1st Grade Portrait

We got Xander's school portraits back yesterday. What a handsome devil!! Of course, I had to call the photography company because they shorted us our 8x10, but that will hopefully be coming soon. So, for your entertainment, I give you Xander's 1st Grade portrait:

And for extra fun, look how much he's changed since Kindergarten:

Oh Woe, My Poor Car!

Do you see anything wrong with my car?

No? Well, let me tell you a little story. The other night I was driving home from work (it was about 5:15, getting fairly dark) and when I got to the street I live on I was stuck behind a van with flashing yellow lights on it. This van was crawling down the street, but I didn't feel comfortable passing because I didn't know if there was something ahead and also because it was a no-passing zone. And since the driver didn't wave me around or pull off to the shoulder, I had to tough it out.

The morning after this incident, I saw that the double yellow line had been painted. There were tire marks coming from that to my driveway, where I'd driven a little on the fresh paint. Now it all made sense! I had a little chuckle about that. And then Joe came home from work.

Turns out more than just my tires are yellow. Now Joe has to call the insurance company to see if there's anything we can do about this. The line painter wasn't marked in any way - I had no clue what he was doing besides driving slow. It was too dark to even get a good look at his vehicle, though I could just make out a picture of the state on the back doors. Want a better look? Check these pics out!

Halloween 2009

It was the best of times, it was the soggiest of times. It was...Halloween 2009!

First on the schedule of festivities was a Halloween breakfast at work. Joan, Krissy and I dressed for a slumber party, and won best group costume (we beat out the hippies). I think the curlers put us over the top!

Next was a trip to Xander's school for the Halloween parade and subsequent party. We saw some very cute costumes, and Xander brought home three gift bags and a huge popcorn ball!

But of course the real action was on Saturday. We went to my in-laws' for lunch, and Xander was beside himself waiting for Angie to call us over for trick-or-treating. He passed the time playing, nibbling on ham, and waiting for trick-or-treaters to come so he could give them candy.

Finally it was time to hit the streets. And yes, it rained on and off the whole time we were out. It wasn't too cold, luckily, but we still had to put jackets on. Here are the six of us before heading out (Andy=Darth Vader, Angie=Han Solo, Joe=Obi Joe Brunobi, Cassie=Princess Leia, Xander=Jango Fett, Josh=Clone Trooper):

Josh and Xander got a boat-load of candy, considering the weather and the fact that only every third or fourth house was lit and handing out the goods. We didn't do our whole loop this year - no-one was much into it - and ended up the night back at Andy and Angie's eating pizza and just hanging out while the boys played. All in all, a pretty good night!

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.