"Annie"

...is over. But these are some of the crazies I worked with for three months. Could you just eat them up?

Halloween 2010

It's November? Seriously? October was jam-packed, as usual, but not with Halloween, per se. We were invited to our annual family Halloween party, and had every intention of attending (especially since I figured out what to do for our costumes in AUGUST) but there was a snafu at "Annie" that day/night/next day, which resulted in me doing a Milli Vanilli off-stage while another actress lip-synched ON stage. Totally the weirdest theatrical stunt I've ever pulled off, but we actually did manage to fool a few people.

ANYWAY....I was also unexpectedly visiting Arizona (see previous post) last week, so I also missed out on the pumpkin carving and other possible opportunities to dress up. Fortunately, Brad and I are JUST confident enough in our dress up skills that we decided to Trick or Treat as a family, in full costume. What we learned from just about every single neighbor we've met since moving here is that few bother Trick or Treating anywhere else but Barberry Street. Now, there is a house on Barberry Street that has been in full-blown Halloween decor mode since October 1, but we really had no idea what to expect from the rest of the street. Let me tell you--it was like a giant block party...and I mean GIANT. Hundreds of kids and adults trolling the street for treats; dozens of parked cars that carried Treaters from other neighborhoods (and suburbs, if you can believe that); families who set up card tables and chairs and greet the Treaters at the foot of the driveway. Some were tailgating, handing out water bottles (rumor has it if you approach certain houses with an "empty," you will be handed a "refill"), handing out goody bags, coupons to restaurants, party favors, and just regular old ordinary candy, too. It was amazing.

And it turns out that we weren't the only adults in costume! We stumbled upon a charming Mary Poppins and Mini Mary Poppins, and plenty of folks with face makeup and the requisite ears (see my two previous costumes in '08 and '09). Side note: I'm so glad to be granted a reprieve on the Halloween (W)Hore costumes, now that I'm a parent--but not to worry: that particular fashion trend is still running rampant in the 12 and up group. Seriously.

The Boy did pretty well for his first REAL opportunity to TorT. He actually mastered saying, "Trick or Treat," followed by a "Thank you," but he also melted down 'round about house number three. A blue lollipop did the trick until we reached the house that was giving away mini pretzel bags, whereupon he decided he was STARVING and no amount of coaxing to persuade him out of the crabbies. So we headed home. Made it about an hour or so--not bad for Age Two. Moral of that story: Snack the kid before you go out. Duh.

The whole "people wearing costumes" thing was a bit of a stumper for the little tyke. At one point, a boy in a TERRIFYING gorilla mask approached, took off his mask, and The Boy exclaimed, "Mom! That's just a guy!" Mind. Blown.

Needless to say, we had about three groups of Treaters at our house, one of which I caught trying to steal ALL the candy out of the bucket on our porch when we returned (yep, I'm THAT mom).

Our evening ended with The Boy running around the house in the white sweatshirt and pants I had purchased to wear under his costume, complaining that he "had poop." I then proceeded to change the. biggest. diaper. blowout. ever. Did I mention he was wearing white? And the cover on the changing table is...white? And the pad that goes on top of it is...white? I apologize to the environment for using bleach. Well, it was a two man job, as it turned out. My life is so glamorous.

I wish we had gotten more use out of our pretty awesome costumes (Brad's vest had a pull-string in the back, for heaven's sake!), but we've added handsomely to the costume bin this year.

More photos: http://gallery.me.com/hannahrae#100568
Also, It thought this was cool, so I'm adding it here for my own future reference: It's a Pumpkin Beer (or whatever else) Cooler! Genius!

In Loving Memory

(1999)

[Edited to preserve confidentiality]

"H***, G. Edward 87, passed away on October 25, 2010. G. Edward H*** was a former manager for GLF Grange Federation League which later became Agway Inc. After many years with GLF he became the CEO of Farm Credit of Western New York which was a Farmers Cooperative serving the credit and financial service needs of production agriculture and farm related businesses with offices in Erie , Genesee , Wyoming and Livingston Counties . Serving in this capacity for 25 years, he was instrumental in the consolidation of the Farm Credit of Western New York Association, Lake Ontario Farm Credit Association, Finger Lakes Farm Credit Association and the Olean Farm Credit Association merger to become the Western New York Farm Credit Association serving the 16 Western Counties of New York State prior to his retirement in 1988. This merger resulted in significant efficiencies in operations benefiting agriculture in Western New York . Surviving are his loving wife of 61 years, Mildred; loving children, Robert (Val), Patricia (Ronald), Bonnie; 3 grandchildren, Hannah (Brad), Abigail, Megan; great-grandchild, The Boy."

All that AND he ran his own horse farm, grew his own veggies, took his granddaughters for tractor/horse/buggy rides, (sermonized us on the benefits of sulphur water), prayed the same prayer before every meal, and built me my very own stool for sitting near the wood-burning stove--it now sits on my front porch. Though his body has been steadily declining for over ten years, the passing of a loved one is never "expected," nor can one ever be truly prepared to grieve a loss. We will miss you, Grandpa.


