Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pumpkin Carving Time

Yesterday was a long day for Xander...all that waiting for it to be time to carve his pumpkin! I have a strict non-involvement policy with carving - that's Joe's job. Xander got his table cleared off, got out a guts bowl and spoon, and carried his pumpkin up from downstairs. And finally Daddy was ready to get things started.

Xander hates pumpkin guts. He kept saying "eewww!", but Joe insisted that he help scoop out the pumpkin, since it was his project. So he did. And when Joe pretended to vomit pumpkin guts into the bowl, Xander thought that was hysterical. Of course, he had to do it to.


Even Stuart got in on the action. He was very curious about all this activity, and so I let him give the pumpkin top a sniff. He tried to eat it instead, not surprising since he likes yams.

Xander and Joe scooped, sliced and finally got the scary monster face that Xander had requested. (Minus one pointy tooth that snapped off when Xander popped the mouth part out. He told me it had a cavity, so that was okay.)

Finally, it was time to put the candle in and light up our new jack o'lantern. Joe and Xander did a great job! I was worried that Xander would be scared of the face once we had it lit - that's happened before - but he liked it so much he had it glowing at him from his dresser when he went to bed.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Another Washout - in more ways than one!

So Friday night we drove to Binghamton...in the rain. And Saturday morning we woke up...to the rain. It rained most of the day on Saturday, and it was the downpour kind, not the misty kind. Needless to say, we never made it to the pumpkin farm. Second year in a row! :(

To compound this, Xander was sick all weekend, starting Friday night. Lots of moaning and crying in bed that night, complaining about sore throat, headache all day. So Saturday we went shopping instead (including a trip to CVS for Children's Tylenol) and had lunch out at Los Tapatios, the Mexican restaurant we'd first visited last year. I once again got the beef chimichanga, and I still like it! Plus the fun visiting with Anne, Keith and Alex.

Xander and I went to see the pediatrician yesterday, who confirmed my suspicion of strep throat. He's out of school today, so he can get going on his antibiotic, and then back to school tomorrow just in time for his snack day.

Hopefully both the weather and Xander will have cleared up by the weekend!

Friday, October 23, 2009

TGIF!

Okay, so I'm a slacker. No pictures to share today, no fun stories. Some days there just isn't much happening with the Brunos! But I can report that we are going to Binghamton after work today, to visit Annie and the gang, and go to the pumpkin farm (provided we don't get rained out again this year). So I'll have fun pictures on Monday.

Till then, I'll leave you with a Xander quote.

"Mom's right, I'm special. And you're lucky to have me!"

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Making His List, Checking It Twice


It's not Halloween yet. Thanksgiving is still a month away. And Xander is already hard at work on his Christmas list. We got a toy catalog in the mail this week, and Xander immediately sat down with it and a marker, making his choices. The best part, besides the fact that he circled almost everything in there, was the comments he made.

"I've been wanting one of these." "I can't wait to play with this!"

I reminded him that just because he's got something circled doesn't mean it's going to show up under the tree. He was disappointed, but really, he'll be happy with whatever shows up. Even if I get him something he already has, he reassured me that he likes having extra. What a kid! :)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Halloween Approaches...

I've been scrapping some Halloween pictures lately, some from way back in 1980, and this one from 2007:

Going out trick-or-treating with Xander has certainly been an experience. When I was a kid, one parent took you out (until you were old enough to go by yourself) and the other stayed home to hand out candy. For us, trick-or-treating is a family affair. And the first year we went I was surprised to see how many families were out walking the streets together.


Of course, we don't have to worry about handing out candy. The Big Blue Barn is pretty far off the beaten track. Even as a kid, we didn't have that many visitors. And I like that we all go together. In fact, if Joe doesn't have Halloween off just in the natural course of things, he puts in for it at work. He doesn't want to miss it, which is so awesome.

I know that someday Xander will either be too old to go trick-or-treating, or he just won't want us tagging along. So I'm glad we get to have this family time together while we can. But you'll have to wait until Halloween to find out what we're dressing up as! :)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

What the Heck??

So, this is what I saw when I got up Friday morning:

I can't tell you how depressed this makes me! I mean, we barely had a summer, and already we're getting hit with snow. Indian Summer better be right around the corner, or I'm going to scream. I'm so nervous for trick-or-treating this year, I don't want to be out in the cold.

Yes, it's pretty. No, I'm not ready for it. Xander asked me when we could get a Christmas tree. Sigh. I want summer back!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

The first field trip of first grade took place yesterday. Joe and I joined 31 first graders on the school bus and drove out to Central Bridge to go to the Pumpkin Patch. (Never again riding the bus, by the way. Now I remember why I always hated it!) Joe and I were assigned three little boys, plus our own little offspring. We were able to keep them in line pretty good!


