Happy Halloween

So, the Vikings didn’t have a very good day, but I did have the cutest little cheerleader in the neighborhood! Noah tolerated his costume a little better and it really helped keep him warm as it did get pretty cool that night. At least there wasn’t any snow!

As we took pictures, we gave the kids the mini pumpkins to hold to keep their attention. It worked, until they decided to play “let’s throw the pumpkins down the stairs and watch them roll.”

These pictures also give you a good view of the pumpkins Bill and I carved too. You can probably guess who did which one. Hint: I’m not a Nebraska Husker’s fan. I do have to fess up though that I got my pumpkin idea from my cousin, Nick. I just tweaked his design a little.

Cousin Tristan, AKA Spiderman, brought Chris & Laura and the rest of the family came over too for some pictures and to visit a couple houses in the neighborhood for some treats.

We started at Carol’s. She’s my mom’s “sorority sister” who lives across the street. It was Punky’s first time trick-or-treating to people’s doorsteps, so when Carol opened the door, Alexis walked right in.

Of course, the kids’ food allergies makes public events, such as trick-or-treating, a little challenging. So we just made sure to separate the candy she could have from the candy she can’t (and that became Mom & Dad’s candy). The grandparents all came over too with “Alexis appropriate” Halloween treats – AND LOTS OF THEM!

The Night Before Halloween

We had babysitters and an invite to a party. 

What we didn’t have: costumes. 

So the day of the party, we scrambled a little to find costumes for us.  I came up with an idea for Bill (and am pretty impressed that I did!).  So that left us looking for elements to his costume and me looking for anything that wasn’t trashy, too short or expensive.  Talk about a scavenger challenge!  But I think I did okay:

However, the fangs I bought for my Vamp look didn’t work.  Seriously, who do these companies think can really keep their mouth dry for 5 minutes to let some bonding putty set?  Yeah right!

So we headed to Nate (in the Green ‘Kickass’ costume) & Angie’s (a vintage cigarette girl) where, unfortunately, not too many people were able to show at last minute.

So we headed to the bar, only to find out that it too was pretty empty.  Just meant more room for us.

Bill’s co-worker, John (Lumberjack), met up with us.

As did Brent (Redneck Zombie), after the Zombie Walk downtown.

Oh, and for those of you *not* familiar with the movie “The Hangover”, Bill’s costume probably looks rather odd.  He went as Alan, a character from the movie, who carried around “Carlos”, a stranger’s baby.  Yes, that’s a doll and yes, it’s just about life-size (and post-party is now Alexis’ baby).

Carving “Punkins”

With newspapers spread across the table, carving knives and markers at the ready, it was time to show Alexis how to carve a pumpkin.  Bill dug into his work of art and I started giving Alexis options for eyes, nose and a mouth for hers.

I cut open the top and tried to get her to help pull out the guts.  But she stuck her hand inside, felt the grimy gunk and decided it was not for her.  So I scraped out the inside and she colored on the newspaper instead.

Once it was done, though, she was willing to take credit for all the work and was ecstatic that her pumpkin was smiling back at her. 

Bill and I will reveal ours later. hehehe

BTW, I can’t express the extreme satisfaction that I’m catching up on these posts.  I hope you’re enjoying them as much as I am!

A Vikings Victory? Um, No.

To rally the Vikings, the family came over in their Vikings gear and we all watched the team play the Packers. (Okay, I didn’t watch a single play.  Not a football fan.  I watch the Superbowl for the commercials.)

It was actually an odd afternoon for the kids.  We ran errands and had stopped to pick up some fresh pumpkins to carve when Alexis passed out in the car.  She was so out of it, when we got home (around 7:30 p.m.), she didn’t want to wake up.  We put her in her bed and she was out for the count.  She didn’t even wake up with all the commotion downstairs.  But Noah was roarin’ and ready to go… playing with the pumpkins!

 

The big green thing is a squash my dad & Maria brought from their garden.  We decided a samurai sword is just about the only way to cut it in half.  Actually, I have a plan, but baking it, I have a feeling, is going to take some time.  Then I think I’ll freeze some for the kids for later this winter.

Oh, by the way, the Vikings lost 28-24.  But Noah and I still had fun!

