Trick or Treat

Getting ready for Halloween this year has been a lot of fun. We've been gearing up for a while with getting the kids costumes, carving pumpkins, and reading It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown every night. 

Sunday night, we went ahead and carved our pumpkins so we could enjoy our creations throughout the week.  The kids did a great job scooping out the pumpkin seeds, and they didn't even make a huge mess.  Audrey chose to have a pumpkin with a scary face, and Barrett wanted one with a happy face.  It made Barrett's night when Billy got out the jigsaw to make the process of carving go a little more quickly.  In the end, we had some awesome looking jack-o-lanterns on our porch.

 

 

Audrey, like every other girl in the world this year, wanted to be Elsa from Frozen.  We found a costume that looked very Elsa-ish, but isn't actually an Elsa costume.  Audrey calls it a Snow Queen.  Thank goodness it came with a cape, because it is cold and windy tonight!

Initially, I was going to dress up Barrett like Olaf, the snowman from Frozen, but every other little sibling of a young girl was going to be Olaf too.  So, we let Barrett pick out his own costume.  The result was better than I'd hoped too.  He chose a monkey costume that he absolutely loves to wear.  I have no doubt that both kids will be wearing their costumes even after Halloween is over. 

When we went trick-or-treating tonight, the kids did great, despite the cold.  Barrett loved pushing doorbells, and Audrey told her joke a couple of times.  Audrey got a little intimidated by some bigger kids that were basically on the same route as us.  When we got home, they ended up coming to our door, and she gave them candy.  Audrey also saw several other Westchester kindergarteners, which she is really excited about.  I am so glad she is starting to build her new community here around our house! 

Barrett's Imagination

Barrett likes to get up early.  During the week, I am usually out of the shower and drying my hair when he comes charging into my bathroom to greet me.  Because we want Audrey to be able to sleep as long as possible, I let him stay with me in the bathroom and try to keep him quiet.  As you can imagine, that is not the easiest task, especially when I need to get myself ready at the same time.  To keep Barrett entertained, I give him access to a couple of drawers in the bathroom that hold items that he won't break or hurt himself with.  One of those drawers is the one that holds my hair dryer, brushes, flat iron, and curling iron. 

A couple of weeks ago, Barrett decided to take my curling iron out of the drawer and started carrying it around the bathroom.  Subsequently, he found the attachments for my hair dryer that I don't use.  He really liked the one that had the comb on it, and I soon found out why.  He took the cord to the iron and put the plug end into the middle of the hair dryer attachment.  Then, he started walking the curling iron around the bathroom holding it with the "hot" end down.  As he started to swing it side to side, he began making an "errrrrrrrrr" sound.  I observed for a few minutes trying to figure out what he was doing, and then he stopped.  He walked over to the vanity, and I thought for sure he'd lost interest in whatever game he was playing in his mind.  I was wrong.  He grabbed a plastic bottle of foot cream and took it to the curling iron where he pretended to dumb some on it.  Then, he resumed his activity swinging the iron back and forth as he walked across the floor. 

At that point, I had to know what he was imagining, so I asked.  Barrett's reply was, "I mow."  Now, every morning while I get ready, Barrett mows the bathroom. I think it's pretty cute, and I like the fact that he's entertaining himself.  Billy, however, is usually trying to get a few extra moments of sleep while I am getting ready.  So now, thanks to Barrett, his last dreams are always interrupted by "errrrrrrrrrr."

Running Man

Yesterday, Billy finished his first half marathon.  I have to admit that when he first told me he was going to do it, I wondered if he actually would.  He's worked very hard over the past few months to get ready, so his accomplishment is well deserved.  The kids and I met up with his parents and greeted him at a couple of places along the race route.  After he was done, we met up with him downtown.  We missed him actually crossing the finish line, but we got to meet up with him and walk around for a bit. 

When we were looking for him, Audrey saw someone with a medal.  Then, she became very concerned about whether or not daddy got a medal.  I informed her that he would get one as long as he finished, so then as we looked around, she was insisting that he should be easy to find because he was the guy with a medal and orange sunglasses.  When we found him, he looked surprisingly good for just having run 13.1 miles, and he killed his target time of 2.5 hours by finishing in 2 hours 14 minutes.  That time even includes time for a quick kiss for each of our kids when he first saw us at the 6 mile mark halfway through the run.  After Billy ran off, Bill was like "oh, man, he didn't give you a kiss," to which I replied, "I didn't want one!"   He also managed to finish a beer and piece of licorice around the 9.5 mile mark. 

I am so proud of my husband and his accomplishment!