Happy Halloween!

We've been busy celebrating Halloween all week. Yesterday, the kids had a costume party with Ooopsy the Clown.  Rylee went as Doc McStuffins this time (she's a Disney cartoon doctor of toys).

Jace still went as a cowboy but since it was so chilly outside, I skipped the onesie and dressed him in another cowboy outfit with pants and a jacket.

The kids posed with Ooopsy at the end of the show, but Rylee was half un-costumed and Jace was in the middle of a bottle (hence the rocket bib). Oh well, still kinda cute. :)

 

*These are all cell phone pics so not the greatest, sorry.

 

Today Rylee had another party at her library class (as Doc McStuffins again) and then did some trick or treating at the museum. Then we went to lunch with her new friend, Liliana (plus her brother & Mommy). 

Now we're anxiously awaiting dinner (spicy pumpkin chili - okay only I'm looking forward to it!) and trick-or-treating tonight.  Hope you're all having a Happy Halloween too!

Halloweekend - Sun

On Sunday, we hosted a small brunch for some of Rylee's friends. The kids came in their adorable costumes and reluctantly posed for a couple pictures before shedding said costumes to run wild and play.

Rylee chose to wear her Wedding Rapunzel costume.  I made the mistake of telling her that Norah was also coming as Wedding Rapunzel and that sealed it.  She said, "we can be sisters... step sisters!"  I don't think she realizes that step sisters never get along in Disney movies!  :)

Miller as Bumblebee (a Transformer) and Mason as Animal (from the Muppets)

Rylee & Norah - the two Rapunzels :)

The rest of the boys: Spider Man Caleb, Fireman James & Sheriff Jace...

 

 

The kids had a great time and hopefully the adults did too.  I panicked a bit in the morning when I realized this might be our first ever party without alcohol.  Luckily, Jon had already thought of Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers and Erin brought Mimosas.  Whew, crisis averted!  (You need a little alcohol to survive a party with 7 munchkins under 5!)

 

Unfortunately, the brunch portion of my party was a bit of a bust.  The egg bake turned out okay (I like it a little crispier) and the french toast bake was an epic fail.  It was good on the top, but basically raw on the bottom.  I don't think I've ever had a new recipe turn out that badly - especially in front of guests!  It was a bit of an off weekend for me obviously.  :)

Halloweekend - Sat

We took a quick trip to the pumpkin patch on Saturday.  Bring on the pumpkin pics!

 

 

 

 

One funny story: While I was there I sort of fell on my ass in front of my old Assistant Principal!  It wasn't a dramatic fall, I really just unexpectedly sat down on the ground instead of the bench I was aiming for!  Oops!  Apparently walking, talking, and holding a baby was fine, but adding sitting to the equation was just too much.  Don't worry, Jace was fine.  I just didn't have any hands free to catch myself so I had to sit down on the ground and I may have knocked over a plant in the process.  Doh! 

My real concern was my camera (which was thrown over my shoulder at the time).  I had joked earlier in the day that I had to be careful since this is where my camera mysteriously died last year.  If I would have broke the new camera somehow, then I would have confirmed this pumpkin patch is cursed.  Luckily, there are more photos coming your way so obviously this camera
story has a happy ending.  :)


Last weekend, Jace attended his first Halloween party.  He looked adorable, but I realized he needed a cowboy hat to complete his Sheriff Woody costume. 

"Reach for the sky!"

"There's a snake in my boot!"  Oh wait, that's just a fat roll.  :)

"Somebody's poisoned the waterhole?"

"You're my favorite deputy!"

 

Almost Firsts for Jace

Jace can almost hold his bottle by himself.  He can hold it for a while, but usually drops it and then needs help getting it back in position.  My favorite is that if you try to take the bottle away from him (to burp him for instance) he reaches out and tries to grab it back. 

He can also sit up... for a few seconds... before falling over.  Another almost milestone!

Jace is also definitely teething - gnawing, drooling, chewing... did I mention drooling?  His first tooth could still be a ways off, but we're officially on tooth watch over here. 

For a real first: he has his first cold.  Luckily, it seems to be a mild one (he's a little sneezy, stuffy and has the occasional cough).  Fingers crossed this is as bad as it gets. 

Random Rylee - Part 2

A couple more Ryleeisms:

Kooky Counting
It's not that she can't count (drum roll: she can actually count to 29!), but the fact that she has to count up from one when she's talking about her age. She never says she's 4, she's "1-2-3-4" and shows it on her fingers. She'll do that when telling a story too. "Do you remember when I was 1-2-3 and we...." I think it's adding in the fingers that trips her up!

