Halloween Festivities

Connor's daycare has held an annual "Treat Street" the past 8 years. However, at the last minute, the fire chief put a stop to this year's plans. It had something to do with the decorations covering the walls from the floor to the ceiling being a fire hazard. Rather than modify the decorations, they chose to cancel the festivities altogether. It was quite disappointing for the kids, and didn't make too many parents happy either. However, in an effort to make it up, they decided to do different themes each day of Halloween week. One day was crazy hair day. Daddy picked up colored hair spray on Tuesday night, and in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, I coifed his hair into a mohawk and sprayed it stiff. Today was their Halloween parade. All the kids sat in the hallway while each class took a turn marching through the school to show off their costumes. (I'm pretty sure if the fire chief knew about this, it would have been canceled too.) I stayed to watch the parade with Riley, Grandma, and Mischa. After the parade, each class held a party. We snuck out for a few minutes to snap a picture of Connor with Rita. Her mom, Jennifer, is brilliant when it comes to Halloween costumes. She makes them herself, and keeps it an absolute secret from everyone, even Rita. This year Rita was a toy soldier and was absolutely adorable. After we got some pictures of the two of them, we returned for Connor's class party. We stayed for the party, then Grandma loaded up all the kids in her car while I headed off to work. After a few hours, I headed to Grandma's house to pick up the boys and bring them back to work with me. At the last minute, my office had decided to do a "Treat Street" for everyone's kids to attend. It went better than expected, considering neither boy had taken an afternoon nap. Of course Connor had to bring his Halloween flashlight along to scare people. I think they were more amused than scared, but he enjoyed it regardless. Riley was quite taken with a little stuffed dancing monster. I think he really just wanted to eat it.

We had to cut Treat Street a bit short so we could get Riley to his 6 month doctor appointment. He checked out just fine of course. The doctor confirmed yet again that not only is he a chunk, but he's also adorable. We made it home in time to eat a quick bite of supper before the doorbell began ringing. Connor loved handing out candy to all the Trick-or-Treaters and was not shy about sharing his opinion on each costume. He also waited to hand out the candy until he was sure each kid had actually said the words, "Trick or treat." If he didn't hear them say it, he asked them to say it. I'm not sure what he actually enjoyed more - handing out the candy or stealing a piece for himself when he thought I wasn't looking.

SIX MONTHS

Riley has been a natural poser since I first snapping pictures of him with my camera six months ago. But these pictures show what a photogenic kid he really is. Just too cute! I especially love the baby boobies. I'll definitely be using this photo for blackmail later in his life.
.
.
.

My Little Piggy

Doing what he does best. Just goes to show why he's such a chunk.

The Carving

Since Connor didn't get around to carving his pumpkin at the party, we worked on it this afternoon. But typical Connor-style, he didn't want to get his hands goopy. He did as much as he could without getting his precious hands dirty, then I had to scoop out the rest.

.

.

.

Someone brought in a huge box full of Halloween flashlights to Daddy's work, so he brought one home for Connor. He demonstrated it for Connor tonight. I was certain it might scare him, but he absolutely loved it. He continuously pushed each button so he could hear each scary sound. We had to eventually tell him to turn it off.

Halloween Party

Some friends of ours, Jason and Kim, have an annual pumpkin carving party. We attended last year's party, but weren't able to stay long since it was the same night as Connor's "Treat Street" at school. We thought we'd be running into the same problem this year, but "Treat Street" was canceled at the last minute so there was no conflict. Days before the party, I asked Daddy if we (or at least Connor) were supposed to dress up in Halloween costumes for the party. His response was no, he didn't think so. Of course when we arrived for the party, the majority of the kids were in costumes. Oh well. We were able to hang out for quite a while before we had to leave so Daddy could go to work. Connor was much more interested in playing in the backyard than he was in carving his pumpkin. We were able to reign him in for a bit so he could eat, but it wasn't long before he was running around outside again. One of the highlights of any party hosted by Jason and Kim is the cake. Kim's friend from work does an incredible job decorating cakes. As impressed as Connor was with the cake, he could barely stand the wait before we were able to cut into it. The other highlight of the party for Connor was the pair of vampire teeth he got as a party favor. I don't remember the last time he looked at himself in the mirror so much. It was even more exciting when he realized the teeth glow in the dark.

