Halloween Reveals

Ron Weasley (from Harry Potter)!

Tiny the Pteranodon (from Dinosaur Train)! Special shout-out to blog follower, Julie, for her spot-on guess!!!

More to follow tomorrow, but we had a blast trick-or-treating tonight. Happy Halloween, everybody!

Which Pumpkin Best Represents Michael Right Now?

All ready for the festivities tomorrow! This afternoon, Katie and Michael helped dad carve up the pumpkins. Like last year, there was about five minutes of unbridled enthusiasm, followed by a lonely man left to finish the job. Michael really got into scraping out the pumpkin guts for a few minutes. At one point, he had cleared out our kitchen drawer trying to find just the right tool. Five spoons and one potato-peeler later, he gave up.

Katie did help design the smaller pumpkin in her chosen "happy and simple" style. Dad went with a slightly more "boogeyman" approach. Happy Devil's Night, folks!

What is Katie?

We usually don't give away the kids' costumes before the big holiday, but we thought we would give you a sneak preview of Katie's this year. Why? Because, even though you are getting a good view of it here, you probably still don't know what she is. She had her big Halloween Costume Parade today during preschool, but refused to wear the entire costume while marching. ("It's tooo hoooooot, Ma!") We'll give a major shout-out to anybody who thinks they can guess exactly which character (from one of her favorite TV shows) she is. (No cheating, Kim McC!)

PS - You can't quite tell in this picture, but the kid in front of Katie was quite the smashing Michael Jackson, sequined glove and all.

Phase 3

The cast is finally OFF! Hooray! Unfortunately, we are not totally out of the woods yet, but we are almost there. This morning, Katie had her bright green cast removed, and everything looks great. The doc, being extremely conservative and cautious with Katie's tiny bones, has now given us a wrist splint to wear during "play times." Basically, she has to wear it to school, the playground, playdates, etc. Luckily, she got to have a nice, clean, free arm for most of today. (Oh, it was glorious to finally wash that puppy after 5 weeks in a cast!) We will use the splint for two more weeks, and then she'll be free!!!!

Nice addendum: Our wonderfully nice neighbor Mary, who has no kids of her own, often asked after Katie and remarked about how bravely she has handled all of the casts, x-rays, etc. She asked me to let her know when Katie was getting the cast off. Today, she stopped by with the most wonderful congratulatory gift for Katie: a GORGEOUS butterfly pin and rose/cross necklace that she wore when she was a child. Traci seriously had to choke back the tears. (You can sort of see the necklace in today's picture.) Some people in this world are just genuinely kind.

Pickin'

This afternoon, we hit the local pumpkin patch to pick out a couple of jack's to carve next weekend. Not one to be described as discerning, Katie wanted to buy each and every one she came across, but the rest of us took our time and enjoyed the fall setting. The kids liked the free wagon rides and are looking forward to putting Daddy to work next weekend during the design phase. Last year, they provided little to no help!

For his part, Michael could have stayed there all day just running up, down, over, and through all of the rows of pumpkins. He was absolutely thrilled! Looking forward to introducing the kids to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on Thursday night...

Go Rangers!

Ahem....yes, we have a rooting interest in this year's World Series. Oh, and did you hear about that Theo Epstein deal? Didja?

Not Now!!!

Needless to say, Mommy has a little less tolerance and patience for the relentless pursuit of play that the kiddos are always lobbing at her. More than once, she has literally snapped at them to learn how to play by themselves, just as she always did when she was little. (We'll blame it on the fatigue and hormones, right?) Well, the kids are getting better at amusing themselves. After a bit, Traci will often find Katie reading to Michael, trying to teach him new vocabulary words. It's actually quite heartwarming. Guess they have to band together when Mean Mommy appears!