Here and there

Last week the Wal-Mart toy flyer arrived in our house. I gave it to the boys and told them to circle things that they wanted to ask Santa for. It was hysterical! They got so excited about it and took their job veeerrryy seriously. Aidan kept saying: "Now Quinn, just because you ask for it doesn't mean you'll get it...."

Here are some pictures:



The big thing in our house right now is prepping for Halloween. We've carved the pumpkins, bought the candy, and the costumes are set. We had a bit of an 'incident' today in that I had some candy corn out (not for actual consumption - EWW!) and the boys were on the counter checking out the pumpkins. I looked up and realized that Quinn was chowing down on something - presumably some candy corn. So I asked him: "Quinn, did you eat some candy corn?"

He looks at me veerrryyy guiltily and didn't say anything.

I said: "Quinn, tell me the truth - I'll be happier if you tell me the truth than if you lie..." Still nothing. So, I said: "Quinn, open your mouth." Which he did - with candy corn remnants still inside.

By this point Chris and I are killing ourselves trying not to laugh.

I said: "Quinn, you have candy corn in your mouth - did you eat some without asking?"

He looked at me with tears in his eyes (no joke!) and said: "Yes Mummy, and I'm really, really sorry."

Oh - my - gosh - how can you be angry with that?!?!

A story by Quinn

While Quinn and I were eating lunch, he started reciting a story. Sooo.... I got my pen out and started writing. Here is the masterpiece:

Once upon at time, there was a BIG dragon - a fire dragon. He ate a prince. Then he ate a witch. Then he ate a pumpkin. He didn't have any friends.
Then he ate a chair, but he wasn't full so he ate a vacuum. The he fired at a glass door. The door was broken. Then he had some cottage cheese to cool off. He tried to eat Shannon but I kick-punched him and he went into bed and died.

Then another dragon came and ate a pencil. Then he ate a butterfly. Then he stomped on a glass - OW! It hurt. The dragon cried but no one came to help the dragon.

The End.

The 10 Most Disappointing Treats for Trick-or-Treaters

This article is priceless!
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The 10 Most Disappointing Treats for Trick-or-Treaters
Posted Wed, Oct 15, 2008, 10:39 am PDT, by Ed Levine

On Halloween night, some houses struggle with the idea of candy. There are good houses, and there are bad houses. The best trick-or-treaters know to avoid the latter. At the food site Serious Eats, we all love Halloween, but wish certain homes would just stop handing out the classically bad "treats." They weren't good last year, the year before that, or now. Our own Erin Zimmer put together this list of our top 10 Halloween treats that nobody wants...

Toothbrushes
Dentists and orthodontists should not be allowed to celebrate Halloween if they're going to get all tooth doctory on us. Do not bring your work home with you, folks! We all have a personal responsibility to brush, and maybe some of us will forget, but your complimentary bristles on a stick (instead of a Snickers) will not help us remember. It will make us despise you and your trade.

Raisins
Little boxes of stuck-together shriveled globs are not what little kids schlep around the neighborhood for all night. When they say trick-or-treat, they want candy that will rot their teeth, not wrinkled grapes. (Using an empty box as a kazoo-like instrument, though, is kinda fun.)

Candy Corn
The most polarizing candy of all. The fruitcake of Halloween; it just never goes away. If you love them, fine. But don't subject the rest of us haters to the sickeningly sweet triangle that tastes like neither candy nor corn.

Smarties and Necco Wafers
These chalky candies are supposedly "fruit-flavored," but no fruit I know tastes like dust -- and makes everything eaten after taste like dust, too.

Dum Dum Lollipops
Usually, foods on a stick are yummy (corn dogs, ice pops), but Dum Dums just can't be included on that list. Not even if they were breaded and deep-fried and served at a fair.

Apples
Long before "poisoned candy" scares, evil people were handing out apples instead of candy on Halloween. This disappointing "treat" is the main reason to avoid unwrapped food while trick-or-treating.

Tootsie Rolls
It looks like chocolate and sort of smells like chocolate, but the mini brown tubes are not real chocolate. They taste like watered-down chocolate, and have a chewy texture that will strip the fillings right off your molars.

Miscellaneous, Wrapped Hard Candies
Halloween is supposed to be a holiday for young people, not senior citizens who suck on hard candies all day. Something about the strawberry-shaped strawberries, gold-wrapped butterscotch, and peppermint feels past the expiration date. (These usually get set aside for Granny.)

Laffy Taffy
I do not laffy when I get these. I sobby. I get depressedy. Because it gets all stucky to my teethy and doesn't even taste that goody.

Anything Fun-Sized
Who started calling it this? Since when is one bite fun?! Give us the rich houses with the sprawling driveways and full-sized candy bars any day. Portion control doesn't need to start this young.

So much going on!

I know, I know - I've been a slacker!

Without further delay, a belated, but very heartfelt happy birthday goes out to Uncle Kenneth, Cousin Adam, and Uncle Tim. Happy birthday you three!

Our Thanksgiving was pretty awesome. We had fantastic weather all weekend, so on Sunday we went to the Brigden Fair and had a blast. We watched a motor-cross show which was absolutely unbelievable. Quinn was actually jumping up and down screaming: "This is AWESOME!". It was a great time.

On Monday we hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the James family. It went really well, except for the fact that the damn turkey hadn't thawed all the way (you'd think three days in the fridge was enough!) so it took longer to cook then anticipated. Nothing an extra 40 minutes on 425 won't take care of though! All in all, I'd say it was a success though!

Today we went to Crossroads Village with our friends the McKenney's. They have a Halloween festival where the kids got to dress up in their costumes, go trick-or-treating, watch a magic show and go on a train ride. It was an absolutely fabulous day, and the kids had such a great time. Definitely worth a visit!

Here are some pictures from the day:

One Year Old!

It's hard to believe, but one year ago today our beautiful baby girl entered the world. She has been a constant source of joy for us, and is loved tremendously by everyone in the family. Just the other day Quinn said out of the blue: "Mummy, I'm glad we have baby Shannon." A sentiment that's echoed by us every day!

Here is a video montage I created to commemorate her first twelve months:

Shannon's first year