The Pledge of Allegiance

I usually try not to boast, but I don't know many three year olds who can do this. I'm pretty sure I didn't know it when I was three. That darn "indivisible" gets him every time though.

Do Re Mi

When tucking Connor into bed at night, he likes to pick a couple of songs to sing. Every now and then I try to think of a new one to spring on him. It usually only takes a couple of nights before he announces he wants to sing the new song himself. This week, I picked a song from The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. He did a pretty good job. He has his own names for the songs though.

The "Doe" Song:

The "Superhero" Song:

Spidey

Connor knew months ago what he wanted to be for Halloween. He absolutely LOVES Spiderman. I thought about getting a superhero costume for Riley, like Batman or Superman, but decided to forego paying the $30 for something he would wear for an hour. Instead, Riley used the frog costume that Connor wore 3 years ago. In preparation of sending out some cards to family members, I wanted to take pictures of the boys wearing their costumes. You could see how perplexed Riley was when he saw Connor. He recognized Connor's voice, but with Connor wearing the mask, he was quite confused. We tried the mask on Riley. It a bit too big for him, as you can imagine. You can practically see his entire face through the eye of the mask, which Connor thought was pretty funny. When we were done taking pictures, Connor reluctantly took off the costume. He wanted to play in it, sleep in it, etc. I managed to convince him that he needed to wait until after Halloween to do that.

Moo Cow

Grandma and Grandpa went to Wisconsin last month for Grandpa's 50 year high school reunion. (Sheesh, 50 years!) They brought back little mementos for everyone. For Connor, they brought a Green Bay Packers mini football. For Riley, a stuffed cow. He's been dragging the cow around with him everywhere he goes, but he doesn't always use his hands to drag it from place to place. He has found that his mouth is useful for more than just eating. While clenching it in his mouth, he likes to swing it back and forth. What can we say - he's easily amused.

Unexpected

When Connor fell down and scraped his knee a few weeks ago, he asked why he was bleeding. As basic as I could, I explained to him that everyone needs blood in their bodies in order to live and breathe. He talked about the necessity of blood for days on end after that. Well, tonight after dinner I thought the subject was going to come up again, but I was mistaken. Connor was looking at a catalog with Halloween costumes and found a picture of a skeleton in it.

Connor: Mommy, everyone has bones in their bodies.
Mommy: That's right. What else does everyone have in their bodies?
[This is where I thought he'd give the appropriate answer of blood, but instead . . .]
Connor: Um, I don't know . . . poopies?

Utah, Here We Come . . . Again

I try to make a trip out to Utah at least once a year to visit Jules, Brrrian and their boys. It started when Kenner was born, and has worked out that we go out each year around his birthday by taking advantage of the Columbus Day weekend. It's always a quick trip and I don't always get to see everyone I'd like to see, but I'm glad to have the chance to go. Connor enjoys the trip "to Kenner's mountain" even though it's "far far away." We prepare for the trip with gadgets for him to play with along the way, and of course lots of DVDs to watch. We left fairly early Friday morning, picking up David at his house on the way out of town. Unbeknownst to Grandma, we had planned a surprise blueberry pancake breakfast at David's for her birthday. After we ate, we set out on our journey. However, we had only been on the road for 1/2 hour when tragedy struck . . . the DVD player died on us. Luckily, the other items we brought for Connor entertained him for the most part. Unfortunately though, the trip took 2 hours longer than normal due to making extra stops for Riley. So over the next 9 1/2 hours, I think Connor asked "Are we there yet?" at least two dozen times. We've never been so happy to arrive at a destination. Jules and Brrrian fed us dinner, and we just lounged around the rest of the evening. Even knowing how it would most likely end, we decided it would be fun for Connor to sleep in Kenner's room with him. It turned out to be a very BAD idea. Connor sleeps with a nightlight, whereas Kenner does not. That was just the beginning. We would periodically hear different noises while we were downstairs, so would go up to check up on them. Sometimes this kid was touching that kid or that kid was looking at this kid. It all came to a screeching halt around midnight when Kenner turned the light on in the room and Connor was crying because he had gone potty in his pull up. Connor slept in the room I was sharing with Riley for the rest of the trip.

The next day we lounged around some more, just spending time together and watching the kids play. Miraculously, the stars were aligned just right and all four kids went down for a nap at the same time. It will never happen again. Grandma stayed with the kids while the rest of us went birthday present shopping for Kenner. Of course by the time we got back, all four kids were wide awake. We had to prepare for Kenner's party, so it was just as well.











