Happy Halloween!

Noah celebrated his first Halloween tonight. It was just him and Dad, as Mom was working, helping to bring some Halloween babies into the world so that other nurse-moms could take their older kids trick-or-treating. Maybe in subsequent years, Mom won't have to work so that we an all go collect some sweets. Noah and I trick-or-treated over at two of our neighbor's houses and then came home to hand out candy the rest of the evening. It was absolutely beautiful outside and the trick-or-treaters were out in full effect. We had a record number stop by the house tonight; 112 (32 more than last year). I figured we would have some left over candy this year, so I stocked up on only the stuff we like--which was a good thing, as we only have two small bags left.

I had Noah help me hand out the candy. Each time the doorbell rang, I'd pick him up and rush to the door to show him all of the kids in their costumes. There were princesses galore, pirates, a few Supermans and Superwomans, a ninja turtle, and a number of witches, to name a few. Our favorite, however, was a home-made 'Bucky the Badger' costume. It was quite creative. About half way into the evening, Noah caught on to the fact that I would pick him up, saying 'up-si-daisy', every time the doorbell rang. Each time, thereafter, when someone came to the door, he would say 'up' and spread his arms out as if he were flying. It was definitely a challenge feeding Noah tonight with the doorbell ringing every two minutes. Luckily, he was in a rather decent mood and put up with all of the interruptions.

So, I'm sure everyone is wondering what we dressed him up as. We went with the traditional cowboy, modeled after his cool dad. Here are a couple pictures we took before trick-or-treating.


As far as my pumpkins are concerned, I found out that it's much more difficult to carve challenging pumpkins while performing in a musical one evening and watching an 11 month old the next. I had planned six designs, but only managed to have time to carve four of them--finishing up the last one half way into trick-or-treating. I carved this year's presidential candidates, Indiana Jones, and Heath Ledger's Joker-from the summer blockbuster, 'The Dark Knight' (Batman). I got a lot of great compliments, although, was really confused when someone thought the McCain looked like Bill Clinton and Indiana Jones as Chuck Norris. I'm still confused. If anyone sees any other celebrities other than those I intended to carve, let me know. :)

All in all, it was a fun night. It couldn't have been more perfect. Well, I guess that's not true. If Jen was home, then it would have been perfect. Hopefully, we have just as much fun next year. I already have some ideas for my pumpkins--I can't wait! If anyone has any new ideas, feel free to leave a comment and I'll consider them. Who knows what Noah will be dressed up as next year? A monkey? A pirate? A tomato? I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

A big Happy Halloween Birthday to Grandpa Ted!

-Curtis

Uh-oh, Bob!

Fall is finally here. The air is cool and the wind is brisk. Our maple tree in the front yard has finally lost all of its leaves and everyone is getting ready for Halloween. This is one of my favorite holidays as I get to have fun carving pumpkins. I'm sure we'll post pictures on here once they're done. For those of you who would like to get into the Halloween spirit like me, enjoy some pumpkin carvings on this website. My favorite is the 'Jedi Master Yoda' carving. Feel free to vote for that one. ;)

Last week, we attended Jessica and Kurt's wedding. It was quite the occasion on a perfect fall day. Noah was sporting a shirt and tie and was entertainment to many before dinner, as he crawled around on the dance floor looking for little pieces of things to eat. The neatest part about it was that the reception was held at the Milwaukee County Zoo, so before dinner, we got to visit the apes! Congratulations, Jess and Kurt!

I've also been keeping busy lately getting ready for the Verona Area Community Theater's (VACT) production of 'Nunsense II'. If you're in town or would like to visit either this coming Sunday or next Thursday, you can catch a show that I'm drumming in. I will be drumming on stage, dressed as a priest. Here's a link to the VACT website.

