Love, Hate, Boogies and Pee-Pees

As per our usual Tuesdays, Will and I were headed to the park today as my mom watched Liam.  It was a perfect Autumn day... which brings me to today's post...

Three Things I Love about the Fall:

1)  The foliage... orange, red, brown and yelow... my favorite colors.

2)  The weather... not too hot, not too cold.

3)  Halloween and Thanksgiving... my favorite holidays.

Three Things I Hate about the Fall:

1)  Fantasy Football... thanks Tom.

2)  The shorter days... starting to get dark at 6pm... (glad I'm home this year to enjoy the day).

3)  Will's season-long runny nose... gross.

As we were leaving the park today and heading to the car, I reminded Will to hold my hand.  Fidgeting in my bag with one hand to find my keys, I was half-paying attention as he slipped his slimy palm into my hand.  I paused, knowing instantly but asking anyway...

"Will... Ewww gross, is that boogies?"  (Yes, we say 'boogies'.)

"No mom, it's glue, and now we're stuck together."

Got to love the imagination of a 3-year old.  By the way, in the picture at left... That's not a drain...  it's "The Jail for the Bad-Guy Transformers".  

As we pulled into my mom's driveway, I asked Will if he had to go potty...

"Mom (insert long, labored sigh)... Transformers don't go pee-pees (yes, we also say 'pee-pees')... they're robots."

So... to summarize... Transformers... yes to 'boogies'... no to 'pee-pees' ... super.

And to those who read last Tuesday's post... as promised, 166.

Weekend Update

Another busy weekend.

We did the usual... hockey and swimming.  And then there was Katelyn's birthday party, apple picking, a soap-box derby and our annual visit to the "Spooky Woods" (which is actually called the Haunted Woods... but Will renamed it).  

As Will was having a 'melt-down' in Friendly's today, Bill and I came to the conclusion that our weekends (and weekdays for that matter) have been a little too busy.  So, our goal for the next couple of weeks is to get Will back on a schedule and plan a little more 'down time'.

Below are some photos from the last couple of days:

"The Haunted Woods" is an annual event that takes place in Old Bridge.  It's run by a few local Girl Scout troops and the proceeds are donated to a local food pantry.  It's basically a short (15 minutes) "haunted" walking trail... but it's not too scary for kids.  The price for admission is just a donation of canned goods.  If anyone is interested in meeting up, we're planning on going again next Friday.  Here's the link:  http://www.haunted-woods.com/

Ghost Stories

For the last few months, Will has been obsessed with all things 'spooky'.  The books that we borrow from the library, the movies/tv that we watch, the pretend games we play... it all has to have this element of 'spookiness'.  

So tonight, we lit a fire in the backyard, toasted marshmallows and took turns telling ghost stories.  Bill had the idea to attach fishing line to a couple of items in the backyard.  As he was telling his story, he pulled on the lines to make various objects 'move'.  The look on Will's face was priceless. 

Peer Pressure at Nursery School?

Will has been talking about Halloween for the past six months.  He probably decided on his costume back in May.  A scarecrow... particularly the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz.  He spent hours "surfing the net", looking for just the right costume.  He showed us how he was going to "dance" clumsily down the street as he Trick-or-Treated.  He had it all planned out-- including his entourage.  Mom was going to be Dorothy, Dad was going to be the Tin Man and Liam, at first, was going to be the Lion, but then Will decided that he'd make a much more convincing "Toto".  

And then... October arrived.  At nursery school, the crafts and stories and decor started focusing more and more on Halloween.  On the playground, Halloween costumes became a major topic of discussion.  Will's friends were announcing their choices for costumes... Spiderman, Superman, IronMan, Batman...  They were running around on the playground, playing "good guys" vs "bad guys" and shooting their pretend guns at their pretend villains.  Suddenly, that scarecrow costume didn't seem so appealing.

About a week ago, on our walk home from school, will announced his new costume choice....

The Transformer they call "Optimus Prime".  This was completely out of the blue.  Will has seen about 10  minutes of the movie with his dad and a couple of the old school cartoon episodes on YouTube.  He calls the "Autobots" the "Acrobats".  The only things he knows for sure is that 1) He's a 'good guy', and 2) He's got a big, loud gun attached to his arm.  

Personally, I prefer that scarecrow costume.  But then again, I'm not a 3-year-old boy.  On the upside, I'm off the hook when it comes to wearing that blue gingham Dorothy dress.  Whew.

