Halloween preview

The cutest cowboy ever (sans hat, of course) and Luke Skywalker.

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch today, and I had high hope for us to have a really fun time. A few of us did, but the smallest person in our house was quite umimpressed with everything but the animals. He didn't want to ride the tractor train, he didn't want to take pictures with the pumpkins, he didn't want to do the hay ride, he didn't want to climb on an old, red truck to take pictures, and he didn't want to eat a hot dog for lunch. He DID NOT have fun.
One of the only pictures I got with Noah and an actual pumpkin. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Oops!

Yesterday morning I was cleaning the house, and Noah was supposed to be watching his favorite video. He wandered into the bathroom as I was cleaning it, and I really didn't pay much attention to what he was doing. A few minutes later, Gary came out of his office and called me into the living room. He found Noah sitting in a chair, watching his video, with a bottle of Scope. He was holding the top like a cup and was pretty much drenched with Scope. There were two large blue spots on the carpet, too. I smelled his breath to try to figure out if he drank any of it or just poured it out. Gary called poison control just to be safe, but they assured us that if he had ingested a large amount he would have started throwing up. There was never any throwing up or other ill effects, thank goodness, and I even got the Scope out of the carpet. We never called poison control with Luke. It's really no big surprise we've already called with Noah. I just wish I had gotten a picture of him sitting there with the bottle in one hand and the top in the other. I'm still wondering how he got the darn thing open.

Soccer blues

Only two more games to suffer through before this season is over. That's right, I said suffer. Luke's cumulative three-season record is 0-21. They have never won a game. They haven't even come close this season. Gary & I can't quite figure out what the deal is with his team, but it's gotten pretty frustrating, even for Luke who is usually happy with just getting a snack after the game. He told me a few days ago, "Mommy, we never win. I wonder if we'll ever win a game." It made me sad. I know it's not all about winning, but I think it should be a little bit about winning. Everyone needs to feel successful at some point. Otherwise whatever you're doing just becomes a beat-down. So, we'll stick it out for two more games and then regroup for the spring. I took a few pictures last week, mostly during practice (the team is much better during practice than games.)

Surprise! It's a post about Noah!

I realize I cut Noah's head off in this picture, but I was really trying to get his snazzy sock/flip-flop combo.
New kicks . . . it's a good thing, too. The hand-me-down shoes he was wearing were 1 1/2 sizes too small. Oops.

There's not much cuter than a boy in overalls.

Clifford's costume

And it begins . . . Luke's first real homework assignment was to make a Halloween costume for a paper version of Clifford the Big Red Dog. He decided he wanted Clifford to be a pumpkin; I made it happen. The costume is made out of a styrofoam ball, felt, pipe cleaners, and construction paper for the leaves. Gary's first reaction was, "It doesn't look like Luke made it". The directions did say that it was a family project and, come on, how is a five-year-old going to make a costume? Luke was actually very instrumental in the whole process: he cut out Clifford, helped me glue the felt on, cut out the leaves, and stuck the stem in Clifford's hat. It was a group effort, and a darn good one, I think.

Talk the talk

Noah's vocabulary is once again on the rise. After several months with very few new words, he has suddenly started saying (or attempting to say) some new words. I've translated them from Noah to English so you'll all understand:

-"ba-pa" = backpack
-"bum-bu-bu" or "bum-bu-bu-bu" = bumblebee
-"na-na-na" = lemondae

OK, so it's not that impressive, and you really have to spend all day with him like I do to be able to make sense out of his utterings, but it's progress.

One other note about Noah - he is a candy fiend just like his brother and me. I have a Halloween candy jar with candy corns in it. I personally could eat candy corns till I vomit, so I'm in the jar on and off throughout the day. If it's not an appropriate time to eat candy or I think Noah's had enough, I have to take the top off the jar very, very quietly, because if he even thinks he hears me opening the jar, he'll run out and point to it so he can get his fair share. As Gary once said about Noah, "That boy definitely came out of your body."

It's about time

I know I've been a little slack with my blog lately. I'm currently addicted to Facebook, so when I get quiet computer time, I tend to go there instead, and my blog has suffered for it. So to appease all three of my readers, here are a few new pictures.

Noah did this one day last week while I was drying my hair. I looked up and there was my little Flashdancer.
That's Luke under there (like you didn't already know that.)
One of the only pictures I took while my mom was here for a week. We had a great visit!