Trick or Treat!!!

Well, Carter told me he wanted to be a monkey for Halloween. Actually, it comes from some of his toys that make monkey noises. Which Eric mimics perfectly. And Carter ends up in a fit of laughter. So that's basically how I (I mean Carter) decided on his costume this year.

Carter with Grandma Barb.

Eating some Halloween cookie with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Rick.

The monkey got grandpa down!!!

The monkey at Grandma Michelle's.....going straight for the remote, of course! I fear my child will have to go to RA (remotes anonymous) before the age of 2.

My little monkey.

Look who found the treat basket!!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Did you think there would be pictures of my adorable child included in this post? Because there won't be. Until later. I am picking him up at 3:00-ish, so pics won't be posted until later tonight. My apologies. But I can't spoil his costume surprise for everyone!!!

Until later...................Happy Halloween!!

Pet Peeve

Let me share with you one of my biggest pet peeves.

It drives me UP THE WALL when motorcyclists plead and plead with the regular motorists of the road to "look twice" because it's harder to see people on motorcycles with blind spots and all, etc. Yet, there are those "certain" motorcyclists out there who think they are exempt from all the traffic laws.

Example: this morning driving in to work, there were three accidents. Traffic was backed up for miles and miles. I was behind one motorcyclist who sat in line with the rest of us. However, in the time I was sitting in line, one motorcyclist went zooming between the lines of cars. Because, you know, he couldn't be bothered with waiting, like the rest of us were so patiently (or not) doing. And then there was another one who went zooming by in the emergency lane! It's people like this, that think their precious time shouldn't be wasted sitting in traffic, that really piss me off and make me want to NOT give so much of a damn about motorcyclists. If they are going to throw the traffic laws to the wind and think they are so freakin' special as to zoom in and around traffic, let them fend for themselves! Hopefully someone gets pissed off enough one day, and "accidentally" opens their door as one is trying to zoom on by. It might not be the right thing to do, but I betcha next time, that motorcyclist might think twice about their decision.

Tagged

Ok, so I wasn't really tagged, but I did borrow this from Marchelle over at her blog.

This is just one of those getting to know you things. Outside of my "random thoughts" of course! Feel free to make a comment to this post with your answers, or take this over to your own blog and make a post out of it.

Do you like to camp? Or is the Holiday Inn roughing it enough?

I love camping. During fair weather, of course. I'm not going in the winter. I don't like freezing my butt off. I love it when it's warm enough during the day to play in the river, and cool enough at night to have a camp fire.

Do you want to be buried or cremated?

This is a tough decision. I would almost say cremated. I have specific wishes to NOT be embalmed. I don't want any of those chemicals working their way through my body - dead or not. So I guess that would make it cremation then.

What is your soap box issue?

Religion. And that's all I'm saying about it.

You are going to a costume party. What will you wear?

Good question! Most likely something flirty and fun. Or something completely hilarious. I haven't dressed up since I was a kid.

Tomorrow you MUST change jobs. No more stay at home mom. No more teacher. No more nurse. No more ___________ fill in the blank. What new career will you start?

Forensics.

What was the last movie you saw?

In the movie theater? My Best Friend's Girl with Dane Cook, of course!

What one room in your house would you like to re-decorate?

Oh wow - that's a toss up between my bedroom and the living room. And I can't decide. The bedroom does need it more though.

When you were growing up, did your family decorate for holidays other than Christmas?

Yes, we had Halloween decorations.

What is the oldest thing in your house?

My mother's rocking chair.

Pick one: cruise ship, powerboat, sailboat, rowboat, kayak, or inner tube?

hmmmm.....cruise ship

Weekend Recap

Per the usual.

More than anything this weekend, we played. Carter is walking all over the place now, and he's quite proud of his accomplishment. It's so amazing to watch the concentration on his face as he learns new things. He never ceases to amaze me. He's a dang smart kid.

We also got pumpkins this weekend.

Someone had to take a sneak peak to see what was going on out on the front porch.

Saturday, Eric's mom came and picked up Carter to watch him overnight. I hear they had a fabulous time and he got into everything.......sounds about normal! He was exhausted by the time we got him back home Sunday.

Sunday evening, it was time to carve pumpkins. We were only able to get two done because we picked out some pretty complicated sketches. But that's ok. Carter had fun.

Here is Eric gutting the pumpkins. I still can't tolerate the smell. It's disgusting.

Carter loved playing with all the pumpkins. We got a couple just his size.

For those who aren't around my son that much, this face is the "I'm thinking about getting into trouble" face. And he did. He threw that pumpkin on the floor. It didn't dent or smash and we will still use it. But he knew what he was doing.

Like everything in the house, the baby pumpkins had to go in his mouth. He was pretty mean to the baby pumpkins -throwing them everywhere!

Look at the concentration on his face. And the mess all over my floor!

Since I can't handle the smell of gutting the pumpkins, I got the job of marking where the cuts would go. Fine by me!

We got Carter his bucket for candy and let him play with it early. So far, all he has collected is that one lonely pumpkin. He's now accepting donations.

After I finished marking the cuts, Eric took over the carving.

The finished product!!! (so far - we still have one more to carve) (side note: there is really supposed to be a shadow of a cat in the moon on the pumpkin on the right........I may have messed up and cut through where the cat was supposed to start. Um, oops.)

Ragtime

My brother's girlfriend (of almost one year, we found out last night), Tracy, is a performer. We have a local musical/theater production place here in Boise and they run appx 5 shows per season. We went to one show, Tintypes, last season, and Ragtime this season. Ragtime was amazing! And they had a huge cast compared to the last show we saw. I think there were almost 30 people in this cast. I really wish I could have taken pictures during the show, but it's not allowed. Boo! Anyway, the entire show is a musical and Tracy had a really fun part.

