Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween

Megan couldn't wait for Halloween - any excuse to wear a ballet outfit is a good one these days (she's been sleeping in them lately , too). Fortunately, the kids got a costume preview day at a friend's Early Halloween 4th b-day party, so we were well prepared for the big day.



Liam went as a clown, the same costume that Megan, Mac and both of his sisters wore when they were all two years old. Does that make the Smiths a family of Bozos??




Not sure if Liam had a clue what was going on, but he was happy to be out an about (once the wig was off) and he seemed to get into the spirit, spending the whole night yelling, "Chick cheat." Close enough, I guess, cause everybody gave him candy.






Afterwards our "fairy ballerina" showed off her dance moves. The pink on her cheek isn't make-up - that's where she crashed into the floor from dancing in slippery tights (the inside of her lip is purple, too). It seems our dancing queen still needs a bit of practice!



Not to worry - nothing a few pieces of candy couldn't cure!



Poor Liam didn't get to sample the wares that night. He went straight to bed - no clowning around!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Shower Power

Kids grow up fast. It seems mine have already outgrown baths. This is the new exciting way to get clean (I am sure we will be back to baths when this gets old).





Monday, October 20, 2008

A Haircut

Growing up I always wanted very long hair, but my hair only grows to about my midback, no matter how long I go without a cut. Perhaps that's why Megan's never gotten more of a trim - a bit of a vicarious hair-do. But we've had one too many days with hair in the yogurt, pancake syrup, jelly...you name it. And even when it is clean, it is still often just a tangled mess. So today's order of business was to tame the tresses!



Before






After



It's still pony tail long, but without the bottom six inches.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Nothing is Safe Anymore!

Liam figures things out in a way that Megan just never did. In contrast Megan knew ALL of her colors at this point. Liam still just says 'red' (no longer pink) for everything. Today he figured out how to get up onto the counter, by dragging the little chair over to the big chair. I should also mention that Liam is bruised up in a way that Megan never was!






Also, heard in our house: "Liam! You can't stand on the cat!"

Monday, October 13, 2008

Cousin Brooke

Cousin Brooke and Auntie Sarah came down for the weekend. Besides crying, sleeping, eating, and fighting, the kids actually did some playing together.

We did get a chance to get another Halloween picture of the kids. The kids got bigger; our pumpkin/gourd crop got smaller. (On purpose - Things were a bit crazy last year!) The kids seemed to be a bit more photogenic last year. Maybe my sister got a good shot, but I am not holding my breath - none of the kids wanted to sit STILL!




We also celebrated Brooke's second b-day a few days early (despite hoe it looks, we did NOT drug her!)



Friday, October 10, 2008

Welcome Home, Mom!

When I was young, my Auntie Carol used to make matching outfits for me and my doll and I used to enjoy having a mini-twin. So it seems natural that Megan might want to match her doll, too. But I was a little shocked when I was greeted from work by this matched set (doll strategically placed!):




After we took Megan's picture, she thought we needed our picture taken, too. We insisted on keep our clothes ON!






Thursday, October 9, 2008

Friday, October 3, 2008

EZ Orchards

I took the day off work to brave the rain and join the family and the Little Red School House Crowd at EZ Orchards.

We took a hayride.




We picked out a pumpkin.




Liam got very excited about apple picking. Look how the Dude has grown!




Megan and Mac climbed the hay tower.




Liam didn't want to be left out. Megan also went down the tunnel slide twice, but only after Liam did it first!




Then pet the animals, eat a donut, browse the store (buy more donuts!) and call it a day.




Thursday, October 2, 2008

September Wrap-Up

Get A Room: Our construction project finally wrapped up in the beginning of the month. As part of the inside painting we decided to "masculinize" one of the bedrooms for Liam. And so Liam finally has a room of his own! It is the smallest, but arguably the nicest, of the bedrooms in the house with its windows on two sides. And from Liam's perspective these are pretty capacious digs after residing in a 54 sq. ft. closet for 18 months. The irony is that the four huge windows let in ample light, even with the shades drawn and Liam seems to be pretty sleep-sensitive to light. To get around this dilemma we put his crib... IN THE CLOSET! (please don't interpret this as some deep seated parental fear of having Liam come out of the closet!).

Failed Bribery: Mid-month Megan and I had a "Special Princess Tea Party" (Does that make us Special Princesses?). I promised her we could have this party when she stopped wearing diapers to bed (she hasn't peed at night in over six months). So finally, she announced she was ready. We had the tea party and Megan went to bed in UNDERWEAR! The night passed without incident, but by the next night Megan was throwing tantrums to have her diaper back. Oh well, it was a good try. We did agree that four year olds don't wear diapers, so hopefully the end is only a few months away. We may have to celebrate with another tea party.




Howdy Partner: I became a partner at work. During the process I learned exactly why there are so many lawyer jokes. Anyway, it looks like our roots in Salem just got VERY deep so we shouldn't be moving anytime soon.

Out with the Old: As I reassembled the house, I went crazy getting rid of stuff - three carloads out of the house. Wow it felt good! I could definitely be one of those people who's gets rid of all their stuff and lives without possessions. I felt especially good about culling the stuffed animal herd. Man I hate those worthless dust collectors!

Play nice: Megan and Liam are playing together with increasing frequency, leaving me to fantasize about days when I can just say,"Kids go play!" and they actually do so.




School Days: After initial trepidation, Megan LOVES school. Like everything else, she just needed to warm up to the idea. These days she's taking on reading. Most three letter words are no problem (consonant-vowel-consonant words). She gave up Sesame Street songs on Youtube as a treat in favor of Clifford the Big Red Dog spelling and reading games (BTW - she can spell "big red dog" too!). And we no longer get to spell for secret parental communication. She's not always right but she's on the right track. Talking to Mac about her P-O-T-T-Y Megan was sure we were talking about the pond and when I asked Mac if he wanted the C-A-N-D-L-E at dinner, Megan's reply was,"I want some candy!"

Double speak: Liam has this weird habit of making every word a double. It reminds me of my Grandmother who always greeted everyone with a "Hi, Hi!" In our house we have "may-may" (Megan) and "Don-don" (Dante). At night we take a "show-show" (shower) and when he's naked he likes to play with his "peen-peen" (boy does he ever!). Favorite activities include "climb - climb" (climbing on anything!) and watching "Barn-Barn" (Barney, the purple dinosaur). In other Liam news he's still having a lot of trouble using the "poon-poon" (spoon). He's starting to learn his colors, but he always answers pink (then yellow). We only demonstrate this skill on pink objects when we want him to look smart.

Too much of a good thing: We just couldn't get enough of the construction chaos, so we decided to replace our roof, too! The 30 year old cedar shingle roof only had a couple of years left at best, so we decided to replace it this year before it leaked on our brand new siding. It also seemed liked a good idea to only have our plants pulverized to dust one year! So more nails, dumpsters, strange guys and a port-a-potty at our house again!

Now on to October!