Happy Halloween!

The kids did really well and had a great Halloween. We only went to 6 houses on our block, but that was plenty for each of them to get quite a bit of loot. Kale had a choice to be Spiderman, Woody or a motorcycle dude. He picked Woody, which was Nolan’s costume last year. He rocked it and wore the hat proudly. Amazing what some penicillin will do to get kids feeling better! Nolan also had fun, but was more interested in getting home to have “a treat”.

The Great Pumpkin

Saturday was race day for me, Sasha and Kate – the 10 mile Monster Dash in St. Paul. Adam, Chris and Kirk brought the kids to cheer us on. It was such a motivator to know they were there! I give them a ton of credit for bringing the kids and being at three different points during the race. Traffic was crazy and it wasn’t easy to get in and out of the cars with wagons, strollers, bulky winter coats and extra blankets! Our boys actually got in to it and understand that I ran a really long way. Even now when I put on my tennis shoes they ask if I’m going running! After the race we all went to Perkins for a celebratory breakfast. The kids napped when we got home. Things took a bit of a turn after nap time for Kale. We just summed it up to him being 2. He kept pointing to different parts of his body and saying he hurt, but we couldn’t pin point anything. He wouldn’t even put a costume on to go to an early Halloween party in Chan. We figured out right before I left with Nolan for the party that he was running a fever. I swear he’s been either sick or on the verge of being sick since September! He toughed it out and sweated out his fever during his nap on Sunday. He seemed to improve after that, while Nolan went down with a fever and sore throat/tummy ache on Tuesday. I stayed home with him today and after his nap he still had a fever and I saw spots in his throat. I took him to the dr. and of course it was strep. I should have thought ahead to bring Kale with to the appointment, but instead made it difficult for myself. Nolan and I drove back to daycare, picked up Kale, drove back to the clinic, and had Kale tested (of course positive, too). We picked up the medicine and made our way back home. Adam had strep on vacation, too. I’m the only one who hasn’t been sick! Adam got home from his work trip in time for dinner. As a surprise for the kids we carved the pumpkins after that. Kale was way more in to it than Nolan – he loved sticking his hand in the mush. Nolan did turn around and helped pick the seeds out of it. Hopefully the kids will feel better so they can enjoying trick or treating tomorrow night!

The Halloween party that Nolan and I went to was fun. This is the first year that Nolan is really excited about Halloween. He decided to be Lightning McQueen and wore the costume proudly! He loved getting candy and even played all the games to get more toys and candy. His fave candy so far is suckers of any kind. He doesn’t do great with saying trick or treat, but he is polite and says thank you!

Last night at dinner Kale was whining about his food. Nolan looked at him and said “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit”. I asked Nolan where he learned that, because we never say it. He told me one of the kids at daycare always tells his little brother that. I love it!

We’re back!

We got home Wednesday evening from a fabulous trip to California. While we were gone the kids spent part of the week with each set of grandparents. Overall the kids did good with us being gone, but Nolan struggled a little bit more than Kale. He was definitely ready for us to come home! We received quite a reception from them, with lots of jumping, running, hugs and welcome home cards that Jane helped them make at daycare. It was great to get away, but fun to come home!

We are working on getting back in to the swing of things. Last night we took the boy to the first of three sessions of PJ Club at ECFE. We didn’t realize this was a parent group discussion session, so that was news to us. The kids had fun until the last section of the class, which is story and song time. Kale loved it, Nolan got tired and a bit cranky, saying repeatedly “I don’t want to”. It took one of the teachers taking him by the hand and leading him over there to get him there, and even then he wouldn’t participate. Nolan is similar to Cinderella, except instead of midnight it’s 7:00! We’re hopeful the next two sessions will go better for him.

The fastest boy ever

Nolan was running the circle in our house tonight.  As he was running he said "Look at me - I'm the fastest boy ever!"  I don't know where he's picking up on this stuff, but it sure is funny!

Kale, on the other hand, is our child that requires us to to move all dangerous objects.  This morning I had just finished getting dressed.  I walked in to the living room and he was walking toward me with one hand on each handle of a Fiskars scissors, opening and closing it hear his neck.  Seriously!  He likes to rummage through drawers, so we need to some rearranging to see what else he'll find.

Pumpkin patch

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch on Sunday.  They were so excited to pick out their pumpkins.  Nolan kept saying "Dad, I found the biggest pumpkin ever!" We aren't going to carve them for a few weeks, but Nolan informed us he wants a happy pumpkin - and Kale agreed with him!

After nap we took the kids to run a few errands, and then ended up at Don Pablos for dinner.  We feel very fortunate that the kids like mexican food - and by that I mean chips and salsa!  They thought the decorations were great, especially the oversized beer bottles.  Kale kept saying "mamma's beer, daddy's beer?", to the point we had to tell him to stop!  Nolan told us to "look at that robot over there!", meaning the chip making machine.  Nolan also discovered that he likes the taste of limes, so he spent about 10 minutes sucking the juice out of it.  He has some very unique tastes in food!

I need to stay home with daddy

Nolan has been battling a cough for the last few nights.  Adam got home from being gone for a week last night, so today when Nolan woke up coughing a little bit he said "Mom, I think I need to stay home with daddy".  I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of the cough, but because he wanted to spend some quality time with dad!  It's amazing how quick kids pick up on this stuff.

Toilet paper

The Westonka homecoming week was this week.  There was of course some TPing that went on.  Every day home from daycare Nolan says "Look Mom, there's toilet paper in the tree!"  Then I try to teach a life lesson about where toilet paper is supposed to go.  Hopefully they'll remember that when they're teenagers!