Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

During lunch today, Duane and I started talking about how much he hoped we would have a little girl when I was pregnant with Ryan. Since there is absolutely no way a little girl of our own is in our future, I said, "We'll just have to hope Wesley and Ryan each end up with a nice girlfriend." 

Wesley looked at me from across the table and said, "Mom, ALL my girlfriends are nice!" Then he proceeded to name them all.  And he's right, they are all nice.

The Gang's All Here

So what if Thursday night was Beggar's Night? Why let the party stop there? We made sure Friday was just as full of fun as the day before. Wesley went to preschool and as soon as school let out, we headed to COSI to meet our friends! Let me tell you, COSI with 5 kids can be challenging, but we all did great and I think a good time was had by everyone.

Wesley wore his cat eyeglasses part of the time. When he had the glasses on he said he was a Halloween cat named Spooky.  J. started to be a cat too. Sorry, J.'s mom.

Ryan in Clifford's food dish. Hope he doesn't get mistaken for a bone!

Wesley and Ryan worked on a very neat sandcastle puzzle

All five of the kids - Wesley, G., J., Colin, and Ryan.  And they started walking like this all on their own. No prompting from Mommies required!

By the time they were done, every single hole had a peg in it

Watching a science experiment. They enjoyed it, but really wanted the marshmallows to explode. OK, that's not quite true - they really wanted to eat the marshmallows, but exploding would have been a close second

Wesley and G. became quite the little couple as the day wore on. They held hands almost everywhere and Wesley kept referring to her as "my girl."

Wesley and G. in the "diner" on the street of yesteryear. They pretended the COSI map someone left behind was menu. Wesley handed it to G. and asked her what she'd like to eat. She chose cake. Good choice!

J. and Colin ran the diner. Wesley kept asking them to make food because "my girl is hungry!"  Colin whipped up some delicious pretend milkshakes.

G. did the driving. Smart girl

I showed Ryan that I could hula hoop and he was determined to give it a try. He wasn't too successful though.

I LOVE this picture of Colin! It's pretty grainy because I had to mess with the exposure, but he reminds me of Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain!"

J., Wesley and G. in a carriage. I can't help but think that J. is chaperoning for his little sis here.

Wesley, G., J., and Ryan in the space shuttle

We went into the special "Adventure" exhibit, which is kind of like an archaeological dig. However, I think Ryan misunderstood what he was supposed to dig for!

Wesley really liked the singing statues, but thought they were too loud.

It was such a fun time. Probably the best trip to COSI I've had in months! I can't wait to see what the gang decides to get up to next time.

Beggar's Night

Central Ohio is kind of weird. If Halloween falls on a weekend, the kids trick-or-treat on the Thursday before (aka Beggar's Night).  So last night was Beggars Night! But before the trick-or-treat fun, Wesley had a parade and party at preschool.

Poor Ryan felt really sick, so he curled up on the floor for part of the parade.

Wesley was a green crayon - the only one at the whole school! His teacher from last year was a blue crayon, which Wesley thought was really cool!

I have made a habit of taking the day of Beggar's Night off work, which means Ryan and I got to go to the preschool parade. The weather was a bit nippy, so the kids paraded inside.

After school, we hung out at Grandma and Grandpa H.'s and prepared this years Beggar's Night feast.

Swamp juice

Finger sandwiches

Spider web soup with black cat croutons

Then it was time for the big event!

Poor Ryan was too sick (nasty cold and mild fever) to go trick or treating. He stayed with Uncle Kirk, Grandma and Grandpa while the rest of us headed out.

Darth Sho, getting ready to trick or treat

The only green crayon in the neighborhood!

Dark Sho, Wesley the crayon and Kei as Ben 10

Grandma got the honor of providing the first treat

The gang

Duane gives Kei a lift

Daddy and Wesley

Aunt Susan trick or treated on Ryan's behalf and made sure he had a bucket full of candy too

Ryan's haul - chocolate makes it all better



Nothing tastes as good as the first piece of Halloween candy



Uncle Kirk checked Ryan's candy.





The Best

Wesley is doing pretty well in preschool this year. He has three friends (J & C - two little girls, and JBoy). He plays with them most days and always wants to look his nicest for J & C. But no matter how much he likes his new friends, he still misses E. - one of his friends from last year. She goes to a different school for pre-K this year.

