Happy Halloween!

Even though we live no where near their neighborhood, the Tyler's graciously invited us to their Halloween Block Party.

We loaded up the tribe and headed on over to enjoy some pizza, drinks (loved the blood punch), chips and queso, and plenty of kids for Kyle to run around with.


See what I mean? It was interesting trying to gather all the kids together for a photo. For awhile, Kyle sat in front of the group, with his back to the camera, as if he were in the audience of some great show. Then he turned around, stepped forward, and attempted to steal the spotlight.


The rocket launcher was real hit. Even Kyle took a few turns and loved running after the rocket to bring it back.


But, Kyle's favorite part of the party was definitely the slide. He spent most of his time going up and down on the slide and barely stopped to take a bite of any food. (He had some PediaSure, so I guess that served as enough of a meal.)


Still Sliding.....

Head first this time....


He did take a break to drink some blood juice. When it's 85 degrees outside, you have to make sure you're properly hydrated---love that red mustache!


Practicing his tomahawk chop:


Then, it was time for trick-or-treating. This is the first year that Kyle has actually understood what's going on with the Halloween candy thing. He was SO excited about all the decorations--lots of "ooooohs!" and "awwhhhs!" whenever we passed a particularly spooky house.


We went around the Tyler's neighborhood and then stopped by the Johnson's house. Then, we continued our drive-by trick-or-treating by going to the Fabiano's hood. We were amazed at how much of a trick-or-treat trooper little Squatting Weasel was. He carried his heavy pumpkin almost the entire night and never tired of walking/running down the sidewalk to the next house. When older kids were complaining of being tired and wanting to go home, he was still rarin' to go.



As much fun as we had and no matter how much longer Kyle could have gone on, we made an end of our awesome Halloween night and headed on home after that. (After all, Stephen had already sacrificed 3 hours of Saturday Game Day, for me and Kyle, which is HUGE. It helped that the Aggies won and iPhone kept him updated!)

It was time to empty the pumpkin, inspect the booty, and enjoy a few pieces of the good stuff. Kyle's jaw dropped at the site of his candy load. He was obviously humbled and grateful:

"Oh, Lord, we thank thee for the gifts of thy bounty which we enjoy at this table......."

Halloween Party

Someone at our complex LOVES Halloween!!! Last year they threw a huge party in the basketball court with a haunted maze, DJ, open bar, etc. We got an invitation this year, too. Because last year's party was on Halloween night, I just assumed this year's would be, too, and didn't really pay attention to the card. This whole week, I've been planning to stop by that party on Halloween, before or after trick-or-treating.

SURPRISE!!! The party was last night. We would have totally missed it, except Stephen got home a little after 6:00 and mentioned that the party was already set up out by the pool. I looked at the card, realized my mistake, and we threw on Kyle's costume. Stephen was exhausted from work and I didn't feel like dressing up, so we just went as the boring parents.

First, we had to walk through a super-scary haunted maze to get into the party. (I love how Stephen's eyes are scary, too!) Kyle saw all of the jack-o-lanterns outside the door and thought you had to leave all pumpkins--like shoes--by the door before entering.

We danced a little, had a non-alcoholic drink from the bar, tried a little of the (mostly) disgusting food, and basically sweat to near-death before heading home----heat, heat, go away!!!!!! At least we're getting plenty of use out of Squatting Weasel's outfit.

Jack-o-Lanterns

Last night marked the 9th annual Cooper Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza! Kyle was super-excited and gathered about every pumpkin in the house onto the table.


First, Kyle and Stephen made a scary Mickey pumpkin. Kyle was cracking me up, lifting his feet on to the table when Mickey's feet were put in, waving his hands for the hands, and smacking his head when the head went on.


Next, we started the actual carving process. Stephen was in charge of cutting all of the tops off, complete with help from Kyle.

Kyle and I had the job of scooping out the seeds.

Not long after that, Kyle announced he was "ALL DONE!" and headed off to play while we continued creating our pumpkin masterpieces.

And here are the results: (from left to right) Stephen's "Grim Creeper" and A&M pumpkins; Kyle's Mickey; My "Sharpie"

Nerd Alert

Stephen and I have been invited to a party in November, thrown by a couple of his classmates. There was talk of having a Halloween party with some theme, like a certain decade. It didn't come together for Halloween, but we're still having a costume party and dressing up like NERDS!!!!

