Halloween Part I

In honor of Halloween, I thought I would post a picture of Halloween past; Austin was about 14 months old. This is my favorite costume of Austin's, he made the cutest little dinosaur. (He liked to sweep and we couldn't pry the broom away from him while we sat outside and handed out candy.)

However, Aubrey gives him a run for his money, because she makes a darn cute dinosaur too. She wore this today for her Halloween parade at her daycare.

Look for more Halloween pictures of us 'following the yellow brick road' this weekend.

These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

Something about big shoes and little people...

The Pumpkin Patch

Austin had a field trip to the pumpkin patch today, and I got to go with his class to help supervise kids. (I also got to meet his 'ex'-girlfriend, as well as all of the other little girls who think Austin is pretty cute. One girl told me that Austin is her best friend, and 'the twins' (yep, twins-Brian wanted to give high fives to Austin but decided against it as I was staring a hole through him) think he is pretty nice too and like to give him hugs. Hmmm....I think my son is a playah'.)

It was cold today, about 50 degrees (brrrr, yes I have gone soft). We tried to stay warm running back and forth between the hay rides, pony rides, mazes, the petting zoo and the pumpkin patch.

Here is Austin feeding the Llama. They were hungry.

Here is Austin kissing a goat.
Here is the goat trying to eat Austin's coat.

Austin seemed impressed with the slide. It could be because at the bottom was a big pile of wet mud, with a big pile of wet kids in it.

Austin liked the pony rides, he can let out a 'ya-hoo' with the best of them.

Posing with the scarecrow.

What a fun day we had. Austin picked out a cute little pumpkin to paint, and we even got to take one home for Aubrey.

What the...?!!!

Austin has a girlfriend. At parent teacher conferences, his teacher said he was asking a little girl to be his girlfriend. I promptly came home and interrogated asked him about it, and all we got was his standard "I don't know" answer. Other than he did tell us that all of the kids have boyfriends/girlfriends. Apparently the whole "dating" thing starts in Kindergarten. Who knew? (Thankfully, "dating" means nothing more than calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend thus far). So we dropped it because we didn't want to make a big deal about it. (And by we, I mean Brian made me drop it and not make a big deal about it-we shall see if it is handled the same way when Aubrey has a boyfriend in Kindergarten). But darn it, I wanted to know who she was! So the other day while I was waiting in line to pick him up, I saw a little girl giving him a hug. I casually asked him if the little girl hanging all over him, hugging him was his girlfriend. He said no, that De'onna was his girlfriend but that she isn't his girlfriend anymore because she makes bad choices. What a smart boy. I am proud of him, and more than a little sad that he is growing up so fast.

Ouch!

"Hello? Grandma? I got an owie. You should see my nose. I fell down trying to keep up with my big brother. I forgot to put out my hands to catch myself, and instead skidded on my nose. My forehead is scraped up too, but you can't see that in this picture. Mommy says I look pretty cute, even though she cringes every time she looks at my nose. I tried not to cry too much, but it hurt! OK, Bye Bye."

Baseball and Tattoos

We love Red Sox playoff baseball. Brian is pretty superstitious (and by pretty superstitious I mean he hasn't changed his socks since the playoffs started). OK, so it isn't quite that bad, but he does have his quirks/rituals/obsessions as most of you know. And for those of you who don't, lets just say no one can wear anything but Red Sox attire on game days, and all of our Red Sox paraphernalia has to be proudly displayed beside the TV where we watch the games.

And for those of you who don't know how the playoffs are going, the Red Sox aren't doing so well. We started a "tradition" in the 2003 season when I was pregnant with Austin; we ate cookies for every run the Red Sox scored. The 10+ run games were awesome. I wonder why I gained 60 pounds with that pregnancy...

Anyway, we reinstated that tradition again for the post season only, but haven't gotten to eat as many as the Sox aren't doing very well. So we started a new "tradition". We are all donning Red Sox Tattoos. Even my babies. I am hoping they turn the Red Sox around soon. Austin loves his, and loves to show his off. He gets very sad when they start to wear off. Aubrey, well, she could really care less. But aren't they adorable?

Going For A Walk

This August after Austin started school (and it wasn't so hot!), Aubrey and I got into the habit of taking walks in the morning. We have since gotten out of the habit due to our busy schedule, and I miss them. I have great intentions daily in going for a walk with her, but something always needs to be done. And I am lazy. But this is my favorite time of the year here, it has been so nice (except for today, it rained and was chilly today), so I am hoping to get in the habit again. Maybe by writing it down and telling you all it will motivate me. I will let you know how that works out.

Aubrey sure likes it when we manage to get one in. I can always count on a good nap when we get home, which really makes it all worth it!

Here she is before our walks...

Here she is after...

Our Annual Race

We raced in the Race For The Cure this weekend, it is an annual event for us (and by 'raced' I mean walked slowly among the masses pushing Aubrey in a stroller and stopping every few minutes to let Austin and Daddy catch up after they had stopped to tie his shoe/look at something/rest/get a drink of water). We usually walk with some friends, and then go have a drink and greasy food afterward. It is the one time I don't feel guilty about eating yummy french fries with ranch dressing and a fatty, greasy hamburger with a beer, because hey, I just walked three miles. And we had to get up before the sun and get two kids ready to go do it (and by 'ready' I mean dressed. No one had a shower or breakfast. We all threw on a hat and the kids ate in the car).

I am always so overwhelmed by the number of people who come out to walk. Downtown is so packed that it is hard to even maneuver a stroller around. And everyone of the 50,000+ people who are there have a sign on their back with "I race in celebration of..." or "I race in memory of...". It is hard not to get choked up when I see man with young children walking with a sign that says "I race in memory of my wife". It is usually an emotional day for me. My sign always reads "I race in celebration my beautiful mom".

There are a lot of local bands/performers who come out in support of the 'racers', and on just about every other block along the race route someone is playing music. Aubrey enjoyed this, her little feet would get going in the stroller "dancing" to the beat. My favorite are the bagpipe players.

Here we are after the walk. Aubrey just wanted out of the stroller. And we all just wanted to go and eat. And then come home and take a long nap...