MDG Mo. 5

That looks like one of those old classical piece titles, you know, like Bach: Cantata "Christen, ätzet diesen Tag," BWV 63 (more on that after Christmas...).

SO our li'l boy is five months old!  He's smilier and laughier than ever, he's happy through sniffles and snuffles, he's big and tall and strong, he's sleeping fine, and really we have hardly a thing about which to complain.  He was the cutest Tigey at Halloween and spent a good part of Thanksgiving eyeing our plates (not yet, little man, but soon).  He's always quietly observing, though he can make his wants and wishes known.  The big excitement is that his labor and delivery and doctor and hospital bills are PAID OFF, after some distress involving unknowingly out-of-network hospitals, exorbitant, bewildering (not at all itemized...) bills, several calls to several places, and a major reduction of cost after making the right calls to the right places.  Sometimes that actually works.

Here he is!

Little Pumpkin.

Seriously, our other kids were happy but never as constantly smiley as he is.  He poses for the camera and everything.

Third go-round for this precious Sophie.  She cost a few pretty pennies but we've definitely had our cost-per-use.

Get some mileage out of those adorable Daniel Tiger ears!

He loves his mommy so so much.

 And now we're already just a couple weeks away from half a year.  Yikes!  Don't grow too fast, sweet boy.

Halloween 2017 -- Grrrreat? Grr-ific

Halloween!  It has come and gone, but not without being observed very much in our household especially by certain persons age 4 and under.  Without further ado, here's the Instaslideshow:

Either it's Halloween around here or I haven't played the piano in a LONG time.

Funtivity the 1st: Hee Haw Farms!  A huge hit as always.  I can't get over the corn box.

 

This isn't exactly Halloween-related, but having one sit and one push makes walking to church go a lot faster and easier.

Funtivity the 2nd: The Pumpkin Patch!  They've really upped their game this year (though the wait for the hayride was incredibly long, extended ride notwithstanding).

A perfect moment captured by The Wife.

Funtivity the 3rd: A nearby neighborhood party at Dowdle Farms with an art unveiling.  The Wife always manages to find the best local things to do.

Work party.  I must say the cereal bar was a stroke of genius. I made the poster but not the art.

I'm really amazed and annoyed we didn't even win third place (which would mean a prize of team breakfast -- what could have been more fitting?), even enlisting Auditing and Marketing.

Introducing the kids to a classic before heading out.

Halloween greetings from Daniel Tiger and his entourage.

Apparently I didn't do the bat or dragon or hissing cat quite to The Boy's desired specifications, but in my defense he didn't tell me until after.  I finally threw the remainder of these out today.

And there you have it!  We also went to sister Cami's really fun annual Halloween-themed Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra concert/costume parade, Elfman, Grieg, Mozart, Prokofiev, Williams, and a favorite from last year, Ghostbusters.  On the day of I had to rush off before too late to get to a rehearsal in SLC (more on that coming.....) but we had plenty of time to be together and do lots of fun things and trick-or-treat to the kids' hearts' content(s?), though they've largely forgotten about the candy by now, which is still in labeled bags.  I don't understand parents who take their kids trick-or-treating multiple times for hours on end and then complain that there's so much candy in their house.  What other results could you possibly expect???  Anyway.

7 Days Challenge

Oh, I guess I could post these.  I was tagged by a friend to do this challenge and it was fun so here they are.

7 days - 7 black and white photos of your everyday life.
No people or explanations.
Invite a new person to join every day.*

Day 1
20 October 2017

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7
26 October 2017

Tas li no.

I'm trying to backdate this to keep things in order, so we'll see how it works!


*I mostly invited people I knew would be interested or wouldn't bother but probably wouldn't be annoyed by the invitation, ha.

Last One Before Two (Or, 21 Months)

Baby is just a few months away from her second birthday!  Sometimes it seems strange that she's still so little but then sometimes she definitely still seems like our little Baby (which I'm trying to wean myself from calling her, she does have a name after all).

She's such a big girl these days, putting together sentences and making her mind known (often loudly and sometimes with difficulty, but usually eventually).  She's more and more independent and communicative, is starting to get a little pickier with her foods and vocal about what she wants -- and doesn't want -- and is miles ahead of where Big Brother was at her age in the potty training department (we haven't even started with her and she's already Gone a handful of times).  She's sweet and funny and emotional and often squeals with glee at simple pleasures and is a really good sport with her enthusiastic sibling.  She will gasp and "oh!" with surprise and plaintively say "okay" when we finally figure out what she's trying to say.  She's definitely been getting more into the holidays and had a great time trick-or-treating on Halloween and trying new foods at Thanksgiving and looking forward to Santa and enjoying all the Christmas decorations.

Lounging as the summer dies down.

Bundled up for a post-nap pre-bedtime lie-down.