We were out shopping today, trying to find some awesome glasses, a bow tie, and a pocket protector for Stephen and to get ideas for me. Kyle was helping us in our search and discovered some rockin' glasses.



We didn't end up with anything for Stephen, but we found some real GEMS at Goodwill for me! I can't wait for this party because I did a trial run of my whole outfit when we got home and Stephen couldn't stop laughing. It's going to be classic. I just regret having to choose between the dress I got and the awesome turquoise, stretchy, one-piece pantsuit/sweatsuit with tapered legs, wide, elastic waistband, and an embroidered Indian. I would've gone with the pantsuit had it not been so hot and if I wasn't pregnant, but I still may go back and snag that winner up for future use. (By the way, Stephen was able to find a great nerd kit online, so we're all set.)

Tuesday Tidbits

• Kyle is now obsessed with Aladdin. I've lost track of how many times we've watched it in the last week. The songs are running through my head.

• Kyle's word for please is "meeeeeeee." Imagine my shock when he came up to me this morning and clearly said, "pease," referring to a banana. Not only did he really want a banana, he couldn't wait for me to peel it:
  

• Is it just me or is someone over at facebook the type of person who can't just leave things alone? It reminds me of someone who just has to rearrange the furniture of their house every few months for no good reason. Just when I get used to a certain lay-out, it changes! And not in a good way. Hey, compulsive facebook rearranger: leave things alone!!!! We like the couch where it is!!!!
  

• It cracks me up that 2-year olds are not at all happy about sharing their own toys, but see nothing wrong with taking toys away from someone else. It must have been a 2-for-one 2-year-old special at the park today because our regular play group of 2 turned into about 30 toddlers this morning. Kyle had a little dump truck that was very popular, but he was not amused when he noticed someone else playing with it. He would try to take it away or throw a fit when I tried to explain to him about sharing. However, he saw nothing wrong with "sharing" another boy's tractor. This battle kept going back and forth with neither side seeing the big picture. I was just glad to know that it wasn't just my kid wanting to share without sharing.

Here's hoping your Tuesday is full of lots of good tidbits!

Manic Monday

Today:

• Breakfast/Clean Kitchen
• bathe/dress Kyle
• start laundry
• make beds
• work out
• read books, sing songs, bat & skeleton crafts
  
• vacuum during Kyle's puzzle time
• shower/put on face/get dressed
• make lunch for Kyle, pack bag
  
• go to Tina's house for some brownies with homemade white chocolate mousse and raspberry sauce (so much for the work-out!)
• grocery shopping
• check mail
  
• unload groceries and a sleeping Kyle--a nap!--maybe wearing him out and driving around until he falls asleep is the trick!
• dye hair
• look up u2's 2010 concert dates---they're coming to Miami!!!!
  
• update curriculum blog
• rinse hair (make-up comes off with the dye)
• think about putting make-up on again and updating this blog with something meaningful, but don't have the energy!!!!

• time to finish laundry, get dinner ready, clean up all the books and toys, and get to bed!
  

Sunday Symposium

A few ideas I've been meaning to discuss:

• I still dislike the post office, but am thinking ahead to Christmas. I can get away with mailing packages in the private sector, but how am I supposed to get my Christmas cards out without using mail? Email is too impersonal and the blog will be done, regardless. You can just forget about facebook. There's just something special about getting a real Christmas card. USPS has me right where they want me, I tell you.

• *A follow-up from this post: The Indian costume that was scanned and "confirmed" for delivery on Tuesday, October 13th, but never made it to my doorstep OR mailbox-or any of my neighbors' for that matter-and was no where to be found in the post office appeared, safe and sound, on Tuesday, October 20th. Apparently, someone in the post office knows how to scan a delivery confirmation, but doesn't actually know how to deliver a package on that confirmed date. Plus, the 2nd Indian costume, the replacement, arrived-via FedEX-on Wednesday, October 21st....exactly as promised. I should have used them from the beginning!!! Maybe I should force the post office to return the 2nd package back to the sender-on their dime-to pay for their ineptitude.

• I'm in absolute SHOCK over the A&M/Tech football game. We played in Lubbock. We always lose in Lubbock. And, this year was predicted to be especially embarrassing, as the Aggies were expected to have the worst record in the Big 12. The predictions were right on one level---the game was embarrassing, but not for the Aggies! Talk about an unexpected gift.