"I have to tell you something in your ear."
This is the phrase she uses in place of the word "whisper." She started saying it last year after Christmas and it just stuck. I'm not sure if she says it to anyone else but me. It's usually reserved for things she deems too embarrassing for other's ears.

Complimentary Begging
Rylee has uses an interesting tactic when she's trying to get her way. Instead of stamping her foot and acting naughty, she turns on the charm. "Of course you can do it. You're so good at it. You're the best. I know you can." That's not even a good example. She gets pretty creative and lays it on really thick. Onlookers are often impressed! :)

Beard Be Gone

I had to interrupt the scheduled "Ryleeisms" post to bring you breaking coverage of Jon's beard removal! 

The beard...



Mutton chops?

Rylee's not so sure of Daddy's goatee.  At one point she declared: "Dad, I don't like all this silliness!"
 

P.S. She had just come inside after running around like a crazy kid hence the hair plastered to her forehead.

I'm not sure what this look is!

Jace lobbied hard for the handlebar mustache!

 

I didn't get a good picture of his clean-shaven look, but let's just say that Rylee shouted, " Now you look like my real Dad!"  I think you get the picture.

I think Jon is missing his beard already.  He keeps mournfully rubbing his face.  Maybe he'll grow it back this summer just to bug his sister!  :)

Random Rylee - Part 1

As you already know, Rylee likes to put her own spin on words and phrases.  Here are some new and old (that I don't think I ever blogged about) Ryleeisms...

OLD:

"alligator"
This one goes way back to a Kohl's shopping trip - I doubt Rylee was more then 2 1/2.  She kept demanding to go to the "alligator."  It took about 20 frustrating minutes for me to figure out that she meant "escalator."  She still calls all escalators (and elevators): "alligators."  I'm not sure if she just forgets or simply thinks it's funny at this point.

"rotten eggs"
Rylee loves to help bake and she knows she's not supposed to eat the batter because of the "rotten eggs."  I've tried correcting her, but "rotten eggs" has stuck for now.  It hasn't scared anyone away from my baked goods yet so I guess it's okay.


NEW:

"sweet pete"
She thinks this is the correct term of endearment.  When I tried to tell her it was "sweet pea" she looked at me like "why would that make sense?"  Sweet Pete it is!

This last one was from the other day.  She was working on a special, secret drawing for me.  She said, "these lines are going to be perfect for the flowers."  Then she clapped her hand over her mouth and giggled.  "Oops, I told you too much!" she added.  :)


*I decided to save the rest for tomorrow, the post was getting rather lengthy!

Hunting Widow

The fish, the dog and the kids managed to survive my 11 day stint as a hunting widow. The fish have the most to gripe about - I missed their feeding two nights in a row - not forgot, but missed their "feeding window" (when the aquarium lights are on). The cowardly bastards don't like to come out to eat after dark. Now I'm totally in the "fish house" with Jon!

We didn't have any strange occurrences, such as late-night doorbell hi jinks or rabid raccoons attacking the house, like last year. Three light bulbs did burn out (in my closet, the refrigerator, and kitchen), but I attribute that to my friend, Chad. He likes to burn out light bulbs to show his spirit is near. I figure he and my brother, Roman, were helping to protect us from the other side. Luckily, Jon's trip wasn't any longer - it was getting rather dark in here!

Other than the above, we had a successful go of it. We had our usual routine of dance, Ooopsy the Clown, library and museum. We also enjoyed the pool, took advantage of a rare cool night with a walk around our neighborhood, and had dinner out with my friend, Lisa.

We also had the kid's first Halloween party of the season (only three more to go plus actual trick or treating!). 

Wedding Rapunzel

 

 

 

Sheriff Jace

 



5 Month Checkup

Jace had his 5 month checkup and shots on Thursday.  Below are his new stats...
Height: 27 in (85th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs (60th percentile)

For comparison sake, Rylee's 5 months stats were:
Height: 25 3/4 in (75th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs 3 oz (75th percentile)

Jace has been tough about his shots all along, but this time he basically didn't even cry.  It was kind of funny, because he only got one shot (I think he's always had at least two).  So after the first shot, he opened up his mouth and prepared to cry.  When the second shot didn't happen, he got this very puzzled look on his face.  Then it morphed into an "oh well, I guess I don't need to cry face."  I'm guessing you had to be there!