Kenner's "Red" grandparents came over for his party. (Brrrian's parents are U of U fans, hence they are "red." My parents are BYU fans, so they are "blue.") We were all entertained watching Kenner open his presents, especially when he opened one of his last presents and found his favorite character inside, Curious George. With that said, the REAL fun started when Red Grandma helped Kameron demonstrate his new skill. When his arm is raised, so is his middle finger.











The next morning, we woke up to snow on the ground. It was the first of the season for us. The boys were quite taken with it and wanted to go outside to play in it. However, instead of romping in the snow, they had to get ready for church instead. After church, lounged around some more and ended up amusing ourselves by dressing Riley in the infamous brown suit. The history of the brown suit goes back to when Micah was an infant. He wore this brown suit, which everyone says looks like lederhosen, and Nate thought it was so funny, it was handed over to him to keep. Nate didn't have it handy when Connor was an infant, but Kenner was lucky enough to model in it. Since then, Lexi has joined the brown suit club, as well as Kameron. It was only fitting for Riley to have to wear it as well.












Nate, Dre and Lexi were in Utah over the weekend for Dre's brother's wedding, so they joined us Sunday afternoon. Unbeknownst to Grandma, we had another surprise in store for her. Each time she's gone back to Utah, she has vowed to get in touch with a longtime friend, Vicky. However, it never seemed to pan out. Our families grew up together and we did lots of activities with together - camping, acting out Star Wars, etc. Knowing we were coming out, Julia took the initiative and contacted Vicky to invite her over for a surprise birthday party for Grandma. We were all sitting in the front room talking when there was a knock at the door. When Vicky walked in, Grandma glanced over at her, continued talking, then did a double take. She was very pleasantly surprised. Seeing them reunite was worth the trip in itself.

We headed home the next morning. It's always fun to see Connor and Kenner get together every few months since they seem to change so much in that time. Pretty soon, we'll be watching the progress with Lexi, Kameron and Riley as well.

Open Wide!

I had intended to get Connor in to the dentist when he turned 3. However, being 8 months pregnant at that time, it just didn't happen. I finally managed to remember to schedule an appointment for him about 6 weeks ago. In preparation for his first visit, we read a couple of books to help him understand what to expect. Thanks to Spongebob Squarepants and The Berenstein Bears, it actually went pretty well . . . for the most part. A new pediatric dentist office opened in the town center close to our home, so that's where we went. I'll admit my expectations of the office were a bit different. Being a pediatric dentist, I assumed it would be geared towards kids. The office itself was very modern and not at all what I consider kid friendly. The chairs for the cleaning were regular adult size, so Connor had to use his legs to keep his head propped up where it needed to be. However, I will say the staff was great. Connor was fairly impressed from the start when he settled into the chair and realized there was a TV in the ceiling for him to watch. Not only that, but it was playing one of his favorite movies, Ella Enchanted. That provided a great distraction for him for the first part of the cleaning, while the hygenist was poking and prodding around in his mouth. When it came time to the actual cleaning, however, he was done. He was out of his chair and through the door before I caught up to him. Apparently he didn't like the noise or the vibration in his mouth. We weren't able to convince him to hop back in the chair until the dentist came in. He introduced himself as Dr. Patrick. Connor asked, "You mean like Spongebob's friend?" He was immediately in Connor's good graces. Dr. Patrick finished the checkup by using a manual toothbrush with no further incidents.

When it was time to leave, Connor was allowed to pick out a prize from a treasure chest. Dr. Patrick also suggested that we check out their fish tank. I was pleasantly surprised. It's the one thing in their office that is actually kid friendly. It was a Finding Nemo themed tank. They had every fish you can think of from the movie - Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Flo, Gil, etc. Connor was pretty impressed. He was mesmerized by watching them swim around, which is a good thing. I may have to use it as a bribe to get him to go back.

Rollin'

Riley's newfound skill is rolling over. He does it when you least expect it. For instance, he can be in the middle of the bed one second, and on the floor the next. (Yes, I'm sorry to say that was the first successful roll over that I witnessed.) I've been trying to get it on film for a while now, but he does it on his own terms, when he wants. I was finally able to catch it on film.




P.S. In the video, I refer to Connor's crazy outfit that he was wearing. I made him pose so I could take a picture of his getup. Yep, those are Daddy's socks he's wearing.