Trick-or-Treat

The infamous Lightning McQueen costume we crafted for Ian.... It's great what you can do with construction paper, a glue stick and a box! :)

Our goofy goblins after a loooonnngggg night of serious party-ing! LOL Ian dressed as Lightning McQueen and you can see Campbell was a rough-n-tumble puppy. Jon and I made the race car - and while it took a little longer than we'd expected, we had fun doing it. We laughed last night, noticing the late hour, that if we've spent this much time on a costume for a 2yr old, imagine school projects 10 yrs down the road. ha..ha...

Jon was working, so we stopped by the urgent care to show off costumes on the way to Trunk-or-Treat at the church. It was fun to see much of the staff in costume. Jon went as Peter Parker, wearing a Spiderman shirt under his dress shirt. So covert. LOL

It was a fun evening, but we were all exhausted at nights end.

Saturday's Succotash ...

Bed Head
Campbell had some serious "bedhead" this morning ...I mean literally standing straight up. I had to catch it on film - although it was tough since I had him on my hip and couldn't look through the viewfinder to take the pic -- it was a luck o' the draw situation. Funny.

KARMA

How do you keep a 2yr old busy???? Let a fly in the house. Today, a pesky fly joined us indoors. Ian caught a glimpse and chased him for a good 20 minutes all over the living room. The fly would land, Ian would find him and slowly walk over in an effort to capture him. The fly was never captured, but he never rested either. Ahhh, karma.

"CLOSE IT!!"

Earlier this week Ian discovered his ability open the refrigerator door. frankly, I'm surprised we were able to keep it a secret as long as we did. At first it was cute...he'd open the it, put his cup in the door, then return, take a swig and shut the door. Eventually, he started taking other things out and putting toys inside. It was less cute when he'd bring items he wanted to eat or drink that were not "on the menu" at the time. Mid week we grew tire of saying "Close it" everything we heard it open so Thursday after work, Jon picked up a lock (strap/latch). Friday was great - he'd go to open the door and was met with defeat. BLISS. I WIN! LOL Regrettably, no. By Saturday he'd figured it out. I though maybe I'd forgotten to latch it, but then watched him reach up, work the "buckle" and open the door. FOILED. Curse that smart little boy - Why doesn't he use that braid for good instead of evil?? ha..ha...

Pumpkin patch

This evening after work, we stopped at the local farmer's market for pumpkins ... we left with pumpkins, corn, bell peppers and one of the biggest apples I've ever seen. The challenge was ensuring Ian didn't throw it. We had several close calls. LOL honestly, the fruits and veggies were all so huge - bigger than I've seen. I mean cabbage heads the size of basketballs ... crazy!

Don't those eyes just SCREAM mischief?

Yet this big bro looks so sweet and gentile. ha..ha....ha.

Ian getting up close and personal with the pumpkins

Friday's Random Sampler

The other morning I was with Campbell when I heard Ian's voice via microphone. I tiptoed in our room to find him singing (used loosely) "I Will Survive" I guess this was how Jon kept him busy while in the shower... it was a pretty funny sight. LOL

Last night after dinner, I went into Campbell's room to be sure all was in order before putting him to bed (I always need to be sure there's a clear path among boxes for those late night feedings...) Anyway, I found that Ian had brought his pillow and blanket and put the bears to bed next to Campbell's crib. So sweet.

This is the "AFTER" shot...

... This morning I was at the table checking email, Campbell was on the floor and Ian was sitting watching Bob the Builder. From the table (steps away) I could hear the baby was fussy, but chalked it up to the usual sounds that follow a short (too short) nap. After a couple of minutes, I got up ... thinking he had rolled into the couch or a chair, etc. (the sofa blocks the view of the floor)

SURPRISE!! I found him on his belly (as pictured) with Ian laying on his tummy across Cam's bottom creating a "T" shape. As indicated in the picture, Ian was ASLEEP. Yes, there he was, sleeping on the baby. Ian had been tired and brought his bear and blanket to the living room, so I knew nap time was around the corner ... just had no idea Campbell's bum was so a cozy place to sleep. LOL

As I relive it on paper, I realize it's a serious had-to-be-there kind of story, but I had to share.

Catch up pictures...

I've added some general pictures from the past week or so in Oregon. A few are from Saturday - we took a drive to the coast that afternoon. It was rainy (I would add a sarcastic "surprise, surprise" here, but it's actually rained very little since we've been here. LOL) The rest of them speak for themselves... Campbell with a "cookie" ... eating cereal ... Jon and Ian washing the car ... blah, blah...

Mexican Hat Dance.

We have a sesame Street/Elmo DVD all about music. Ian was watching it the other day while we were running around and that night, he started “singing” one of the songs that “Rosita” sings (I think it’s the Mexican Hat Dace, which funny enough was my first piano recital piece back when I was 5 ... LOL) Anyway, it was too funny, so I had to record it.

House warming ...

Well, we've made it to our fourth state in as many years. Arizona, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and finally, Oregon. We left Phoenix on Wednesday with the help of my Dad and his friend Don who drove the U-Haul. We anticipated taking three days, but as luck would have it, we made it there Thursday evening around 6pm. (Campbell's not the traveller Ian was as a baby, but we were blessed, and both of the boys were great on the road!) of course, we couldn't have gotten on the road without everyone's help - so a big THANK YOU to all of the family and friends who helped get things packed, loaded and cleaned. We really appreciate everyone's help Campbell on the road -wonderfully convenient that he's able to help feed himself. ha..ha.

Ian letting go of some of the energy he saved up while driving the first day - lots of energy. We ended up in a Motel 6 in a town along I-5. It was so rural that there was a sign in the office explaining that we were in the country and that the bugs, flies etc where part of the environment and there was nothing they could do. LOL You'll see by the video, that Ian had a lot of energy to release - and Campbell was enjoying the show. I wish I'd captured his giggles just before - it was hilarious how he was just laughing while watching Ian

Day two - back on the road Thursday morning - a little sleepy, but all is well.

Campbell giving me that "Oh, Mother" look that is sure to plague me for many years... ha!

We got into town and miraculously, Jon, Dad and Don unloaded the entire truck in a few hours time. Crazy, since we'd all spent two long days driving, but they were leaving on an early flight the next morning and wanted to be sure we everything unloaded (even though, the EQ was coming on Saturday to help - boy were they surprised when they got here. LOL).

Ian spent the first night running wild through the house - not knowing what to do with all the space! pretty funny actually. It's so nice to have a fenced yard for him to run around in. The neighborhood is great and there's a school at the end of the street with a great playground. it's worked out marvelously, considering we did everything via phone/email/fax (thanks Kylie!) Jon and Ian have taken time to explore the nature path down the street - coming home the other day with their mouths and fingers stained purple from the wild berries. ha..ha!

Here are a few photos of the house the day after we moved in ... you can see everything is literally strewn all over

Happy Birthday, Mimi

Fall is full of birthdays ... we had a blast celebrating Mimi's birthday at the end of September - a fun evening at the Texas Roadhouse. The food was fabulous and as always we had fun with family. We had brought a cake and the servers were so surprised that it was "homemade" and not from Costco. I just think it's funny that nowadays, "from a box" is still considered "homemade". ha..ha... Anyway - we offered a piece to our server - and suddenly other servers were coming to the table asking for cake. It was hilarious. We were glad to be able to celebrate birthdays before our journey along the Oregon Trail.

Happy Birthday, "Auntie M"

We celebrated Aunt Meredith's birthday before heading to Oregon - As always, Ian (like every nephew) enjoyed being the special helper.