) Then we had to start our drive back to Cleveland. The 3 1/2 hour drive ended up taking us 5 hours!! It was not a good drive. There was traffic for no explainable reason and Mason did not enjoy the car ~ he was tired, stressed out, and generally pissed that he was in the car seat. That didn't bother me so much ~ after two kids that mostly hated the car...this was a walk in the park. But the kicker: we nearly hit a deer on the highway. The semi-truck in the lane next to us hit the deer and the deer flew into our lane. Only Brandon's quick reflexes and a little guardian angel kept us from hitting the deer, too. It was a little scary ~ the closest I've ever been to being in an accident like that. Once we made it home, we all went immediately to bed ~ no joke ~ all our nerves were fried.

Monday I got to spend more time with Carrie and Mason before I boarded the plane for home. I love visiting with Carrie and her whole family! I feel like they are my second family and I always love being there. I really want to bring Cailey and Ben the next time I visit ~ they would LOVE spending time on the 'farm'...lots of sheep and cattle to look at...and spending time with Mason. Mason sure is a cutie and started rolling front-to-back and back-to-front while I was visiting...I felt really lucky to be part of that milestone.

The whole trip was fun and I was really glad to spend time with some old friends! The only drawback is that I get sad that I don't live closer ~ within driving distance ~ so I can spend more time with these wonderful people.