Remember the drawing from her last update?  Unspeakably adorable!

Hanging out with the horses on Columbus Day.  Photobomb by Charlie!

The corn box is the greatest thing invented.

Modeling some swag from work.

Did you know a reindeer's favorite food is eggy breadies?

That's our Smooch just a few months shy of a big birthday.  We can't wait to see how she grows and changes next.

Halloween 2016 -- Small and Very Funny

Quick, before it's Thanksgiving!

We had Halloween.  It was lots of fun as expected, and even more exciting than last year.  I had a total of three costumes this year (what, don't all adults have several costumes to wear over the course of one day?), and we took the kids to Auntie Cami's orchestra's family-friendly Halloween concert, including a costume parade and trick-or-treating.  They loved it so much, it might have brought a li'l tear to my eye to see how into the music they were (it helped that the selections included Phantom, Ghostbusters and Thriller).  Trick-or-treating was a big hit, and we went much farther than last year, which also meant that we weren't home to give out much candy... But we would both rather be out with the kids being cute and having fun just now, so maybe next year we'll finally just put the bowl out on the porch while we're gone and if someone takes it all, SO BE IT.  The Charlie and Lola themed costumes, complete with yarn hairbows/Foxy accessory and new Charlie shirt, were a hit with those who recognized them (I was Lola's imaginary friend Soren Lorenson and The Wife was the title page/screen, just to help people who were on the edge of realizing), and it actually felt like an old-school Halloween with loooots of kids running around our neighborhood and a fun buzz in the fall air.

Also, I'll point out here that The Wife made quite a little killing on Etsy selling her Care Bear tummy iron-ons.  It was pretty exciting seeing the orders (and special orders!) coming in on the regular, and I'm sure plenty of nursing teams spent the day doing some great Care Bear stares.  Let's see how well her really cute earrings do for Christmas!

Here are Instahighlights:

Fall!  This boy had been wanting to do this for weeks.

They loved the symphony so much!  There were even plenty of John Bytheway ramblings to take a potty break.

Getting work ready for our Ghost Town theme... No time like the very last minute, right?

Work costume 1 (individual) and work costume 2 (team)

We didn't do as well as last year in the costume contest, but it was still fun and came together and at least we did SOMEthing.

Tada!  Again with the relatively obscure costumes, but I'm all for it.

Variations On Two Jacks.  We did these on the day of this year, but don't worry, we left them out for a good few weeks before finally throwing out the one remaining (who knows what happened to Classic Jack).

We had a good time and are still occasionally enjoying "our" candy and The Boy is preeeeetty excited that Christmastime is coming next, though, as we remind him, not until after Thanksgiving (not that we aren't listening to Christmas music now and then, which he always enjoys in the car).

It's all happening!

A Sad English Fish

Halloween 2015!  I totally forgot that it happened, but I wanted to document it quickly.  The Wife had this idea last year that we thought would be the cutest thing ever, and she followed through with great panache when preparation time came (you can read all about the process and see marvelous pictures here).

But we had some fun and cute times this year:

The Pumpkin Patch in Orem is a great time, just the right size for little ones, and free hay rides on select nights!  (Lesson learned: the Pumpkin Parade at the Riverwoods isn't turning out to be the best thing ever anymore, especially for kids this age.)

I dressed in my old favorite to attend my sister's orchestra's awesome Halloween concert (and my getup was appropriate as they played my theme song).  Any excuse to break out the uniform, right?!?

Hee-Haw Farms has also been a big hit the last couple years.  This was a tall[er than it looks in this picture!] stack of hay, where we could see the amazing pumpkin-dropping crane even better.

I'm still new to the in-office work-team culture, so I didn't know what to expect from their talk of the big Halloween fun, but we had a good time and there were hundreds of trick-or-treaters.  Our department even won 2nd place for our Dia de los Muertos-themed decorations.  My contribution was some artistic touches, including the bride and groom's sugar skulls.

On the day-of this year!  Nothing like waiting to the last minute.  This way they were especially fresh when the trick-or-treaters came and for the fun neighborhood block party across the street.

Clockwise, starting at the 6: Tintin, Snowy, Unicorn (geddit?) and Haddockbounding (his name and its origin is the inspiration for the title of this post).  I appreciated that my beard fit in perfectly with the theme this year.

Actual Halloween was a fun time, we were the first trick-or-treaters at my parents' house, which seemed to confuse little Tintin as to why we weren't just letting ourselves in, and it might have thrown off his stride since he wasn't quite as forthcoming in the knocking again for a little while (last year he had no problem whatsoever), but once he found his groove he was excited to knock doors, and then randomly sat down on the sidewalk or rock walls a couple times and was ready to head back home and hang out with the across-the-street neighbor kids whose parents were hosting an outdoor movie/fire pit, for which the weather was just perfect.  The Boy spent several days surrounding Halloween talking about it, so it seems he was much more into the festivities this year, like we thought he would be.  Next year I'm sure he'll be even more!