Yesterday I got an email from E.'s mom, inviting Wesley to E.'s birthday party. Wesley just about flipped when I told him about it.

"I can't wait to see E.! I love her so much! C. is my new best friend at school, but E. is my best best!"

I'm glad he's so excited about seeing her again. According to her mom, E. feels the same way.

Pumpkin Carving Night

It's almost Beggar's Night, which means it's pumpkin carving time!

Not Me Monday

I do not think it's kind of cute when Wesley has a cold and his voice is all scratchy. Not me.

I did not bribe Wesley to practice cutting with scissors by telling him I'd let him stay up late and maybe sleep in my bed if he could cut out a circle. I'd never do that!

I did not share numerous pumpkin goodies with my family at the Pumpkin Show even though I had a horrible cold. There is no way I'd jeopardize my family's health just so I'd have room for more pumpkin goodies.

There is no way I rode the ferris wheel with Wesley - especially since I'm afraid of heights. And if I did, I know I didn't white knuckle the whole time and fight the urge to puke. And even if those things happened, I certainly didn't repeatedly tell Wesley to "Sit still! Don't move!" while we were riding.

I know I didn't fill a water bottle with cool, freshing filtered water and ice and then promptly leave it sitting on the counter when I left for work.

Remember Me?

I'm the mommy who was doing such a good job at posting daily and then suddenly dropped off the face of the earth (or at least the internet).  So what happened to cause this momentary disappearance? I caught Wesley's cold. Wednesday I had a terrible sore throat. Thursday it moved to congestion. Friday I could barely breathe and yesterday it flat kicked me rear end. I tried to work, but came home VERY early and spent the entire day in bed. I'm still really congested and have a cough, but I feel slightly more human. So far anyway. Just thought I'd give everyone an update in case you missed me.

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures back today and I thought I'd share a couple with you. The pictures were done by Banks Photography (www.bankspix.com) who also did our wedding pictures. They are amazing people and we LOVE the work they've done for us. Karla took over 80 pictures during our session, so this is just a small sampling. How am I ever going to decide which ones to print!?

Missing You

Young children have no concept of time and I LOVE it! I'm am guilty of letting my life be ruled by the clock, so it's refreshing to see the complete opposite in my children.

For example, this morning Wesley came downstairs after Ryan was already up. Ryan's entire face lit up and he cried, "Wes-see! You're back!"  Like his big brother had been gone for days instead of just in the next room overnight.

Grandma and Grandpa H. are leaving for a long weekend to visit family in Seattle. As we were saying goodbye to them this afternoon Wesley said, "Am I EVER going to see you again?"  We had to assure him that they would just be gone a few days. Gotta love that innocence

Don't Call the Doctor!

Wesley has his first cold of the season, but don't tell him that! He will not admit he is sick (typical male). Yesterday he was coughing and I said, "Ugh. Sounds like your cold is getting worse."

"Mom! I DON'T have a cold!" He tersely replied. "I think I'm allergic to something!"

Yeah, like washing his hands so he doesn't get a cold!

A Simple Question

I love how literal minded young kids can be. This morning I went into Ryan's room to get him ready for the day. He stumbled out of bed while I was getting his clothes out of the closet.

"Good morning, baby," I said. "How did you sleep?"

Ryan looked at me like I had lost my mind and replied, "I sleep in bed!" 

Not Me Monday

I did not have my pajamas on and my make up washed off by 6:30 one night last week. And even if I did, I'm sure no one (especially not Wesley) questioned why I would do such a thing.

I know I didn't inhale the scent of Nutella on my two-year-old and think "Mmmmm...Nutella and baby smell. The perfect perfume for hormonal moms."

There is no way I accidentally ran over Ryan's hand with a grocery cart. That would be awful. And I had been such a careless mom, I know I didn't let him choose a Matchbox car to "help him feel better."

Someone tried to put a jar of peanut butter away  - in the freezer! Couldn't have been me!

I didn't buy pumpkin shaped sippy cups of cider for the boys at the pumpkin patch for the sole reason that I know I would've wanted one when I was a kid.