In other news, Jace is teething and he isn't entirely happy about it.  He's been a little weepy which is very rare for him (as evidenced above).  I can normally go days to a week without hearing him cry.  Today he cried a couple of times over silly things - one of which was Rylee's fireman's hat.  He didn't like the "woo woo" as Rylee calls it.  It was comical because we were testing to see if that really was the reason he was crying... you know: turn the hat on, he starts to cry, turn the hat off, he stops crying.  To me there is something kind of cute about that pre-cry, open-mouthed frown that babies get so we may have tested our theory a couple of more times just to make absolutely sure.  :)

To add to Jace's list of firsts, we now have steamrolling.  He's been rolling around his crib for quite sometime, but yesterday was the first time that he's used his mad skills to really travel.  He steamrolled about ten feet (6 feet one direction and then four in another) in our living room.  Then he sort of got himself stuck in the entry between the wall and Rio's toy bin.  He looked like Austin Powers trying to make that 80 point turn (for those who know the movie).

Brotherly Love- Repost

I could see these pics on the computer version of my blog, but I don't think they posted correctly for anyone else.  Let's try this again...

Snuggle buds...

 

 

Bathtime shenanigans...

Jace aka The Miami Man...

 

Rylee McStuffins

Rylee loves to pretend to be "Doc McStuffins." (For those of you not continuously tuned into Disney Jr. - she's a doctor of toys.) The other day we recreated Doc's look with items from Rylee's closet and a cheap doctor's coat we bought at the Halloween store.
 

I was quite impressed with my pipe cleaner braids.  :)

 

Skol Vikings!

Skol Vikings, let's win this game, Skol Vikings, honor your name.

Go get that first down, then get a touchdown.

 

 

Rock 'em . . . Sock 'em Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Go Vikings, run up the score, You'll hear us yell for more. . .

V-I-K-I-N-G-S Skol, Vikings, let's go!

 

Week 5 - MN Trip Finale!

I only have one more week to cover from our MN trip and then I won't have to keep jumping around and going back to July. :)

I don't believe I ever posted a pic of Jace's white trash bath.   

 

Rylee took showers this summer.  We did pull out her big white trash bath the last week.  Both kids needed a good soaking after our Cedar Crest trip.  Sadly, my parents new house will have a bathtub downstairs (eventually) so we may have to retire the white trash bath at some point.

 

We spent the majority of the last week watching the Olympics - both my Dad and I are addicted. 

We spent one last weekend with the Mooers clan at the cabin, swimming and pontooning.  Here Rylee and Kari are showing me the traditional "look ma, no hands" photo.  Rylee is completely comfortable swimming out in the middle of the lake.  She's usually the first one off the pontoon!

Here's Lil, about 30 minutes prior to rescuing us when our pontoon ran out of gas.  It was extremely wavy so we were basically about to crash into shore until I suggested we paddle for someone's dock.  We had to use the air horn to get Lilly's attention, then she and Howard brought us out some gas on the jet ski!  Rylee thought the whole experience was very exciting!

This was the last photo as we were all leaving and saying goodbye. 
I was trying to get a family shot of the new road sign leading into what used to be the resort,
but as you can see, Rylee was having none of it!  :)

We spent the last two days, packing and saying goodbye to people like

Grandpa Chip...

and Big Grandpa Bob.

 

We did squeeze in one unexpected outing with my childhood babysitter and life-long friend, Sue, and her kids.  We invited them out to swim, but the pontoon wasn't running well.  Sue and her daughter, Steffi, ended up swimming the pontoon around.  It was hysterical! 
Luckily, they were good sports and, as it turns out, very good motors.  :)
 

 

Well th-th-th-that's all folks!  (Finally!)

TMI Alert

I've had some interesting poop experiences with my two tummy-troubled kiddos, but today's unexpected surprise might be the weirdest...

Changing Jace's poopy diapers are sort of like disarming bombs: there's often a time limit and, more often than not, they explode.  This I'm prepared for.  What I wasn't prepared for was when he launched a six-inch poop missile out of his butt (while I was in the process of wiping him).  It literally flew out and over my hand and landed, perfectly intact, about 12 inches away. 

I was oddly impressed with my little dude.  I'd just like a little pre-launch countdown next time so I can be "safe and distant" as Rylee puts it.  :)

Camo Crew

Jon, sporting his duck hunting beard, with our two camo-clad cuties...

 

Happy Birthday Daddy and happy hunting!  :)

Happy 10th Birthday Rio!

Rio turns 10 today, 10!  Take a trip with me down memory lane - our decade of Rio!

We brought Rio home a few days before Christmas 2002.  She was the most

adorable puppy ever - 2.2 lbs of fluff!  I'm pretty sure it was her Christmastime

adoption that led to her future love of the holiday (and newsletter-writing).  :)

 

 

As you can see, she loved toys from an early age.  Her most impressive trick was knowing all her toys by name and digging them out of her toy bin by request (not pictured here).

Of course her favorite past-time was, and still is, lizard hunting. 
The fish was always game for a few spits too.