Happy Halloween!

Though it is wet and cold here, we are warm and dry with anticipation of a fun evening ahead!

Funky Pumpkins

Can you believe these two pumpkins gracing our front steps! They are from our next door neighbor, David, who is an artist. He always brings the kids fun holiday-related gifts, and these pumpkins are great examples of his work. (You should see his Easter eggs!)Thanks David, for bringing smiles to the kids' faces!

Halloween Prep

It is a lot of fun getting ready for Halloween! First, we took the kids to a Boo Bash Wednesday night. It was our first time attending the party. We all had such a blast that we promised ourselves that we would go again next year. They had carnival rides, rock climbing (E's first time ever), jumpies, games, a DJ with great music that Ben danced to all night (and yes, this is part of his dance moves when he stands up and then bends down, stands up and then bends down), pumpkin painting and hay rides. Combined with absolutely gorgeous fall weather with a view of Midtown Atlanta's skyline, it made for quite a memorable night!

We also decided to make 30 treat bags for most of our friends on the 'Brook. We applied some team work in assembly-line fashion to get them stuffed. Hayes kept saying, "This is so much fun, Mom!" It sounds like I need to put him to work more often!

E's Place Cards

With Mimi and Papa visiting us for the birth of their new grandchild, we were lucky enough to have them spend a few nights with us. Eleanor quickly got organized and created place cards for everyone for our dinners in the dining room. It reminded me of what she did for us last Thanksgiving. This time, she labeled everyone from Hayes's perspective. You can see that she's really gotten interested in cursive, though they do not teach that in school any more. I would have thought that on my place card, she would have at least added that I was mother to her and Ben as well as Hayes, but she did not!
We all were very grateful to her for telling us where to sit!

Baby Baylor has arrived!

Introducing our new nephew and cousin, Baylor Parrish Roach! He was born on October 15 and weighed 9 lbs, 7 ozs. Congrats to my brother Steven and his wife Brandi as they are now parents! Yeah! Hope you guys can get some sleep soon!

Croquet Anyone?

It was mid-50's, cloudy and windy yesterday. . . the perfect weather for some outdoor croquet, or so Eleanor thought. Anyone want to join in? The rest of her family chose to stay warm indoors.

Usual Fall Saturday Activity

Can you guess? It involves a contact sport, a TV, and Dad and Hayes assuming their weekly positions . . .The Answer: Watching Georgia Tech football.

Our Saturdays work around the games. It drives me crazy, but at least Dad has some company rooting for the Yellow Jackets. I think in a few years, Ben will join in on the cheering. Today, he'd look at the screen and say, "Go. Go. Go."

Did You Hear It, Mama?

How cute is this? Ben gives me this look when he has heard the sound of a mode of transportation nearby. He makes it when he hears ambulances, helicopters, trucks, fire trucks, police cars, lawn mowers (though not really a mode of transport), city buses and any other large vehicle that makes a noise. Sometimes, I'll see this face before I hear the noise, and I'll know that I need to turn my ears up to figure out what he's hearing so that we can talk about it. It is currently one of his top Ben-isms at 16 months.

Thank Heavens for . . .

Nutragrain Eggo Waffles or "Wa-Was" as Ben calls them! I swear we can run through a box in two days. During the week, they are usually requested daily by E & H. Hayes often eats two waffles in the morning or else he'll mix it up by eating a waffle with a bowl of cereal or jelly toast. Ben gets his with either cream cheese and jelly or yogurt on top.

It is so nice to have a breakfast food this reliable, especially when you are rushing each morning to get everyone out the door!

Bedtime Story

Eleanor brought this home from school one day last week.

I especially love the last sentence on page two. "I read book's befor I go to bed atept wen I cry becas my mom says that I'm tired." I guess I've said it to her enough that she's starting to believe it.

The Zombie

Since Eleanor did not have school today, she went to Hayes's classroom to read his class a book. Hayes picked The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin for Eleanor to read. (Hayes has the same Pre-K teacher and assistant teacher that Eleanor had two years ago so she loves going back to visit them.) H's teacher let Eleanor come early enough to play on the playground with Hayes's class before she read to them. I expected Hayes to be thrilled to have his sister with him on the playground and thought that they would spend all of their time on the tire swing. Unfortunately, Hayes had the opposite attitude. When Eleanor got in the car after school, she reported that Hayes would not play with her on the playground. Instead, he called her a zombie and got his friends to run away from her every time she came near! H and his "Zombie" sister

How's that for brotherly love!