Zoo Boo With The Knaebles

Dad and Maria couldn’t make it for Noah’s birthday, so they made a special trip to Sioux Falls to hang out with us for the weekend.

They brought some presents for the kids and gave Noah an old, oiled catcher’s mit.  He had a very unusual reaction to the gift, even for a 1-year old, and at the sight of it, threw it as if it was a bomb.  Everyone got a good laugh.  Dad & Alexis showed him what it was for and he warmed up to it eventually. 

After a good nap, it was off to Zoo Boo, our city zoo’s annual trick-or-treating event.  We had never gone, but the day, which started out cool, warmed up, the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful evening.  Alexis went as a Vikings cheerleader and Noah used Alexis’ duck costume from last year (she didn’t get to leave the house in it last year because she had H1N1).

I was curious how Alexis would react to anyone dressed up.  I mean, you remember this, right?  Well, even Spongebob Square Pants didn’t get a better reaction.

So, why not to try to trick her to get a picture with a couple guys impressively dressed as Star Wars characters.  We passed by them and she squealed a little.  So Dad stopped to take a picture and the guys moved into the background.  But Alexis was too smart for them and anticipated their move…

  

Who wouldn’t love this duck, right?  Noah waddled us out of the event and we were on our way to dinner with a decent bag of goodies for each of us.  Gotta love a trick-or-treating event that encourages the adults to carry a bag too!

More Goofin’ Around

Noah has a new favorite place to hang out while Mom’s in the kitchen.  He will pull every bowl and plastic item out of this cupboard and sit in there with Alexis.  Guess it’s time for some cabinet locks!

Busha got everyone in the family Homer Hankies for the Twins’ playoff games.  We got them out right away and tried to show the kids how to use them… well, she almost figured it out!

 

What’s almost as funny is that the other day, she walked out of her bedroom from her nap to see the Vikings playing on the TV and yelled “Go Twins”.  That’s my girl!

Silly Nay-Noah Sits In Everything…

 

Noah loves crawling into everything!  His dump truck and the dishwasher (if Noah even hears the dishwasher open, he comes crawling for the door, clings to what he can and crawls right onto the door when possible) …

And his racecar spinner.  The bottom of the “bowl” spins, sending the race cars in circles before they shoot out the ramp.  But Noah thinks it’s a chair and insists on sitting in it.

 

But Super Busha was able to get him on his feet and walked him around the house a bit.  We were really thinking he’d be walking in time for his birthday, but didn’t quite make it.  He just needs a little more practice and he’ll be running circles around us!

Happy Birthday Noah

To celebrate Noah’s first birthday, we had a party with family on the 2nd.  Everyone came over after nap time and brought a ton of gifts for Noah.  Alexis was a big helper and actually go the hang of the idea that it was Noah’s party and not hers. Whew!

Of course the tags, boxes and paper are often more exciting than the gift itself.  Although the big big yellow dump truck sure got his attention!

He also started getting really excited over the clothes.  He’d yell “Woah!” once we got things open for him.  They were both pretty excited over the Harley Davidson motorcycle and took turns getting their ride on it right away.

 

Then it was time for the cake.  Noah wanted to dive right into the Cars cake.  He grabbed for it right away, so sitting him on the table next to it to take pictures was out of the question… especially since he couldn’t eat it.  We sang ‘Happy Birthday’, blew out his candle and stripped him down to his diaper for his cake.

I made his cake special with an egg replacement because of his egg allergy, but also used rice milk so Alexis could eat it too.  I covered our chair in a plastic bag, planning for him to get stuff everywhere, and he did.  But, just like his sister, he didn’t like the icing.  I really should have just skipped it.  It took him a while to really get into it, but he didn’t really end up eating very much of it. 

Noah’s First Birthday!

Bill and I both took Noah’s birthday off from work to spend the day together as a family.  The pumpkin patch at the Garden of Weedin’ was ready for picking, so we took the short drive to the Iowa border… It’s literally on the SD-IA border… and searched out pumpkins for our front step. It’s a cute little farm with home-grown pumpkins, gourds, tomatoes, corn, and other vegetables.  Unfortunately, all the rain this summer hurt their pumpkin crop.  A lot of them had water damage or were already rotting on the ground.  But at $1 each, we were able to find 10 good pumpkins to bring home.