"Dad, this is boring"

That's what Zander said when Mana took him trick-or-treating tonight. This was the first year we took him, even though it was only about 3 houses in the neighborhood. Geez, the kid has high expectations!

Plans changed a bit this year. A party was planned at LCC for all the daycare kids at 4pm, but my nephew Ayden got sick (poor Moo Moo!) so Liz had to close LCC around noon. Mana picked the boys up, who were also somewhat sick (so far, just colds). My parents came over and brought dinner. I'm glad they got to see the boys in their costumes. Mason had his on for a bout 2 minutes before it was off to bed. After we got the first few trick-or-treaters at our house, Zander wanted to go out too. So, Mana took him out to a few nearby houses. After the 3rd one, Zander said, "Dad, this is boring". So they came back. Then we visited with my parents some more. When they left, I took Zander to my friend Brenda's house. He seemed to really like that. She gave us a tour of her new house.

On a separate note, Zander can now come into my office, wake up the computer and start the 'robot game' all by himself. He doesn't know how to do anything but 'squirt the water' (or at least that's what we tell him to avoid the 'shot 'em up' mentality. We'll see.)

And on another unrelated note, Mason just loves standing up holding onto something. You can just tell that he thinks he so big standing there. To him, it's so much different that sitting down. So cute! He also loves clapping. If you say 'yeah' and then clap, he'll usually join in.

Just call me Nicky Grand

I saw this on someone else's blog, so I thought I'd try it. Kinda fun...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
-Nicky Grand
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
-Chocolate Oatmeal
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) - K- Zer
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
-Purple dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
-Lynn Robbinsdale
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) -Zerke
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
-The blue mai tai
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
-David Robert
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite scent, favorite candy)
-Almond Promise
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
-Ann Edward
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
-Alvers Atlanta
12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
-Christmas Gerbera
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
-Orange Sockie
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
-Cheerio Maple
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
-The Stamping Sunshine Tour

ready for halloween!

I think we're ready for Halloween. Zander requested an eye patch for his pirate costume, so my mom let me have some black felt and elastic. It was pretty easy to do and custom fit. We'll see if he actually wears it tomorrow at the party!

The boys both have colds. Poor Mason is so stuffed up that he doesn't drink much. The last few night we haven't even given him the pacifier and he has fallen asleep within about 10 minutes. Maybe this is the end of the "nukers" (as my nephew Ayden calls it). That's how we got rid of it with Zander - a cold made him stuffy and not want it, so we just never gave it back. Mason doesn't use it during the day, just at night - but I would love to get rid of it altogether.

"Lizzy, Zander is spitting on me!"

The other day, Mana got a call from Liz after laughing so hard at Zander. Linsday, a 4-year-old at LCC, ran over to Liz and said, "Lizzy, Zander is spitting on me! Make him stop." Zander said, "No, no, I'm not spitting, I'm beat-boxing!"

We can thank Blake from American Idol for Zander's new mad skilz! Mana found the French Idol & Australian Idol on the internet. Zander loves watching their videos and is actually pretty good himself.

Mason's 6-month photos

We took Mason's 6-month photos about a month ago, but they've only been on Mana's computer, so I haven't been able to do anything with them until today when Mana finally burned me a CD. Anyhow, here are the highlights from his session. So cute!!

Halloween party at Stacy & Travis Noll's house

Fun day today... Stacy and Travis hosted a party to show off all the kiddies in their costumes. The adults could dress up too, but we opted to wear black. Zander had a blast playing with all the kids in the backyard with the balls. We did a kid group photo. Boy, that was fun!! Here are some highlight photos from the day. Enjoy!

Saturday fun... or not?

I was a widow once again this Saturday. Mana had a family shoot in the morning and then a wedding starting in the late morning. He came home at 3:30 and then left shortly thereafter for football with the guys. It was a perfect fall day, so I can't blame him for taking that opportunity. He came home for a few hours and is now at band practice at Bear's house. Bear and Erica just built a new house. They designed a "band room" above the garage. I actually think the band (which they've named "Big Hairy Deal") is pretty good. Mana plays drums. Stripes plays keyboard. Chris plays guitar. Jeremy plays bass. And Bear is the lead signer. I think most of them would like to do a "gig", but Bear has major stage fright, so I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I personally think it would be fun to go see them in public. I guess I would be considered a "groupie". Not sure what I'd do if I heard another "groupie" say, "hey, that drummer is cute." Probably won't have to worry about that due to the previously mentioned stage fright issue.

As for the kids and me.... in the morning, I took them to the Andover YMCA. Not to go to the Y, but to shop/browse at the vendor fair they were having. It was mostly home parties like Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, etc. They had an usborne books booth, so of course I had to buy something. This is the company that makes really good kids books, including Zander's favorite book, the "finding book". I was telling the person that our "finding book" is so well loved tat it's falling apart. She said that you can contact the original seller (via the sticker on the back) and buy a new copy from them for half price. So... we just might do that.

I called my grandpa tonight, who has been in the hospital for over a week. (this is in addition to the 1 weeks he spent in there about a month a go). He had 2 stents put in during his previous hospital visit after having symptoms of a heart attack. A angiogram revealed 2 arteries very blocked - one 99% and one 90% blocked. At the first visit, he also had some presumed internal bleeding. Some simple tests indicated that the bleeding must have stopped, so they sent him home with the thought that they would see him in about a month for a follow-up on the internal bleeding. Well, he didn't get that far. He collapsed at his place, where luckily my mom happened to be there, last Friday. After a trip to the ER, they concluded that he still had internal bleeding and the lack of blood caused the collapse. He got several infusions, but the bleeding still has not stopped. He has been there for over a week now and they've performed tons of tests - without any definitive answers yet. I called him today to say hi, but I he was finishing eating and saying goodbye to g-ma and mom... so the conversation was short.

Tomorrow is the Halloween Party at Stacy & Travis' house. All the PC girls are going and bringing the kids in costumes. Should be interesting to see how long the costumes stay on. Since the summer picnic was a flop, I haven't seen most of the kids since the ornament exchange last year. Looking forward to it!