Family Movie Night, Finally!

During the summer, I was eager to have a Family Movie Night one weekend night, but my kids always crashed by 7:30, right about the time I would have been starting the movie. It was one of those items on our Summer To-Do List that was never accomplished.

Well, I finally had a brilliant idea Sunday afternoon - why don't we start the movie at 6pm?! (Please don't ask me why I never thought of this all summer. :-) So . . . Eleanor, Hayes and Ben all watched E.T. for the first time. We even let them eat their dinners in the family room so that we did not have to pause the movie. Eleanor and Hayes absolutely loved it. Ben was fascinated too and stayed in the family room for the entire length of the movie. He had a ball sitting in there with his big sister and brother. Towards the end of the movie, when Hayes was sitting in my lap, he turned to me and said, "Mom, this is my favorite movie in the whole world!"

Hair Bib?

I found this bib (and another one with pirates) on Etsy recently, and Ben's wardrobe is forever grateful.
We had stopped using bibs all-together because he kept pulling them off. Now, I just wish we could find something similar to protect his hair from all of the food that he rubs into it at each meal . . .

A Cleaning Secret

I asked Hayes to clean-up his room today because he had books all over his floor. When he told me he was ready to show me his room, this is what I saw. I was so proud of the job he had done. A minute or two later, I sat down on his floor to read some books. When I looked up and saw the top of his other twin bed, I quickly realized his cleaning secret. I don't know how I did not notice this bed when I first walked into the room, but once I spotted it, I was so grateful to be able to see his room's floor that these items on the bed did not bother me.

Finally Smiling

Yesterday, Ben was absolutely miserable, and I'm hoping it was because he is teething. He was a 15-month-old Jekyll and Hyde. One minute he would be laughing hysterically and the next second he'd start bawling. Finally, late in the afternoon, Daddy made the decision to take him outside since he was obviously unhappy inside. Wouldn't you know that Ben became a new person! He had a ball playing with the simplest of things. He started off playing in the spray coming from the outdoor faucet. When he first spotted me outside, he gave me this look below . . .that says, "Yep, Mom, I'm getting soaked and there is nothing you can do about it now!" Once he realized I was not going to act, he then continued on with his fun.He found these two buckets and immediately tried to find things to put into them and then take out of them (one of his favorite games right now). He found some chalk, put a bunch of pieces into the buckets and then . . .out they went! He decided that the process was so much fun that he started all over again.Thank heavens for simple fun!

Bus Stop Show & Tell

Every morning, Hayes joins Eleanor and Dad on the trip to the bus stop. Before they walk out the door, it is always a mad scramble for Hayes as he tries to determine what he will take with him. What exactly am I talking about? Hayes always brings at least two items to show off at the bus stop, as if it were show-and-tell. The bus stop neighbors really look forward to seeing what Hayes choses to showcase each day. (We have about 20 people in total at the bus stop each morning so it is quite a social affair.) Taken with Daddy's Blackberry as the sun was coming up

For a while, Hayes consistently took his Batman sticker book. As I have mentioned before, Hayes would "share" his stickers with any bus stop takers, both kids and adults. I even had a visiting grandfather tell me one afternoon last week that he missed Hayes at the bus stop that morning (when Thomas travels, E walks by herself) because he was looking forward to getting his daily Batman sticker. Hayes also likes to take his pile of baseball and football cards, his place mat with classmates' pictures, his Spiderman books, the Georgia Tech football program he got last weekend, and some of his Matchbox cars to share with anyone interested. I think he is mostly interested in the big kids' attention, and they are sweet to indulge him, but it is great to know that the adults enjoy his show-and-tell too!

His Own Cheerleader

Ben is now 15 months. Why is this a big deal? My memory is that this is when the child-rearing truly becomes challenging (as if it was not already!) Ben does not understand "no", he races around the house fearlessly, and he empties each and every drawer he can reach, all the while clearing any table in sight. I am worn out by the end of the day trying to clean up after him!

Yesterday afternoon, he found my purse. He quickly pulled out the contents individually and laid them out on the front hall rug. (I slyly removed my wallet, lipsticks and coupon book from the floor when he was not looking.) Then, he took each item and walked it out to the back porch and placed it on the iron table. This activity was harmless, and I was just grateful that he was occupied! What was so cute was that at the very end, after every piece had made its way to the porch table, he gave himself a big round of applause. I could only capture it from behind. (And yes, by the end of the day, I let him run around in his diaper.)Wouldn't you clap for this amazing job?