Halloween Eve

Bill and Janet answered my cry for help and offered to let us carve pumpkins at their house Tuesday night. Sam was interested in the tools and the stencils, but when it came to touching the pumpkin, not so much. Thankfully, Bill was a trooper and did most (all) of the dirty work. I did trace the stencils, so that was really a big help. Janet made them a Halloween themed dinner with Monsterghetti, Frozen Ghoul-ade (frozen fruit salad), Dragon Toes (green beans), and Vampire Bread (garlic bread).

On the way home, Sam was looking out the car window at the stars. Of course, he started to name them. He started out with “Starry”, and said, “Who are your other friends, Starry? Oh, I can name them? Thank you.”

So he named them: “Starry, Gus, Dexter, Twinkle, Jonas Brothers.” “Oh, hi, Jonas Brothers. I didn’t see you there.”

I thought, isn’t the Jonas Brothers a group? Yes, I just saw them on Ellen. How in the world does Sam know who they are? It can’t be a coincidence.

So, casually, I asked, ‘Sam who are the Jonas Brothers.’

“Well, I called the stars that, but they are really a group that plays and sings music.”

“Where did you see them,” I asked.

“On Disney, and Zach and Cody. They sing a song that goes…” and he began to sing a song I have heard, but I couldn’t repeat it now.

See, even when you don’t purposely expose them to pop culture, they can’t help but absorb it. You may as well teach them how to respond rather than try and shield them!

Kate's First Birthday

October 28 is Kate's birthday, and we celebrated all weekend long with family and friends. Her party was on Saturday, and featured presents and cake. That's it. No big production, nothing too scheduled, just cake and presents. Presents and cake. It was great. Thanks to all of our good friends and family who were able to stop by and celebrate with us.

The big show was Kate's cake-eating. It was a classic, first birthday scene-- like you might see in a movie-- she ate cake. Lots. She showed no fear. Nothing-- not icing or dog or cardboard would keep her from eating the cake. She grabbed it by the handful and stuck her face in it. She ended up with it in her hair and ears and eyes, which is when she finally had to stop. She ate almost half of the little cake. Here are the pics...

Kate's First Haircut

Just in time for her big birthday, Kate had her haircut. My friend (and stylist) Rebecca graciously agreed to tackle the growing, but unruly mane. Both stylist and baby were great. Rebecca had the brilliant idea to give her a sucker, and though sticky, it worked. See pictures for more fun!

Last Football Game

Saturday was Sam's last football practice of the season and they had their big "game". Sam actually ran the right direction and scored 2 touchdowns! He's turned into quite the athlete, although he was still more concerned with waving to the sidelines than getting flags. Here are a few pictures from the game, courtesy of Janet.

School days

Miss Madeline, one of Sam's teachers, overheard her explaining to another student that they were going to eat in a different room today, but be picked up by their parents in the same room that they are always in on Friday. Sam said, "It's like how you leave your laundry in one place and then go back and pick it up when it's done in the same place."

Right, just like that.

Daddy is a superhero!

Stuart and Clarence worked hard all weekend (helped by Mary and my mom) to clean out the garage so that we can put two cars in it (a major undertaking, if you've seen my garage!) Sam is so proud of it, he keeps saying, "Look mom, we can get two cars in here! Isn't that amazing!?!"

When we left for school yesterday, he said again, "Mom, isn't it so great that I worked hard and got the garage all nice and clean. Well, Daddy and Granddad helped too."

Later, when we left the house, he said, "Mommy, when did Nanny drive to our house?" I thought he might be confused about the origins of our new wheels, courtesy of my grandmother, and said, "She hasn't driven here for a long time. This is our car now, Sam."

"Then how did it know to open our garage?" he asked.

"Oh, well, Daddy fixed the car so that it would open our garage instead of Nanny's. He did that last night," I replied.

"Daddy can fix ANYTHING," Sam said, fully in awe of his Daddy. "But sometimes he needs a little help from me and Granddad."

My pants man

Here's my grown-up pants man in his new superman pj pants and non-matching shirt. And sunglasses. What can I say, he's got eclectic taste!



For those who are curious, above find a picture of Stuart and I at a recent fundraiser for the Truman Heartland Community Foundation. We're all dressed up and fancy and stuff.

Dancing Sam

Most of you know of Sam's dancing exploits. He dances to all types of music, and I have rather unfortunatly exposed him to many a classic 80s song, Mamma Mia by Abba, and most recently, Toby Mac. So, dancing he does. Often.

Last night at church, they did some dancing in preschool choir. Sam loves preschool choir and the leaders are so good about filling the time with fun activities. Apparently there was some dancing, and Sam was shaking his booty with the rest. I know this because every teacher, individually, made a comment to me about the source of Sam's dancing ability. "His butt seems to move in a full circle," one said. Yes, it's a gift.

Then I found out that there was a visitor (whose mom has been attending our class, no less" that Sam enjoyed shaking his booty with. So on Sunday, I'll be apologizing for any dancing exploits that may have permanently injured another girl's psyche. We may be looking for a church before long.

Family Fun Night

Granddad, Grandma, Kate and Sam on a hayride

Grandma and Sam working on Sam's scarecrow

Sam and his scarecrow (It's supposed to look like SuperWhy, but I don't really think he does. What, you don't know who SuperWhy is?!!)

Sam in the maze

Sam and his friends (he didn't want to sit with us) on the hayride.

Monday night was Fall Fun Night at Sam's preschool. It was lots of fun. We went early and took Kate and Grandma and Granddad along for the fun. Sam had such a good time, he didn't want to leave.