We did lots of fun pumpkin patch activities. We had a ride on the hay wagon, the kids got to see some farm animals and crawl through a hay bale tunnel, and there were some cute pumpkin displays. Plus each kid got to pick their own little pumpkin, a gourd, and an ear of Indian corn. Joe snuck in an extra ear for himself, too, because he found a really big one.

We all had lunch in the barn, in close proximity to the apple cider donuts (we bought a dozen to bring home), and only lost one student the whole day - Joe joined the search party and found her pretty quickly, having some fun playing by herself.

I'm glad to have the opportunity to go on these field trips with Xander! Even though I was completely exhausted by the time I got home, it was worth it.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Homework...the Fun Begins!


First grade has brought with it homework. Every Friday Xander will bring home a worksheet of some sort that he needs to complete for Monday. This week it was a math worksheet about patterns. All he had to do was continue the pattern and color in the right squares.

After the first row or so, he pooped out. "I want to watch tv." "My stomache hurts." Seriously?? If Xander is crying about coloring in squares for homework, I shudder to think what we're going to have to deal with when he starts the real hard stuff.

When all was said and done, we got through the homework and with a minimum of mistakes. Little does my boy know that this is just the tip of the homework iceberg!!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Another Scrapbook Finished...Barely!

So, I already have three scrapbooks that center around my four years at St. Bonaventure University. One is an overview, one is just about the 10 year reunion, and the third (just done a couple of months ago) is about some of the best school stories. Did I really need to do another one? Oh, yeah, I did!


I had a coupon from Inkubook that I wanted to use, so my deadline for getting this done was today. I've been doing a couple of 2-page layouts here and there, but then it was crunch time. I was up until 3am this morning finishing up. The book came out to 50 pages, and I could have easily done a bunch more. Here's the cover:

This was an involved scrapbook. Lots of scanning of pictures (mine and Anne's) and tracking down random pieces of paper I thought I might like to include. The result is a pretty cool album documenting various college things from my time there. I'm pretty happy with it. Here's a sample inside page:

And I have to say I'm already thinking of yet another one. No college experience unturned, that's my motto! LOL! Now I have to anxiously wait for the finished book to arrive, hopefully in time for me to bring it to Binghamton in a couple of weeks so I can show it to Anne. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Halloween!

Do you see this boy? This boy is a decorating maniac! I dragged out the Halloween decoration box on Monday, and Xander has been steadily deciding where to put our few bits of holiday decor.


He licked all the window clings to ensure their clinginess (blech!). He untangled our "garland" of plastic skeletons. He's tried to find good places to put everything, for maximum scary impact. (Nothing in his room, though, because he doesn't want to get "frightmares".) Here are a few of our favorite seasonal decoration items.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Autumn Days...Too Soon!

I suppose it was unavoidable - Autumn again! I'm a little resentful of the chilly temps, though they are great for sleeping. Summer just seemed to start so late this year, I think it should still be nice and warm out there. Of course, then I wouldn't get these pretty pictures! I just hope it's not a snowy Halloween!!



Thursday, October 1, 2009

Open House - 1st Grade

Well, we had Xander's Open House at school on Tuesday night. I always like having a chance to go in and get some pictures, and this year we saw more of the school because Xander wanted to show us everything. That kid sure knows his way around! And older kids and random staff kept saying hi to him. Too funny!



Here he is with his teacher, Ms. C. She'll be leaving soon because the regular teacher will be back from maternity leave. But I really like Ms. C because she's a scrapbooker, so she understands about my need for photos. And she sends lots of nice notes home.

This is Xander at his desk. This year he has the kind with the cubby underneath for his supplies. He has a pencil box full of crayons, markers and pencils in there. And a journal that he's written some things in, and drawn some pictures in. On top you can see part of the monument he made out of food boxes for their lesson on US Government. It's a monument to me, because I help him. (His words!) Awww!


And here's Xander by the weather chart. He's been the assigned weather man this week, so he gets to record the day's weather. I asked him yesterday if he put clouds on because it was so cloudy. He said no, it wasn't cloudy - it was overcast. Too funny!

It was a nice visit. I enjoy seeing him so at ease there, he didn't get lost or turned around at all. And I'm so thankful I don't attend school there, because the flight of stairs between the elementary and high school portions of the building are endless!

Cat Lady

Cat Lady
For the March All About Me Challenge at ACOT