• PC or Mac? My computer will soon be dead. It's only a matter of time before I'll need to flush this one and get a replacement. Much like my sister's beta fish, may he rest in peace, my PC has been around too long and sadly sits, only doing enough to just keep alive. She's been good to me, but I'm ready for an upgrade.

• People are starting to hear through the grapevine that I'm pregnant. Three people at church came up to me and asked if the rumor was true and about when I'm due. The best part---they couldn't believe it because "you don't look pregnant!" That was nice to hear.'

• Kyle is a little wild man and is SO over taking naps. Boy, I'm going to miss those 2 hours every afternoon when I was actually able to get stuff done or give my brain a rest. Instead, it's non-stop wild thing.
  

(Thank goodness for Stephen, who let me sleep today and made dinner because I still wasn't feeling well.)

I think that's good for tonight. It's late, and I've got another busy, nap-less day to look forward to tomorrow!

Trunk-or-Treat '09

I LOVE Halloween and getting to dress up, so it's great that we have more than one costumed event to attend this year. Tonight was our annual Trunk-or-Treat at the church, and Kyle was SO excited to go.

We gathered the entire Cooper Tribe......

Chief Broad Oak
Wounded Eye

and.....

Squatting Weasel!!!!

Squatting Weasel hasn't quite learned how to say "trick-or-treat," so we just taught him to hold up his pumpkin and say, "please!"


We had a great time, and Kyle LOVED the candy!!!! I think he was in shock that so many people were just handing it over to him and all he had to do was hold up his pumpkin and smile.


A sign of a great costume is that even your close friends don't recognize you or have to take a double take. That was definitely the case for Wounded Eye tonight. (People were walking right by me and asking Stephen if I was there!!!) It even took Tina a couple of seconds to realize who was under all that long, black hair!


By the end of the night, Kyle even learned how to pass out the candy to other people. He had just as much fun sharing chocolate with others as getting his own. (Notice he's squatting again!!!)

The Incredible Hulk

One of the funnier/more random things we've taught Kyle to do is known simply as "The Hulk." When Kyle was much younger, he started flexing his arms, making a mean face, and grunting--all on his own. To get him to keep performing this hilarious stunt, we dubbed it "The Hulk." For quite a while, if you said, "Kyle, do The Hulk" or yelled, "HULK-a-MANIA!" or asked, "Where's the Hulkster?" Kyle would perform his signature interpretation.



At one point, we were afraid "The Hulk" had been retired forever because Kyle rarely pulled it out of his bag of tricks. Our fears are over, thanks to some new pj's.



Kyle actually asks to wear his "Hulk" pajamas.....day, after day, after day. When he sees this green shirt (or any green shirt, for that matter) come out of the laundry basket, he immediately starts chanting, "Hulk, Hulk, Hulk!" (it sounds more like "huk, huk, huk!") and performs a perfect impersonation. It's great to have The Hulkster back!

The Little Farm

Yesterday, we decided to take a little field trip down to one of the only pumpkin patches in the area at The Little Farm. I love fall-type activities: pumpkin patches, corn mazes, driving up to the mountains to look at the changing leaves, etc, but Miami climate doesn't provide too many of these traditionally fall things. Luckily, I found this farm which helped to ease the gap.


Shortly after we arrived, Kyle headed straight for the pumpkins, picked up a tiny one, and showed it to a nearby scarecrow.


There were a few pumpkins that were just too heavy for the little man.


This one was just right, and the one we ended up getting for Kyle.


We had to take a few pictures of the fam.


We ended up getting 2 pumpkins, which bought Kyle 2 pony rides.


He LOVED the ponies, and kept petting their manes. He was pretty much all smiles for the entire time, jumped right off, and couldn't wait to ride again.


There was also a small petting zoo on the farm. I thought at first that Kyle wouldn't want to go in on his own, but he had a great time. He got to pet a few ducks, some chickens, a piglet, a bunny, a turkey, and some goats. (One of the goats urinated while Kyle was watching, which totally cracked him up!)


After a stroll through the butterfly garden and some time to play on the toddler playground, it was time to go home.


The Little Farm Pumpkin Patch was a winner. Kyle loved every minute. I'm sure we'll be back next year!