Happy Halloween!

Tonight Svea dressed up as a giraffe, though no one could tell. They kept asking if she was a boy or a girl, then what is she?
Those people need to eat more candy, I think.



Henry dressed up like a penguin and waddled to about 2 houses then wanted to do something else. Like go home. And throw the baseball.



When we were practicing for trick-or-treating, we would ask Henry what you say when and he would say, "Trick or Treat!" at the door and "Thank you!" when he got candy.
When we practiced with Svea and asked her, "What do you say at the door?" she would reply "THIS is my diaper."
Then she would say thank you. Good thing she still got some candy.



Happy Halloween everyone!

Protective Eyewear for Peace

This is hard work, people.

SYTYCD

My sister and I did it.

We abandoned all maturity and any need for a certain reputation and we went to the live performance of So You Think You Can Dance in Nashville, TN this past Wednesday. No kids, no husbands, just us and the other crazy fans.

I've posted pictures here if you are at all inclined to see totally amazing talent and the thing that makes my whole summer worth sweating through.

If you have any questions about dancers, choreography, choreographers, costumes, etc. PLEASE let me know. I could talk for days about this. My husband is a little scared. And definitely worried. His obsessions are totally normal, of course. Go Saban. But mine are weird. Go Sabra.

New Poll

I need to explain.

When Henry gets a new idea of something we all can do, it requires a wardrobe change (of course. This is nothing new). So we were going on a walk the other day and just MAY pass NEAR the high school football field which meant Henry needed 10 more minutes inside while Svea sat buckled in the stroller and Brian and I stood around and waited in the driveway.

After awhile Brian went in to check on Henry, and thanks to all that he has learned from the entire "Air Bud" movie series, he was packing his "athletic bag" with his football gear. He had his miniature zipper bag, a football, his helmet, and two knitted caps that he wears doubled up for padding since his helmet is too big. There's no way anyone could have gotten all of that "equipment" in the miniature bag. So he fit the football in halfway, tried to zip it, and then was going to carry everything else.
Except he kept dropping something the minute he picked up another something.

When Brian finally got to him, there were real tears flowing and he said, "I don't have three hands!"

Neither do we, honey.

What else do we say?

I Heart:

My kitty-cat sweater dress hand-me-down from Lydia. When I put it on, I say I'm "wearing my blanket." Cheeeesssse:



My recent thrift store finds: free stuffed clown from store employee, denim buttondown shirt, two stylin' clip-on ties. My soccer shorts and glitter pencil were both my additions later. I already had those. From all those other outfits I put together. On my own.





And, yes, I did have to take both ties to bed with me tonight. Just in case.

I Walk Away For One Second

And this is where I find them:

New Feature

As we are bombarded with questions around here, I've added a new polling feature to the blog. When the husband and I are stumped or are tired of our own answers to the incessant questions, I will add the most recent, most asked question there in the top left corner of your screen.

All help, advice and opinions are welcomed...and desired.
I think there is a clear majority on the state of Spiderman's potty training progress.

Thanks!

Some Favorite Shots From the Past Week

Svea in the Ebeling-Rogel Rompus Room:



Lilah hard at work at the art table:



Svea cheering to Menachem's "Hands Up" song that we use for many reasons in our house:



Svea cheering during Tiger Walk at the AU v. AR game:



Daddy and Henry tailgating:



Monday night cook out at the Stamms'. Go Doug Reed!







And, of course, beween heaves in a bucket Henry gets to watch SEC football at 9 o'clock at night:

Puke

So Henry started throwing up tonight. In his sheets.

We brought him downstairs and let him watch a rerun of the Alabama v. Ole Miss game while we gathered soiled sheets and mopped up the pukage. Special treats all around.

When he started feeling sick again, Brian held the bucket and I guided his head and all he would say was, "I can't see Ole Miss!"

I canNOT believe this is my life sometimes.

I Drank the Kool-aid.

I just put up a AU v. AR photo album on Flickr that highlights some of the festivities from last weekend.

Unce Brad's birthday is Saturday, so there was a birthday cake involved for an early celebration.
The Auburn v. Arkansas game was so much fun...I definitely am part of the tailgating cult. I have drunk the kool-aid.

We missed you, Papa, but will make up for lost time at the Iron bowl over Thanksgiving.

Brooke, we are so proud for you!

War Eagle.

Kathryn Stamm, Future Olympian

We know a future Olympic gymnast. Do I capitalize "Olympic" there? I think so, and I'm going to because this is so important.



We have a friend here in Evansville who is only seven years old and she is an amazing gymnast.



She did a back walkover the other day just out of nowhere - like it was nothing - and Leta and I just stared at each other.



