Rain Rain Go Away

You are ruining my plans and it's making me cranky. First, tomorrow is Halloween, and I'm not one to go trick or treating with an umbrella. Second, Saturday Hubs and I have tickets to a college football game I've been looking forward to all season. Having not gone to a college with a football team, I love going to these. But I don't love going in the rain. And the rain will make my nachos soggy.

Emma's First Play

Emma and I and my mom (at Emma's invitation, not my suggestion at all) went to see Annie Jr. on Saturday night. The theatre company putting on the play is for children only, so all the parts were played by kids 7th grade and younger. Thus the Jr. in the title. Hubs has a friend at work whose son was in the play, and it turns out my mom has a co-worker whose daughter was in it. It's always more fun to see a play if you know one of the cast members!

It was awesome. Emma looked so grown up marching into the theater with her purse slung over her shoulder, marching down the aisle like she knew what she was doing. We had talked in advanced about the seats and the stage and the lights going down, and as soon as she was seated she was ready for things to get started. She scooted back in her seat, squealed her chair was pinching her (it was folding up because she didn't weigh enough) and then situated herself on my mom's lap. The lights went down, and Emma was ready.

She was mesmerized by the singing and dancing, by the actors marching across the stage, by their costumes.

She asked questions throughout the first half, but they were totally apporpriate questions. She was clearly trying to make sense of what she was seeing and hearing, trying to understand how the sets worked and who the characters were. At one point my mom and I had to stifle our giggles when Emma asked why all the orphans were sleeping outside. They weren't, she just hadn't figured out the set yet.

So here is it Monday night, and she still hasn't stopped talking about Annie. And Daddy Warbucks, and Sandy the dog. And she hasn't stopped singing.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you're only a daaaaaaaay aaaaaawaaaayyyyyyy!"

Look what I won!

I have a few blogs that I read almost daily. One of them is written by bonbon mama, and she recently had a bloggy giveaway to celebrate her one year blogging anniversary. And I won! The goodies came in the mail today and they rock:

She made all of it (well except the book, of course) - a cute little bag that she embroidered, a kleenex holder with kleenex inside, cherry magnets, and a credit card wallet with a key chain. Love it!

Check out her etsy store too - Bee Happy!

Happy Birthday Grant!

Two years ago we went from a family of three to a family of four when Grant entered the world. Neither Hubs nor I realized how badly we wanted a son until we had one! He's been our chill little bug from the beginning, easy going and simple to please. He's a mama's boy, always ready with a bear hug and smoochy kiss for his mom. He loves to run and jump, but always ends up in my lap at the end of the day.

We're having ribs and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight, the two foods Grant is guaranteed to chow down on. And Emma and I are baking an apple pie after resting time for dessert. Hubs and I got him three big ROARRRRRRS (dinosaurs) that are waiting to be wrapped up. He's going to love them!

Happy Birthday little bug, my sweet sweet boy!

First Field Trip

Emma went on her first field trip yesterday, and I had the pleasure of being a chaperone. It was so much fun, very dusty, and totally exhausting, but fun fun fun. The pumpkin patch we went to was great - the hay ride was just the right length, the corn maze was impossible to get lost in, the haystack slide was fun, and there were plenty of pumpkins to chose from. They even had flush toilets - hallejulah!

My back seat was packed with three giggling 4 year olds who chatted each other up on the way there, and swapped pumpkins on the way home. They chatted about Halloween costumes, the music they listen to in the car with THEIR moms, if they had been to a pumpkin patch before, and they shared not funny in the least jokes that had them all cracking up.

Emma had a great time, and is still talking about it. It was so great to be able to see the pumpkin patch through her eyes, while at the same time getting the opportunity to see her interact with her classmates.

And I learned that 4 year olds aren't anywhere close to being big enough to ride in boosters that buckle the child in with the seat belt. While they made it possible to fit two other children in my back seat with Emma, it is ridiculdous how UNsafe those two children were. I felt like I needed a sign attached to my car warning other cars to drive super safe around me. Sort of like when you're driving home from the hospital with your newborn and someone gets a little too close and you want to roll your window down and yell that you have a newborn in the car. Although the look of horror on my friend's face as I buckled those two children in with only the shoulder belt was pretty priceless. Her daughter is still in a Britax Marathon too.

Anyway, this is what I learned about 4 year olds. If there is dirt, they will throw it. Boys hang with boys, girls hang with girls, but if you're the only boy in the car, you'll be okay. Climbing hay bales is fun, but sitting for a class picture isn't. Other kids freak out at driving in someone elses car just like Emma would have (thus the reason I chaperoned). All 4 year olds love juice boxes and lie about having to go potty if they don't want to stop digging in dirt.

I can't wait for next years trip!

New House Guests

Nebulizer and Humidifier have made their yearly appearance in our house. More specifically, into Grant's life. Leaves falling off the trees and these house guests of ours mean it's getting cold.

So Pulmicort again (I had so much left from last year I didn't even have to turn in the prescription) twice a day for a month, and Zoponex as needed. The Dr. hinted we might have to do it all winter. That'll make for a long winter, that's for sure.

Breathing treatments are the expected nightmare, although this morning's was a bit more successful than last nights because Grant was all over holding it himself in his mouth. And he's stoked because he gets to watch TV while he's doing it.

Pockets

Grant has recently discovered his pockets. And he's obsessed. When he notices his pants have pockets, he'll spend most of his standing up time trying to shove his little hands into his pockets. When he's successful, he'll walk around to make sure everyone sees him and his hands in his pockets. And then he'll stand there, just hanging out, with his hands in his pockets.

Today, while at the park for a birthday party, he realized he could put other things in his pockets. Like "treasures" he discovers at the park.

Before we got in the car to leave, I extracted from his pockets:
two full acorns
three acorn caps
one 3" long stick
one leaf
a handful of bark

And then found one more acorn rolling around in the washing machine this evening after doing the load of laundry said pants were in.