Long Weeked, Short Post

I tried, in vain, to write this post last night.  I could barely stay awake long enough to turn the computer on, let alone write a post.  We had a great (and busy) weekend.  Bill and Will had another hockey session at the park, we had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's, Will had his Sunday swim lesson, we went to a farm and helped Pop Pop pick out chickens for his backyard, and we went to Frightfest at Great Adventure.  It's now Monday morning, 7:15.  Liam is dozing in and out of sleep and he'll be crying for a bottle any minute.  Will, upstairs in bed, will soon be calling for me to come up and help him go "potty", get dressed, etc.  And I am staring at my coffee pot, wondering if I have enough time to drink a hot cup of coffee.  (Usually the coffee gets poured, I get a couple of sips, the kids wake up and I drink it cold an hour or so later.)  So rather than include the details of all that we did this weekend, I'll just include a bunch of pictures.

Green Meadows Farm

Today, as we were heading out the door for nursery school, Aunt Tammy called to invite us to Green Meadows Farm.  The weather was going to be beautiful and we didn't have any plans for the afternoon, so I happily agreed to meet up.  Upon hanging up the phone, I told Will about our plans.  He was very excited and he talked about it during the entire walk to school.

I got back to the house and fed and changed Liam.  I set dinner up in the crock pot and cleaned up the kitchen.  I had called Theia (Aunt) Areti, she had agreed to watch Liam for the afternoon, and I went online to get driving directions.  When I read the page for Green Meadows I realized that...1: The last tour is given at 1 pm and 2: The cost of admission was $10 per person.  Given that Will gets picked up (after lunch) at 12:15, I knew we would never make it by 1 pm.  Then, I was also wondering whether I really wanted to spend the $20 for the two of us-- the admission price was just $7 per person last year.  So I decided that we weren't going... and then I remembered that I had already promised Will and that he had been SO excited about it.  So then I decided that we were going...

I glanced at the clock...10:30.  I called Will's school... I'd have to pick him up by 11:40 if I wanted to get him before lunch (thereby giving me enough time to drop Liam off at Areti's).  I got myself and Liam ready... packed two bags (1 for Liam and 1 for Will)... and headed out the door.  I got to surprise Will at school, because he didn't know that I was coming to get him early.  (This was BY FAR, the best part of the day.)  As I slipped into his classroom, I got to watch his class, in "circle time", singing "Five Little Pumpkins".  He was completely into it... singing and smiling and laughing.  Then he saw me at the door, jumped up and came running to give me the biggest hug.  Like I said, by far, the best part of the day.

So... Will ate lunch in the car and Liam slept the whole way to Areti's house.  Along the way, Will kept pointing out trees that were changing colors and businesses that were decorated for Halloween.  We got to Areti's with enough time to drop off Liam and install the infant car seat in her truck.  We were back on the road and made it to the farm with about 15 minutes to spare.

We met up with Aunt Tammy and Will's cousins and we had a great time.  For all of you that live in/near Monmouth County, this is a great place.  There are tons of animals and the children can enter most of the pens to actually pet the animals.  Each admission also includes pumpkin picking and a hayride.  This is the third time that we've been here and Will always has a great time.  Afterwards, we went back to pickup Liam.  Will got to play with his other cousins and I got to relax and catch up with Areti over coffee and dessert.  Yum.

Will, who missed his nap, fell asleep in the car on the ride home.  I carried him into the house, but couldn't let him sleep.  This is because he was filthy and in desperate need of a bath.  We spent the rest of the night having dinner and watching a "spooky" Scooby Doo DVD that we got from Netflix.  After Will went to bed, Liam was wide awake for at least another hour.  He was stretched out on the couch (as I lay beside him), kicking, cooing and smiling.  It was close competition, but he did actually fall asleep before I did.  Too bad the sleep would be short-lived... he'd be up in three hours for the next feeding.  (...and three hours after that... and three hours after that...)

Heres the link for Green Meadows: http://www.greenmeadowschildrensfarm.com/

Will's First Jack O'Lantern

Fall Finally Here

I'm really appreciating the change in seasons this year. Perhaps it's because I was cooped up indoors for most of the summer... being super-pregnant and trying to avoid the heat and humidity. Today was gorgeous... GORGEOUS. We spent most of the afternoon in our backyard. Here are some photos taken today...

 

...and a few from last week....

Will LOVES scarecrows.  His obsession began last year when he saw The Wizard of Oz.  He even has some of the dialogue and choreography memorized. We're currently on the lookout for a good scarecrow Halloween costume.  In the meantime, Will's been trying some other traditional getups...

My personal favorite is the "Candy Corn Vampire", with the "Toilet Paper Mummy" coming in as a close second.