Here she is pre-show with my brother. He was so proud of her!!

Goofing around, letting my dad wear the infamous feather headband. My mom and my aunt.
Eric and me.
My aunt and uncle.

My parents.

My brother and Tracy after the show.

So cute!!

Quite the Couple....

....if I do say so myself.

My Little Walking Fool

Well it's official - he's walking everywhere. And we're not talking 3-5 steps and then back to crawling. We're talking full blown, from one side of the house to the other, walking. Yay! I'm so proud of him. His poor little legs were so tired by the end of the night - he just couldn't get up anymore! He plopped down and that's where he stayed. But dang it was awesome while it lasted!!!

Hello!! Can you hear me clear down there? Come over here!!

Staggering.....he did wipe out. But he got right back up.

See? All by myself!

Walking towards dada now.....so excited!!! Laughing every step of the way.

Then he turned around and came back towards me. What a stud!!

Thoughts

I received this in an e-mail today. These are not MY words. However, having said that, I do agree with the majority of what is said.

With all the vitriol I’ve been hearing from the right-wingers of late, I can’t help but recognize myself as the target of their obsessive hatred. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to out myself, just so they know who it is they’re spending so much time talking about.

Yes, I’m that American-hating broad who believes in life, liberty and equality for all Americans, not just those of a “socially acceptable” color, religion, address, pay scale or political affiliation.

I’m that baby-killer who thinks that every child should be a wanted child, and that the ultimate decision to give birth is the domain of the woman whose body is involved. I also believe that people who really care about saving babies might want to think about the ones who are already born – especially the ones born in places our government is currently blowing off the map, or might plan to in future.

I’m that godless whore who believes that if the government wants a say in how I conduct myself in my own bedroom, they’d better be prepared to lay down a lot of cold, hard cash – because if I’m going to screw according to someone else’s specifications, it’s only right that I be paid handsomely for satisfying the john.

I’m that infamous anti-Christian who actually believes that I am my Brother’s Keeper – and that includes supporting social safety-nets that provide food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, care for the sick – you know, all that yadda-yadda stuff that Christ used to preach about back when people who called themselves Christians had a passing familiarity with his teachings. I also believe that just because Christ was tortured to death doesn’t mean he was promoting the idea as something we are free to do with his approval.

I’m that unscrupulous libertine, apparently devoid of any morals whatsoever, who has deluded myself into thinking that if the gay couple down the street get married, they’re not going to destroy every heterosexual marriage in the neighborhood – and by the way, I’ve yet to hear a coherent argument as to how that would happen if they did.

I’m that unpatriotic bitch who thinks that sporting a flag pin in your lapel doesn’t mean shit if you’re wearing it while supporting pay-cuts for the troops, or budget cuts to veterans’ care – or, for that matter, calling anyone and everyone who disagrees with you “unpatriotic” because you really have nothing of substance to say, but just love the sound of your own meaningless rhetoric blasted over the airwaves.

I’m that blatant sexist who thinks that if someone like Sarah Palin has nothing more to offer than a pair of tits while seeking the office of the vice presidency, she’d damned well better have something more in her training bra than a wad of Kleenex – like actual knowledge of the responsibilities of the job, for starters.

I’m that socialist commie who thinks people should reap the financial rewards of their own hard work while the CEOs of the corporations they toil for share the resulting profits, rather than pocket them all while throwing crumbs to those whose labor created those profits in the first place. Yup, that’s me - another anti-capitalist, spouting my big mouth off when oil companies earning record profits get tax subsidies, as though they don’t deserve them.

Random Fact #45

I inspect every dish when unloading the dishwasher. If it's not clean, it goes right back in.

Fun Times in Our Casa

There was a lot of playing going on in our house last night. Carter is at such a fun age right now - laughing like a maniac (ok, so probably not....but he is a laughing fool), and loving the rough-housing.

Here are Eric and Carter playing in the guest bedroom last night. Carter loves getting you down and crawling all over you. And he loves being tossed into the pillows. With a 1....2....3 count, of course!

And here he is with his favorite toy - the darn TV remote. Must be a man thing!

Close-up!! Look at all my teeth!
And somewhere along the line, I am responsible for teaching him his uber cheesy grin. And up until last night, I haven't been able to catch it on camera. Luck was on my side. It cracks me up when he does this because usually he will add an equally cheesy eye squint for the full effect. It gets everyone laughing every time he pulls this grin.

He's Got Skillz

Seriously - this is how we do sippy cup now. He holds it in his mouth, firm grasp with his teeth (cause he has 15 now) and walks around. He tilts his head back when he needs a drink - which I have yet to capture on camera.

Watch This!

This is a great video - watch it!!

http://www.snotr.com/video/1299

Random Fact #44

My absolute favorite movie is The Client.

I have read the book, which differs slightly, and I can virtually recite this movie word for word. I loved it when I was younger, and had a massive crush on Brad Renfro (RIP).

Random Fact #43

I could eat cheese 57 times per day and still be a happy girl.

Weekend Recap

Picture style - of course.

First, we made messes all weekend. "We" meaning he made the mess, I cleaned up. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Get it?

In between messes, we took a bath.

And we ate some lunch.

And made a huge mess in his bedroom. Naked.

Then we helped mom clean up the room. With our clothes on, this time.

And discovered we can open the drawers all by ourself....and take out all the clothes contained within.
And ALSO take down all the stuffed animals that were neatly put away on the rocking chair. He's a boy of many talents, I swear.
And then we had snack. But some of us were so tired from all the mess-creating, that we didn't last through snack time.
Which resulted in a move to the crib for a nice nap.