So it all turned out great, and The Wife's costumes for the little ones were just right, and even if no one really understood who we were (people guessed The Boy was a golfer or a "little Dutch boy" and that Baby was a bunny or a kitty or basically anything but a little white puppy), we knew who we were dressed as, and that if WE saw a family dressed in these costumes we would have thought it was awesome.

2014: The Halloween of the Hobbits

Halloween has come and gone.  The Wife posted a great little summary with many pictures of the amazing costumes she put together.

This year we were surprised to discover that our new ward wasn't having a Halloween anything, but we found some fun activities to enjoy regardless.  We started a week before by checking out the Pumpkin Parade at the Riverwoods.  It was great to debut our complete costumes and The Wife's workmanship of them.  They turned out just great!  That shirt design she came up with was just perfect, and I felt like I was a kid again when I put on that finished cloak and swished it all around the house.

Princess Leia was kind enough to put down her little Stormtrooper or whatever and take this picture for us at Blickenstaff's.

Right on, Cap.  Right on.

I just love how he's looking at me, I was just trying to get him to look at the camera, ha.  He's probably still wondering where The Beard went.

(We skipped the furry feet idea, trusting that our performance/bare (or bare-ish) feet would sell the look.  We definitely drew a lot of amused glances, especially as they figured out Julie's costume.)

(Also, a word about this event, and the holiday this year in general -- I was pleasantly surprised at the unexpected balance in ratio of Annas to Elsas.  That is all.)

Then we tried out a couple different hayride/carnival/pumpkin patches.  Hee Haw Farms was fun (not free), though the hayride was... so-so.  The animals were a big hit and we were glad to be treated to a free pony ride by a departing family who wasn't going to use their ticket, but the biggest hit of all was the Corn Box (like a sandbox, but with corn instead).  Yes, best thing ever.  I mean, it still gets everywhere, and you might find remnants hours later in pockets and diapers, but it's still tidier than sand, and I think more fun.

So many kids!  Lawlawlawl.

Yes corn yes.

Then we went to another pumpkin patch called... the Pumpkin Patch, which was also fun (and was free) (at least when we went).  Mostly they just sell pumpkins and have picture-taking things, but they also have a hayride, which is a little longer and more fun than the other one.  The Boy wore the same generally concerned expression he did last year on the hayride, but he did enjoy tossing the hay about anyway.  Next year, man, he's going to think Halloween's the best.

There's that generally concerned expression!

Oh mah peeps.

Then we carved pumpkins, and I'm telling you, I think we're going to do this thing on Halloween Eve from now on.  They have hardly any time to go bad and they look just perfect on the big day.  Of course, in future Halloweens with older kid(s), there will be interest in doing them before then, but while we may we shall make traditions how we like them!

I did the dirty work.

The Boy did the dirtier work (which he took quite seriously).

Well, I tried.  It's just as well you can't really see him, he was so done and ready for bed at this point.

Something old, something new.

And then came the day itself!  As I said, we didn't have much of a big activity to go to, so it's a good thing we took advantage of opportunities to show off our costumes beforehand.  We tried to find this informal thing some people in the neighborhood were doing, but in the end we visited Mom and Dad, took some fun pictures, walked around my old trick-or-treating stomping grounds to a few select houses, and then headed home to test out our new location.  Little Mister was quickly able to get the hang of things, and happily knocked at each door.  Everyone loved his little Ringbearer costume, and though he loved to gnaw on his wrapped candies, I think one of his favorite treats was a glowstick bracelet (such a rad idea).  I learned that it's hard to find a balance between taking kids trick-or-treating and being home to give out the treats, but it will probably be easier in future years when we don't both so want to take him around.  Luckily we ended up with not TOO much leftover candy, and we still definitely had more trick-or-treaters than we have in any of our previous neighborhoods in the six Halloweens we've had since we've been married.

Oh man, the gesture.  Great usage of the raked-but-not-yet-bagged leaves.

What's over there??  Isengard?  Are they taking the Hobbits there?

The Wife's costumes were fashionable AND functional.  I don't suppose you see anything in this picture but a blank stretch of lawn and a front porch.

The Wife is Barad-Dur and The Poppy is evidently The Eye.  Scary costume, baby!

Now and then the old phone takes a pretty good picture actually.

Happy Halloween, one and all.  Great job this year, Wife!  You worked hard on these costumes and it totally paid off.  I'm so glad they worked out just how you hoped.  (And thanks to ebay for providing those oh so authentic Leaves of Lorien brooches -- they may fall more idly than they ought, but they were just the right touch.)  Now it's November and hurraaaaaaayyyy I can't wait for winter and Christmastime and our travel plans for Thanksgiving too.