Hello! It has been a long time since I've posted...We have been very busy. My Grandpa Bob (my dad's dad) passed away on November 7th so we spent 5 days up in EGF for that. Then we were both swamped at work when we got back and then last weekend Peter and I ended up getting sick with really bad colds (Peter had an ear infection too). After being laid up for a week, we are finally back in the swing of things. Just in time to get ready for Christmas, right? Mom & Dad came down to Mankato for Thanksgiving and they brought my Grandma Ione with them. It was her first trip to Mankato since I have lived here (6+ years) so she had fun seeing our house, my office and the whole city as we took her on a driving tour. Peter and I felt under the weather and spent a lot of time in bed, but I think she still enjoyed being able to visit with all of us. And at least we were all together. She has a friend that lives in Owatonna who she hadn't seen in 45 years so my parents drove her there to visit for the day on Saturday. That was a nice treat for her! Then we went to mass and out to dinner on Saturday night so that was the highlight of the weekend for all of us.I should mention that Ben did all the cooking on Thursday so that was also a really nice time. It was the first Turkey he has ever made and it turned out PERFECT! I stepped down and didn't cook at all because I wanted Ben to bask in the joyful experience of Thanksgiving Dinner preperation...Ok, you caught me...I'm a liar. I hate cooking during the year so cooking on Thanksgiving is NO EXCEPTION for me! It sounds like an awful big chore!! But, I do set a very nice table and I can eat mashed potatoes like an NFL football player. :D That's just what I did to help out on Thursday. Here are the "before" and "after" pics of Ben's prized turkey. Good job, honey!
Yesterday Peter brought Halloween treats to daycare for all his friends. After dinner we went to the mall to "Trick-or-Treat". Our neighborhood isn't really set up for Trick-or-Treaters and many of our friends had things going on so we just decided to do the untraditional (yet becoming all the rage) Mall-o-ween Trick-or-Treat Party. Plus, we don't have any family in town to go "visit" and show off costumes to. I think going to the mall is a good idea for a 2 year old because Peter didn't have to put a coat, hat, mittens, etc on over his costume. He didn't have to walk/trip/fall over bumpy terrain in people's dark yards. And with a different store to get candy every 10 feet, I think he really started to get the hang of the whole thing...Say "trick-or-treat", take candy, say "thank you" and walk away. Towards the end, Peter was getting tired of all the commotion so he would just put his hand out and say "thank you". If the candy wasn't then IMMEDIATELY placed in his hand, he just moved on to the next store. By next year we plan on being in a different neighborhood (most likely a different town), so we will have to start traditional "trick-or-treating" then. After the Mall-o-ween festivities, we stopped at Haley & Jacob's apartment. That is where we took photos. They had A LOT of candy for Peter! He didn't stop eating the whole time we were there. CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE & MORE CHOCOLATE! Haley and I were visiting in a different room and every time Peter walked by he had a different piece of candy in his mouth. We blamed the boys for that one. :D He didn't get to sleep until 9:30pm! (He's normally in bed by 7:30pm) I dressed as Dora the Explorer (Peter's new obsession), Ben was Joe from Blues Clues, and Peter was Rocket from Little Einsteins. If you don't know what these things are, it probably means you aren't "with it" when it comes to kids television programming!
Peter eating a sucker at the mall...
Peter refusing to look at the camera...he had to open his chocolate first.
This one is better. :D
Family photo (I won't ever be dying my hair black, by the way)
Dora w/ Map & Backpack, Joe w/ his notebook and crayon
Dora planning her route and Joe looking over his clues
Peter getting his high
