Happy Halloween!

We went to So-So and Ray-Ray's neighborhood to trick or treat since our neighborhood is so small and devoid of festivities (not a single trick or treater according to Lance). We went over pretty early (halftime of the Titans game) and the kids were decked out anxiously awaiting dark (when we told them they could trick-or-treat). Ray-Ray went with us while So-So stayed at the house to hand out candy to all of the other trick-or-treaters. The kids thought it was a lot of fun, and really got the hang of it fast - Katie started approaching every door with her hand out and every time Tyler would pick up one piece of candy to inspect it, then put it down and settle on another. They still haven't tasted any of the candy so the packaging was what was most important (I hope that holds true for Christmas). They really just enjoyed "hold Ray-Ray hand" and seeing all of the pumpkins and decorations and getting to walk around like the big kids, not to mention Katie loved everyone telling her she was cute :)! We had a great Halloween!!! Now, unfortunately Katie has a cold. Plus, my grandfather passed this weekend and I am on jury duty so it was great to see the kids having fun in the midst of some definitely not fun things. Some pictures!!!

Patiently waiting for it to get dark.

A pre-trick or treat hug. They both wanted to hold Ray-Ray's hand when they found out they had to hold somebody's hand.

They loved the pumpkin addition to the porch with the "hot fire," and they were both checking them out when I said they were yucky and had to go bye bye.

Checking out their loot!

Ghouls at Grassmere

We went to Ghouls at Grassmere (at the zoo) tonight and the kids had so much fun! When we were putting their costumes on at the house they were ecstatic - we have been gearing them up for wearing costumes for a month - and then even though it took us almost an hour to get there they were still very excited (squealing and machine gun laughter from both) when we pulled into the parking lot. We started out trick or treating at little stations they had set up and the kids really got the hang of it. At first they were reluctant to go up to the little huts, but by the end they were racing to them hands-out for the treat. Tyler said Trick or Treat and Happy Halloween, Katie always said thank you so between the two of them we were polite. We then walked over to "pumpkin town" where they had a dance floor, a maze, lights and a costume parade. Tyler was dancing the whole night to the music that could be heard throughout the zoo, but when we got to the dance floor he refused to join in. I think he was scared of the lights and people, because once we left the dance floor he started dancing and spinning again. We skipped the carnival and games because it was getting cold and late and the kids were already up past their bedtime. The Hayride and carousel were a bit much for Tyler, at least, at this point.

On our way in - they were a little hesitant (and scared of the smoke tent that was at the entrance), but that changed pretty quickly!

It was the ultimate for the kids - they got to see animals (flamingos were pretty much the only thing out, though - Tyler kept asking about the meerkats), trick or treat and stay up late.

For some reason Tyler kept sitting down when I told him I wanted to take a picture - it hid his cute tail. A tail shot.

Katie dancing, Tyler not going near it! We were trying to get pictures of the bee and lion together, but were not very succesful. Maybe on Halloween!

My mom and B-Bob were in town and B-Bob "made a boat" for the kids. This might be my best chance of getting a picture of them together since they both really like playing in it - especially when they fill it up with all of their stuffed animals and anything else they can find.

Shoulda sprung for the Honda!

When I finally broke down and got a mini-van my "dream" van was the Honda Odyssey. It is pretty expensive, though, even used so I eventually decided to go with the much cheaper Dodge Grand Caravan that was newer and had all the bells and whistles. Bad decision! Not only did the stupid thing strand me on the side of the road about a month ago, but now the automatic sliding door won't work and it has no option to turn off the motor to make the door open manually. Ugh - lesson learned - there is a reason that the Honda holds its value! I took Tyler to get his haircut this afternoon and came back out to find the door open about a foot - apparently it isn't enough that it won't open when I want it to, but it also opens slightly and gets stuck in that position when I don't! I'll have to deal with it for now - maybe it'll be good exercise to tone up the arm flab. I guess I have bigger worries, though, according to the little girl at the hair salon who asked me if I was Tyler's grandmother!!!

Today, something I have feared happened. I had to take a volunteer into the kids classroom to take pictures (for the angel wish lists). They were initially happy to see me, thinking that we were going home "soon" again like we had to on Monday because Katie was "sick." When all of Katie's attempts to drag me out of the room by hand didn't work she got extremely upset and was wailing so bad that we couldn't get a picture. Not the end of the world since they aren't participating in the angel program, but embarrassing because she was pretty out of control. Apparently, though, she took note of what was going on and felt like she missed out because when we got home she wanted me to "take Katie picture." She obviously remembered the volunteer asking the kids to say cheese on 3, because she told me "say cheese" and then gave me the goofiest grins and grimaces in an attempt to smile when she didn't look away at the last second! Tyler is getting very good at putting his shoes on, taking shirts off, and the like - and tonight managed to put a pair of daddy's socks (Lance's golf socks - footies - although you can't tell) on - it was pretty cute (pardon the lack of shorts)!

