Halloween 2010

I am officially converted. Fall is my new favorite. I used to hate Halloween. Hate. It's better now that I'm not teaching and don't have to control the 5th grade masses and pure craziness that was so opposite of everything I was as a teacher. Believe it or not, there was lots of structure and routine. There is nothing structured or routine about Halloween at an elementary school, so it kind of threw me into a tizzy.

However, I've since changed my tune and have quite enjoyed the past week with my own kiddos.

First up: pumpkin carving. Gavin thought this was great. You can't see it, but his handy work is on the side of the pumpkin. We let him decorate with pen instead of a knife. Safer.

Gavin as the cowboy.
SO ready for trick-or-treating. "I'm so excited, mom!"
McKay as the nice dragon.
And CUTE dragon.

Dad as the cowboy's dad. He's all about the pie tin belt buckles. And he rocked the handlebar 'stache.
We went out with our friends, the Jense's. Ayda and the boys are good friends.
The day was perfect and then by 4:00 it was starting to look ugly. I was dead set on trick-or-treating. We had waited all month! Who knew if the storm would blow over or what, so around 5:30 we headed out. One group of kids had come to our house and there was one other family out with us. I was surprised that more were not out, but as the rain kept coming harder and harder, I understood why. We were soaked. I took one picture because I was trying to keep everything dry. After about 8 houses, we called it a night. Look at Ayda's dress in this picture.
The brim on Gavin's hat was flat by the time we got home. We hurried home and got dry and then served our "Happy Halloweiner" hotdogs from our garage. A big hit. Next year Brian wants a big banner. I think I'll get going on that early. We're already thinking about our costumes for next year. We've got big plans. The weather better cooperate...

Two Words

Potty Training.

a.k.a. Don't plan to leave the house EVER

The boots? Part of his Halloween getup. He hasn't worn pants in days.


Passing the time.
"Are you kidding me, mom? Not right now." He's already embarrassed of me. We have a picture of Brian like this on our wedding video. I'm sure he'll want to use this for his own.

Stats: (So I remember for the next kid just how long this took...)

Two weeks down. Lots of success peeing. Only two poops - still scared about that. Six or seven accidents?? LOTS of work for mom. He's a smart boy - he's getting it. Now I just need to get to the point where I can take him out on longer errands and be able to take care of McKay at the same time. Tricky.

But that's a cute bum.

Brothers

These guys are getting to be good friends. Gavin is increasingly aware of McKay and what he needs. They sit by each other like old pals.
I often look over and they are holding hands. I love moments like that.
McKay is getting SO SO fun. He's had a great month - lots of new tricks. I really do love him more and more every day. I'm pretty sure he loves me too.

Gavin is hot and cold. I either want to squeeze him and eat him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner or give him up for adoption. I haven't found middle ground with him. Is there middle ground with a two-year-old? Two days last week were adoption days. Maybe three. On the other days, I feasted on my little men.

Why My Husband Rules

He took me dancing. Yes, dancing. Like the real Ballroom kind - think Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.

I'll tell you what - it was exactly like the movie Shall We Dance with JLo, Richard Gere, and Susan Surandon. If you haven't seen it, then do. It is wonderful. I've been hinting to Brian that we should do something like that for years now. He's really good at taking my hints. Sometimes it takes awhile to pull through, but we always does. Big. Minus Brian coming up an escalator in a tuxedo, he pulled out all the stops.

This is Martin. Pronounced Mar-teen. He was hysterical. Can you tell? He made us get up for every dance and would come and help us with our moves. We weren't super great at the Cha-Cha, but I think we rocked the Argentine Tango and the Waltz. He told me to stop looking down, let Brian lead, and don't have floppy arms. We took an hour class on the Tango and then hung around for the free dance afterwards.
So all of these people are regulars. I counted about 25 people total. We were the only couple there. People come from everywhere to dance. Some come alone, some with a friend or date. Besides the carnival, you've never seen such a variety of people in your life. The guy in his button-up shirt, tie, and slacks dancing with a young 20-something shy wallflower type of girl. Girls dancing with girls laughing and having the time of their life. Men butting in with Brian to show him how to properly lead me. It was just normal. We were the newbies and were quickly welcomed into this family. Although we were only there for a few hours, everyone waved as we left.
This is pretty much what we looked like - me laughing and Brian trying so hard to be precise and lead me in the right direction. Interestingly enough, I was to blame for my feet getting stepped on. Even the teacher agreed with him!
In addition to the dancing, there was shopping, dinner at Biaggi's, more shopping, swimming, hot tubs, and a stay at the Little America.

The perfect weekend.

Angie Dudley a.k.a. Bakerella

Yep, I met her. Drove myself up to SLC last week for her star-studded appearance at Williams-Sonoma.
We're pretty much BFFs.

Sunday at the Park

It's what you do when the weather is perfect, which is what is has been lately. Fall is my new favorite season. Hands down.
Gavin is growing up so fast. A true big boy. Who needs mom and dad to follow him around so he'll be safe to climb up ladders and go down big slides? Not him.
And then there's this sweet boy. We're pretty much attached at the hip. He's a little person now - totally alive and ready to see the world.

I'm in love.

Human

Sometimes I reread things I've written and wonder if people think that I think life is perfect. Not that it matters what everyone thinks, but still. It's not. And I'll tell you, I'm as faulty as they come. At lots of things.

Yesterday I lost it. Completely. I was tired. I was over-committed. I was snippy. I was downright mean. Nothing major even happened except that, as usual, I got started on too many things and then got irritated when things weren't going smoothly and little fingers were trying to help me. Note to self: making dinner and sugar cookies and holding a crying baby and entertaining Gavin are not good things to do all at the same time. All good things - just not all at once. I find myself in a good, great, productive place about every third day. On the others I'm just scrambling. How's that for being human?

I vowed today would be better. Talk softly. Be patient. Just get the kitchen back in working order (since that was the LAST STRAW yesterday) and love on the boys. Period. Such a better feeling around here. Turns out when I'm calm the kids are calm. Hmm. I think it's true that I control the weather - I can hurt or heal. Why am I always the last one to figure these things out or take 100 lessons to learn it?