(~1974?)


(2008)

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Benched

Harrumph. I went to the doctor yesterday because I have a pulled muscle in my neck that caused enough pain to send me to bed for a good portion of Sunday because it literally hurt to hold up my head.

According to my doctor, the stupid pulled muscle in my neck is just a pulled muscle. This is good because...well, because it means it's not something worse. This is bad because I still have no explanation for why this has happened four times in seven months, in exactly the same spot, with exactly the same effect. Next to childbirth, it's the most painful thing I have ever experienced. It's even worse than pregnancy sciatica, but similar in that it's a constant pain that is horrendously distracting, not to mention debilitating. She gave me a muscle relaxer (which I can only take at night) and ordered me not to exercise until it's better.

That's the bad news: Usually this injury takes up to two weeks to heal (for me). So don't hate on me for missing my runs. I'll catch up.

Meh.

The First in a Long Line

Don't like reading about pee and poop? Skip this post. :o)

During The Boy's aforementioned two year checkup, we discussed potty training a little. My current philosophy is (was) that I'd really rather wait until The Boy is closer to 3 than 2, so he'll have better clothing removal skills, balancing atop the toilet skills, etc. But he's shown a TINY bit of interest lately, including wanting to "go pee on the potty" before he takes a bath.

(I can't believe I'm seriously posting about peeing and pooping. Sigh. And YOU'RE READING IT.)

So, upon the recommendation of our pediatrician, we went shopping for a little potty. (Explain to me why the simplest, sturdiest potty at Target also happens to be one of the most expensive? Explain to me why I would ever want a potty to cheer for my child? You pee and poop in it. Disturbing.) He chose the blue one, and it is now the only intentionally gender specific item in my house. Then again, I suppose I did buy the pink cash register, so he's just getting back at me. He also selected a blue water bottle on the same day. Y'all have brainwashed my kid.

I digress.

The first thing he wanted to do at home, naturally, was sit on his potty--which he did. "Do you want to pee in there?" I asked. "Okay." Off with the diaper, onto the potty...and he peed. First try. Tonight before bed I asked if he wanted to pee before putting his nighttime diaper on. "Okay." Off with the diaper, onto the potty...and he peed. And pooped (by accident, I'm pretty sure). And we dumped it in the big potty and flushed--just exactly what they tell you not to do. And he cheered.

So, people, I'm not sure what all the drama is that we're supposed to have. Not that we're "training," mind you. I have no intention of letting go of the diapers for some time, but I guess I was expecting a bigger deal over it. Also, I now have no idea what the next step is. Do we just keep trying to pee/poo more often during the day? Wait for him to ask?

Bring it, moms. Extra points if you have a boy.

Hip to be Square and Other Stories

My kid is square: 35" x 35 lbs. This is according to his two year checkup the other day. He is now in the 85th percentile for height, is predicted to be 6 feet tall by age 18, and is therefore pre-disqualified for the football team. (Right?Pleasepleaseplease.)


There has been a lot of discussion in our house lately on the topic of irrational fear. It goes like this:
Boy: "No bee gonna come in the house and hurt you." (He means himself)
Me: "Nope, you're right."
Boy: "Mommy, no bee gonna come in the house and hurt you and Avery."
Me: "That's right, you're safe. Bees don't usually hurt us at all. And I won't let bees in the house."
Boy: "Mom. Mama. No bee gonna come in the house and hurt you."
You get the idea.
Recently he was taking a bath and explored that fun looking button on the faucet...which turns on the shower. Of course the water that came out was freezing cold and scared the pants off him. So now each bath starts with, "Shower not gonna hurt you."


We had possibly our last day of Indian Summer on Wednesday, and used it to drive to the city to visit the beloved free Lincoln Park Zoo. It brought back lovely memories of our previous visits, including this one. The hit of the day was most certainly the giraffe. ("No giraffe gonna come over the water and over the wall and hurt you.") We visited them three times and were kicking ourselves that we hadn't brought along his little rubber animals (birthday gift from Mimi and Papa) so we could compare and contrast. He corrected the zookeeper that referred to one bathing mass as a Hippo ("Not hippo mommy. HippoPAmus."), and saw three black "Rhymeoferous"es. He narrated 99.99999% of the day's activities, asked me 6,264 questions, and fell asleep 3.2 seconds after takeoff.


1.Grand Dede has a friend he refers to as "Big Don," or sometimes "Big Donald."
2. The Boy has been singing the song, "Old MacDonald" for months. But it never sounds exactly like that, and I've been trying to decipher exactly what he's been saying.
3. Last weekend, The Boy was invited to a Northwestern football game. He told me he would be going with Daddy, Grand Dede and "Old BigDonald."
4. Mystery solved.
(Also, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!)