A stranger recently told us that Tyler looked "just like" Haley Joey Osment (Sixth Sense) - I think in this picture he kinda does.

Katie's weird half smile.

They were really having fun with our photo session! Still most of the pictures I am able to get have someone turning away from the camera or with an odd look - exhibit A an B.

Pumpkin Carving!

Our afternoon activity today was pumpkin carving! This morning we went to breakfast with Ray Ray and So So and then drove around Leipers Fork and Fernvale (dreaming of owning a house out there one day), after we discovered that the pumpkin farm where we were going to get our pumpkins didn't open for two more hours. We sang songs, and went over lots of bridges (one of the kids favorite things) so they were entertained and were pretty well worn out by the time we got home for naptime, after just picking up pumpkins at the grocery store. They took a good nap and then we set out to carve our "punkins." The kids have been enamored with pumpkins and scarecrows as we have driven by them so I was anxious to get some of our own that they could see every day. They really weren't impressed with the process as we tried to cut the tops off (why is that so much harder than I remember every year), but started to think it was pretty fun when we got to scooping! After dinner we put them on the front porch with candles in them and went out to look at them (Lance trying to get them to say they liked his better than mine) and they were mesmerized. I have been trying to talk up Halloween (along with letting them watch Yo Gabba Gabba Halloween edition every morning) - getting them to tell me their costumes, teaching them trick or treat, etc. - in hopes that they will a) actually wear their costumes that I have so far been unsuccesful in getting them to put on, and b) make it not seem so strange when we tell them to go knock on the doors of strangers! We had a good time, and the kids were great (other than Tyler figuring out how to turn the faucet on full blast and soaking them both, much to their delight). We moved the whole operation outside (surprisingly warm today) when we quickly realized that these are no longer the days when pumpkin carving can occur on the coffeetable without a huge mess!

Tyler wasn't too keen on getting his hands dirty. Katie on the otherhand loved playing with the pumpkin goop!

They really were good helpers - Tyler loved throwing stray seeds away, and Katie was enjoying digging in and scooping. They were good little scoopers!

And both were so proud of their spoon scooping abilities!

Nap Struggles

It is very obvious these days when the kids take a nap and when they don't. Katie, in particular, fights them these days. They both do, really. So much that I have tried separating them at naptime, tried sitting in there with them (like their teachers) and making them lay down and be quiet, and much more. Unfortunately, nothing has worked so far - even at school on some days - other than completely wearing them out. The Music and Molasses festival is this weekend, Gentry Farms is still open, we still need to get pumpkins and might do it at Gentry Farms, and there are some carnival type events so there should be ample opportunity this weekend to entertain them enough so they need a nap. I wonder if I can use non-napping, grumpy toddlers as an excuse to get out of jury duty. I really don't know how I am going to do it (summoned in November) - work is crazy busy right now and I literally don't think I have time to take off work for one day, much less if I have to do the three or more days they say is possible. I can hardly catch my breath now and foresee that it is only going to get worse and that time out of the office will be stressful and a true hardship. Not to mention there is a lot coming up including my brother-in-laws wedding, Halloween, and numerous important deadlines. Maybe I can show them these pictures to convince them that there is already enough on our plates!

This is Katie on a day that she didn't nap at school. She gets grumpy and whines easier, but she really has always been one that resists sleep, although she is luckily so far a good night sleeper. Odd that she is my daughter - I LOVE sleep!
Tyler on non-napping days isn't as grumpy, but he gets very obstinate and seems to attract trouble - like here when he wouldn't leave the bathroom and would have a meltdown when his (my) cute pink slippers came off. This was one of the luckily rare days that neither one napped!

By the way - I am trying a new strategy with Tyler's hair. I know it looks pretty crazy right now, but I am going to let it grow a bit and see if it will lay down better if it is a little longer. So far, I think it is somewhat working - or I may just be convincing myself of that to avoid a haircut session :)!

