Good Times

 Last week, just before bedtime, we "booed" our neighbors with homemade chocolate chip pumpkin muffins (Thanks, Jennifer Y for that yummy recipe!) & "Amelia Bedelia" books for the kids.

Will thought it was so fun to knock & run & hide.

(we only got "caught" once.)

 We also "booed" our favorite doctors and nurses in town.  

Then, the next day, we headed to Dallas for some appointments.

While there, we went to the Arboretum with my parents who were in town for some meetings.

 We had fun exploring Cinderella's pumpkin village

 And Will played for hours at an outdoor concert  - happily chasing a $1 glow in the dark necklace.

Hours.  Why do we spend money on elaborate toys?

 We picnicked and had fun listening to the music.

 Ellie playing with her friend, H.  Love those baby tummies.

 Have you seen this???

We can't wait for the Olympics in 2012!

When we showed this to Will, he noticed Oscar's zancos & said, "Awesome!"

We agree.  Awesome!

 Will scored a goal in his soccer game recently!  I missed it - at home with a sick baby.

Go Will!

Our friend, E, and neighbor was recently on the opposing team.  So fun to play him!

 He likes to vacuum.  I like to let him.

 We've had some cool days & I love having the windows open.  Perfect weather.

 When Will finishes soccer, he wants to try karate.  So we've been doing some trials at various places around town. Today, he has a trial class at Kung Fu.  I think Kung Fu will be it for us as he did a private evaluation yesterday & the instructor was awesome.  I like that I think it will teach him good self control, awareness and confidence in his body, and give him some great skills.

He loves the kicking and punching.

He had a hard time in Taekwando because they were supposed to be barefoot and "stand still" a lot of the time.  Will has amazing balance - but in order for him to stay upright with feet differences, he has to be in constant motion.  It's impressive to watch.  I mean, how many people could essentially stand upright, much less walk and run and jump, on heel bones?  Pretty amazing, that boy.  But, "still" is rough for him. So he felt more "different" when the kids were all standing still and he was standing yet moving his little feet to stay up.  And the kids stared - constantly.  His first question in kung fu was whether or not he would have to "stand still."  When he was told that he could wear shoes, he was sold.  When he was told that Kung Fu teaches super powers and how to find the superpowers you already have in your body, his face lit up.

Hopefully, it will go well today.

 On the way to Dallas the other day, I picked Will up from preschool, ran a few errands, & told both kids to go "nap nap."  And they both fell asleep (Ellie chatted for awhile.)  They slept the whole way to Dallas & I even pulled over in a shaded parking lot to let them sleep a bit longer instead of going straight to the hotel.  I texted my mom and bragged on how proud I was of them.

 I shouldn't have bragged.

Because Ellie didn't sleep so great on the women's retreat we went on the next day.

 (Here's a quick pic on when she was asleep on the trip.)

Most of the trip, she had a very hard time sleeping.

I did have a great time seeing so many women I've missed but forgot to take a single picture.

 R was offerred a ticket to the World Series.

He went.

He had a blast even though the Rangers lost.

 Turns out, his dad & nephew were there too!  He got to have dinner with them.

 We are having fun watching the Rangers and the Cards play every night  & wearing our shirts Daddy got us.

 How many other babies get their therapies and taping done to the World Series games, I wonder?

 We've taken to running by the park on our way home from preschool.  It's a fun time to decharge for Will, & for Ellie to get some exercise.

 Chef Will made our rice last week.

For some reason, whenever anyone asks him if there's anything he can't do, he always replies, "Well, my mom won't let me cook."

So I'm trying to change that.

And I love that that is the only thing that comes to mind for him with the word "can't."

 My dad's neighbors from when he grew up came to town from MO.  It was fun to visit with them and introduce our kids to them.

Also, it was fun to watch someone who knew my daddy growing up.  I never really saw my dad's dad parent him nor did we hear much about his growing up years from an adult perspective so it was neat to spend time with them.

 Will is working hard at his bike.

 Notice anything wrong with this picture?

We called the police from the Walmart parking lot the other day.  First, we went inside and had the car's owner paged twice.  Then, I left a note on the car, politely explaining that when you park illegally inbetween handicapped parking spots, it makes it difficult for those who need the spots legally, and who need the extra space provided in order to get walkers/wheelchairs/etc into the car to be able to use that space.

I guess Mr. New BMW felt no need to respect the rights of others.

So I called the police.

R calls me "citizens on patrol."

 Arg.  Makes me angry just looking at it.

When R was out of town recently, my mom and I took the kids to a local safari after Will's soccer game.

Ellie loved it.

There was a baby zebra that was so cute.

 Zebras are aggressive.

 This camel stuck his head in the car.  

That scared Will.

 Once the windows were up, he was confident again.

 Ellie is fearless.

 We washed our car the next day.  It was filthy from nose prints!

 Will was braver when the animals were smaller!  This kangaroo was awesome!

 About a month ago, I saw that Beauty & the Beast- the Broadway touring group for the musical, was coming to town!  I got so excited & asked my parents to babysit Ellie so R & I could take Will.

But then I ended going on a women's retreat so my parents decided to go with R & Will.

Then R got invited to the World Series and that's a once in a lifetime opportunity so Will went with his grandparents.

And he LOVED it.

Just before the show, I called him and he was screaming, "I'M SO EXCITED, MOMMY!"

After the show, he called me and was beside himself telling me how "amazing" it was!  Belle is beautiful and Gaston was terrible and it was magic when the Beast changed into a man.

I can hardly wait to take him to more musicals - he is just enchanted with them!

Thanks, Cookie & Lovie for the fun night!

We've definitely had some good times this month!