She not only is a great gymnast -- I have to add this information to illustrate her character dimensions. Her parents are both college professors and her sister is in the I-have-every-talent-because-I-am-two phase, so Kathryn in some ways is bound to be amazing and well-rounded...but some of it may be her own unique gifts. So Kathryn is not only a great gymnast, but she also helps a babysitter take care of about 7 other children each Sunday morning. She shares her markers and crayons and writes her name in cursive perfectly. I do believe that she corrects her parents on occasion. She is silly and sweet and Henry asks me if he'll get to see her every weekend at church.



Kathryn had her first big gymnastics meet a few weekends ago. She won EIGHT medals, and her hair did not even come down. In fact, I think it stayed like that for a week.



You can see by these shots (thank you, John, for these. I hear there were about 214 more taken?) what a fine gymnast she is.



Her younger sister had a very interesting take on the meet:




Kathryn is a very good reader and happens to read this blog...so HELLO KATHRYN!
WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

When We Gather

To play "together."



This is basically how toddler playdates go, I am learning.



There's a lot of independent play AROUND each other, and then some sharing issues and some tears, then a snack, then maybe a book,



then some more independent play. Someone may even try to get in the desk chair and change the music on the computer.



Maybe.

The Blues of cMoe

The Children's Museum of Evansville, cMoe, has become a Sunday afternoon tradition lately.



There happen to be very few patrons the few hours before closing time on Sundays which works out very well for our need to dominate the toys and games.



And to be loud.



There is a room for Three And Under and we spend a lot of time in there.
Tackle football doesn't hurt so much when everything is padded.



And everything is blue.



I think blue must be good for the brain.

What if...

What if you had spent this past weekend teaching Svea that her new favorite move of arching backwards is just like the "Titanic"?



Or tried to teach Svea and Henry to give a thumbs up and say, "Vurrry niiiize" in complete Borat style to everything in life?

Or read the same book over and over?



Or had deep, philosophical discussions during games of Living Room Tackle Football about who gets to be John Parker Wilson and who gets to be D.J. Hall?

Or made up the Swinging Upside Down Game that makes Svea squeal in delight, "Look at me Mama! Look at me Daddy!"?



Or what if you had broken up your day into the following increments:
40% scientific approach to all of college football including all teams, their coaches, player patterns and school histories
40% dedicated to programming the DVR and then switching between all of the games to make sure no play is missed
1% committed to calling the cable company to complain about a Notre Dame game black out
10% of further research on the art of homebrew, including sampling
4.5% engaged in Living Room Tackle Football with Henry
and finally
4.5% getting tackled by Svea wearing only a diaper?



What if you spent your weekend that way?

Well then you would have had a special treat Uncle Brad weekend too.

Our versions of "posing" are not the same.

Svea Quotes, Henry Questions

The days have been full this week and we are all a little hoarse by the end of it all. Some of us from asking questions, others from deferring answers.

For example, while tying the sash around Svea's waist the other morning, she looked down and exclaimed, "I'm a present!"

Last night at dinner, we were having spaghetti and Svea squeezed a noodle and flopped it around and said, "Look! It's a worm!"
Then she threw the noodle on the ground and yelled, "Fly, worm, fly!"



Here they are singing a duet while standing on the couch (usually not allowed) to the "Letter Factory":





Henry just asked me, "If I played tackle football with Winnie the Pooh, would he let me tackle him?"

He also asked me today at my annual visit to the OB, "Mommy, what's a uterus?"
(Later in the visit, he pointed to a nurse's stomach - a nurse who was wearing a very tight t-shirt and maybe should have gone up a size - and said, "Look, Mom. A baaaaaabbbbyyyyyy." I was so embarrassed. This lady was NOT pregnant).

Henry also introduced Svea the other day by saying, "This is my sister and she has a vagina. She also has a hole where poo-poo comes out."
I was speechless. He was using all the words he was taught, especially from Once Upon a Potty. How can I argue when I have created this monster?



Svea has been singing a lot, mostly when left alone in a room and mostly with made-up words. It's my most favorite sound.
Along with Henry remembering as he is halfway up the stairs that he forgot to kiss me and tell me that he loves me.

Redemption comes in all forms, I tell ya.

So Funny

We saw Suzana this morning and she was so funny, grinning for the camera while reading the book I forgot I checked out from the library. HA.

Just Another Afternoon

The other day, we decided to go on a "hike" since the weather was so nice.



It was really more a stick-collecting expedition, but there's a place for those too I guess.



The puppet theater was a hit,



as was hugging by the red-tailed hawk cage.



Being outside was really nice. Even when we ended the afternoon, once again, at the high school practice field.