Noah, as usual, is keeping things pretty funny around here. Unfortunately, though, he has his first rather miserable cold. It's been a rather tough week for him, but he still finds a way to throw in a number of smiles. Recently, he caught on to the phrase 'Uh-oh' whenever either Jen or I accidentally dropped something, for example. Now, it's the most popular phrase in the household. Although, Noah takes it to the next level. He'll pick up a toy of his and purposefully drop it, just so that he can yell out 'uh-oh'. It's still cute. Another popular thing he has been saying these days is 'Bob.' Jen and I don't quite know where this is coming from--we think he's trying to say 'beep', but it comes out as 'Bob.' Whenever the microwave or the oven beeps to notify us that our food is ready, Noah stops whatever he is doing, listens for the beeping to stop and then yells out 'BOB!' Again, no idea what it means, but it's hilarious. Here's a video clip of him saying these things:

Finally, just the other day, Jen taught him how to clap his hands. Now, if he does something that we appreciate (like finishing his dinner) there's a uproar of applause at the dinner table. Noah puts on the biggest grin when everyone claps with him. As usual, like purposefully dropping his toys or food from his tray to say the 'uh-oh' phrase, Noah is too smart for his own good and he will now eat a single bite (a pea, for example) and then begin to clap, while smiling at us.

Jen, (besides having way too much fun sucking the snot out of Noah's nose with a nasal aspirator this week) being the crafty person that she is, just finished knitting a new winter hat for Noah and is working on the matching mittens. One of these days, we'd like to purchase some clothing labels for her for all of her craft projects, but we need to come up with a groovy name for her line. She's known on the Internet as 'Berrymama', but we're trying to come up with some other original names. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, feel free to leave a comment with your ideas.

Hope everyone is doing well out there. Thanks, as usual, for checking in on us. Check back in a week to see Noah dressed up in his Halloween costume and our pumpkins! Have a spook-tacular week!
-Curtis

Night Swinging

This summer, it became part of our daily rhythm to take a short walk to the park after dinner, where Noah would happily swing until bathtime. Lately, with the shorter days and cooler evenings we have been forced to skip the swinging on most nights. There are those few nights however, when the temperature stays tolerable, or even warm, despite the early sunset. So, a few weeks ago, we strung some lights around the pergola so that we could enjoy these last few warm evenings and Noah can swing away.

While Noah swings, we often entertain him with animal noises, which he then tries to mimic. We wonder what neighbors with an open window or walking around the neighborhood think when they hear random dog, elephant, and duck calls coming from the direction of our backyard.

There is something very peaceful about relaxing outside in the dark at the end of the day. We will see how long this night swinging lasts before the cold weather keeps us inside.

A Future Conductor

Last week I was playing some classical music as Noah was using the potty and he started to 'dance' on the potty. I grabbed the video camera and this is what I caught. WARNING: The following video contains partial nudity and extreme cuteness!

-Jen

First Haircut

Noah's hair was getting pretty long in the back and looking a little shaggy, so I thought I would give him a little trim. It is just hair after all, and I have never been one to be very sentimental about cutting my own hair. Plus, I have been cutting Curtis' hair for years...how different could it be? So here he is all ready to go...

Midcut, that's a comb he's playing with...

And a few minutes and many, many Cherrios later...

He sat pretty well. And he looks so dapper and grown up now, but also very cute! Just in case you are thinking that I am not sentimental enough, I did save a little lock of hair...I just don't know what I am supposed to do with it.

-Jen

Pumpkins

Noah and I enjoyed a visit from Auntie Trisha this weekend while Curtis was (and still is) in Texas on business. Saturday was a beautiful fall day, and the perfect day for a visit to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. Noah sank his little teeth into an apple while we took a horse-drawn wagon ride through the apple orchard and pumpkin fields.

After our ride, we ventured out into the field to find the perfect pumpkin. Alas, the pumpkins were either partially rotten or very misshapen. However, we did get some very posed pictures of a sleepy Noah before he toppled off the pumpkin into the weeds. He was really more interested in playing in the weeds than posing for pictures anyway. Here is the little farm boy in bib overalls that his Daddy wore when he a little boy.

All was not lost however, because we stopped at another little farm and found lots and lots of nice big pumpkins!

Back at home, while Noah took an overdue and much needed nap, Trisha and I made these adorable pumpkin people.

Thanks again to Trisha for a wonderful visit! I leave you with just one more pumpkin picture...this one of Noah and me from exactly one year ago.

-Jen