I'm So Proud

Well, "proud" is probably an exaggeration but that is surely what I was telling Tyler yesterday - along with lots of good job, and hooray! Tyler "pee peed on potty" all day yesterday at school. He isn't to the point of telling when he has to go, making it through the night, or even sitting on our scary full-size toilets, but it is a step in the right direction. I swore I would never be one of those parents who talked about my kid's bathroom exploits - but potty training is pretty darn exciting. I can't wait to be done with diapers, and even though I know that is probably a year or so away, I enjoy the baby steps that get us there!

They are starting to really enjoy school (and I will really love it if they can get them even halway to toilet trained). They don't put up much of a fuss at all when I drop them off these days, and do fight royally when I try to get them in the car to go home, which despite how frustrating it is I take as a good sign. They are singing songs and dancing and saying ABC's and 1,2,3's at bedtime now, and I am continually amazed at the new words, and motions that they know (I have to get it on video because it is one of the absolute cutest things I have ever seen to watch the two of them do the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Little Star).

I know I complain about discipline issues and toddler frustrations, but for the most part I am really enjoying this age. They are communicating so well, and starting to show a sense of humor and understanding of emotion. You can virtually see their minds working as they figure things out, look for another book to read to avoid bedtime, or watch us to see if there is an opportunity to get away with something. When I haven't lost all patience for the day, Lance and I often have to try to hide our smiles when they do those things because it really is fun to see their mischevious personalities start to develop. I think, though, that my absolute favorite thing about this age is their complete lack of self-consciousness. It is so fun to watch a little one dance or jump, or hear a song or "conversation," that is totally uninhibited. They have no cares about what other people think and the littlest things delight and amuse them. I hope we can teach them to hold onto some of that, because it is a great way to live life!

Taunting

Who knew that I was living with two future NFL Players, at least in terms of their ability to taunt! They are so mean to each other, and worse they just laugh and giggle as they do it knowing that the other one wants what they have. Katie and Tyler both got a cereal bar when we got into the car this morning and true to form Tyler ate it in like two bites while Katie just decided to hold onto hers. When she realized that Tyler didn't have one anymore she started holding it out to him and saying Katie cereal bar, Tyler no have! He was trying everything to get it - please Katie, Tyler have it Katie, and of course crying and whining, but she was just smiling at him and acting like she was going to give it to him and then taking it away. I was driving and couldn't interfere, so poor Tyler was taunted the whole drive to school. Tyler does it too, though! The only way we got him to take his breathing treatment this morning was to say no, Katie can't do it - only Tyler, and then he was happy to be the only one who "got" to do it. He is the king of snatching something when she isn't looking and running away with it while laughing and saying Tyler running with Katie's ______.

Yep, we had to do a breathing treatment this morning. Tyler was coughing all last night and he is wheezing and rattling. This is the first breathing treatment in a while even though he has been sick for literally months. Part of it, I think, is allergies and the ever-changing weather. The doctor said, a while back, that he didn't need it unless he was wheezing and this is the first of that even though he has been coughing and congested for a long time. It hit home just how bad our insurance is when we had to make the decision to take him in or not. My new insurance has no co-pay and the bill for their last appointment came a couple of days ago and was $700! We just can't afford to take them in for the doctor to tell us all sounds fine, or it's just a cold that will run its course. It almost seems criminal for insurance to be this way. We can't get other insurance because Tyler won't be covered because of pre-existing condition and if he ends up in the hospital in the next year that would be exorbitantly expensive, but it is ridiculous that we have to figure out if we can afford to pay the bill when taking the kids (or ourselves) to the doctor. Of course, if it is obvious that we need to go in we will but it just seems healthier to me and cheaper for the insurance company to cover well-visits and doctor appointments before it gets to the point of more expensive treatments! I am trying to get in touch with Blue Cross because well-visits are supposed to be co-pay for pediatrics, but they are giving me the run-around as is the business office at their doctor - blech! I have to get them their flu shots soon and am really hoping they don't charge an office visit fee for that too!

The kids know that every morning I take a shower while they eat breakfast. Well, last night Tyler (who has started really resisting baths for some reason) asked to get in the shower. Katie was already in the bath, but of course when she heard all this she wanted to get in the shower too. I turned on the shower thinking they would hate the water on their heads and lo and behold, they loved it! They kept calling it rain and going in and out of the stream and thought it was the most fun thing ever. They both eventually went back into the bath, but I foresee many shower requests in our future, especially from Tyler who thinks he is a big boy and for some reason hates sitting in the tub. Sorry, lots of words again and no pictures but there is a Vandy game, the Biscuit festival at Loveless, and Octoberfest this weekend so we are sure to snap some pictures soon!