Pre-Halloween

'Twas the night before the night before Halloween and all through the Pauley house, two kids were rather squirrely and Trigger was acting like a louse.

Okay, that's all the rhyming I can do tonight. Let's just say that with two days left before Halloween, the small set around here are SUPER EXCITED and I haven't finished (started) their Halloween costumes yet. That's what Sunday is for, you know, the day before Halloween? Trigger is actually chilling out a little bit. I take him jogging with me and a good four or five miles seems to take the edge off of his endless energy. This colder weather has put a slight damper on my jogging plans so sometimes I dress him up in his Halloween costume to make him chill out. Something about having a plush jockey on your back makes you a bit humble. He's going as Secretariat. I just need to figure out a way to dye the rest of him red. (Just kidding Glenn.) Wednesday night, Glenn and the kids carved pumpkins while I was at volleyball practice. I came home just in time to help out with the yucky part (pulling out the pumpkin guts, bleccch). Some of us take our pumpkin carving pretty darn seriously.

Taking a final look at the art before making the first cut:

This piece is from Reina's Black Period. Also known as the Sharpie Collection. Some serious scoopage going on: Reina doesn't need a stinkin' spoon: I'll take a picture of the final collection of jack-o-lanterns once they are all on the front step. I still need to carve mine. That's also what Sunday is for.

This week, we had our first big snowfall of the season. We had about 8-9 inches and it was the wet, heavy stuff that takes down tree branches and is really fun to tromp around in at 6:30 in the morning while the mom is trying to quickly clean off the sidewalk. We didn't get enough snow for a snow day but the kids have really enjoyed playing in it since the storm. They are definitely Wyoming-ites.

One last little story, depending on the day, Will either jumps out of bed at 6:00 a.m. raring to go or we have to make repeated trips upstairs to drag him out of bed, coax him into his clothes and cajole him into eating breakfast. One of the drag/coax/cajole mornings this week, he was complaining that he didn't want to go to preschool. I said that he had to go so that he could keep learning his letters and how to count so that he could learn how to read and then someday, he could drive a car and do all sorts of grown-up stuff. He thought about it for a nanosecond before informing me that he didn't want to drive a car, he wants to be a pirate. I'm sooooo not letting him move to Somalia.

Little baby pumpkins

Yesterday, I went with Reina's class to a local pumpkin patch. In typical Wyoming fashion, the pumpkin patch was actually indoors. The kiddos listened to a Halloween story before picking out their own pumpkins. Reina looked through the bunch and picked up a few... before deciding on the smallest pumpkin known to man. I'm pretty sure this is actually a pumpkin colored apple. Wait, it's even too small to be an apple. One of Reina's classmates actually picked it up first but she bided her time until the other kid set it down and then she swooped in. Reina is fascinated with all things baby. She loves baby animals, baby humans, and now apparently baby vegetables. At her preschools open house a few weeks ago, her teachers told us that she is now the oldest one in her class. They had a crop of older kids graduate to the next class and their places were filled with all of the fifteen- and sixteen-month olds. The teachers said that Reina likes to "mother" all of the little kids. I have a feeling that's Montessori-polite speak for "bossy." She has a renewed interest in her dolls and babies at home and she's always carrying some stuffed cat/dog/lion/horse around and barking errr. chirping orders at it as she breezes through the house.

Back at the pumpkin patch, the teacher collected everyone's pumpkins before they went outside to the playground. Any guesses as to how willing Reina was to part with the-world's-smallest-pumpkin?
Here's another clue..... I call this the "you-are-so-irritating-I-can't-even-look-at-you" flop. She's awesome at it. There's usually no screaming or kicking involved. Just cold, cold silence. The body language says it all.

But then the clouds parted, the sun shone, and the kids went outside to explore a new playground. Someone forgot about her perceived injustices and bounced around

new equipment for a few minutes. Until it was time to get back on the bus anyway....

October

At the end of the last post (which was almost two weeks ago (!!) This month (!!) is kicking my fanny), I promised to list Trigger's likes and dislikes. Well, it's pretty easy. Likes (in no particular order): 1) laying in the sunspot by the front door.
2) chasing birds, rabbits, anything that runs.
3) chewing on stuff. Mostly stuff that does not belong to him.
4) Glenn.
5) jogging with the lady who yells at him a lot. (me)
6) the kids
7) eating food off of the kids lap, hands, plate, face Dislikes: 1) Halloween.
2) The glass panel in the front storm door because it shows his reflection and he barks for about 30 seconds until he realizes that it's just him, and not some strange Brittany standing on our front porch barking at him.
3) Being told not to eat food off of the kids plate, chew on the toy/book/shoe/slipper/magazine/lego piece/doll/etc. that is currently in his mouth.

That about sums up Trigger right now. He's not a complicated being. He likes to go jogging with me and he loves to hunt with Glenn. He enjoys the kids and wants to wrestle and roughhouse way more than we let him. He's a good dog.

This month really has been insane. I probably write that everything month but October is flying by. I've been very busy at work, It's hunting season so Glenn's in and out. Reina caught her second bug of the fall and had to stay home again for a few days this week. Will had some weird stuff going on which has since resolved itself but he had to go to the doctor for a quick check-up this week. (For the baby book - Glenn took him to the doctor so when I called home that night - I was on a work trip - Will excitedly informed me he got to "pee in a cup!" It was the definite highlight of his month.)

I think the highlight of my month is this picture below. Have you met my son lliw? We've been working with him at home but the bulk of the work is taking place at school. His teachers are so patient and slowly but surely Will is getting interested in learning. He's been counting like crazy and recognizing letters. But last week was the first time that I saw him write his name all by himself. Even though it's backwards, I was so proud of him.
Other than catching a few weird viruses this month, Reina has been doing great too. She loves her babies and carries them around everywhere. This doll was actually mine as a little girl and I love to see her getting played with for a new generation. Her "Jenny" is being force-fed scrambled eggs. Yum. This morning, both kids were dressed nicely for church and I thought, what a great time to snap some photos. Take #1. (Reina is attempting a backwards somersault.) Take 2. One leaning forward, one leaning back. Had to turn on the flash because of all of the movement. Take 3. Give your sister a hug. Take 4. Giggling and wrestling. Okay, mom's putting the camera away now. Here's a quick shot of my handwriting 4 1/2 year old. Such a handsome boy. And Trigger's bottom in the background. I definitely don't win awards for framing pictures. Here's a Halloween preview ..... It's Blackbeard! Or Black-and-Greybeard. I can't look at this picture without thinking "now back to the good part." (Only those Saturday Night Live viewers will get that joke.) Back later in the week with more Halloween preview pics... it's a great time of year!

Are you seeing a pattern here?

The following is an actual transcript of our conversation on the way home from school today. (Well as actual as I can get by remembering what happened about 15 minutes before I sat down to write this.) I had been thinking all day that I wanted to ask the kids some questions and record their answers for the blog. So here we go.

Me: What’s your favorite color?
Will: Blue.

Reina: Yedow (yellow)

Me: What’s your favorite movie?
Will: A movie with Legos in it.
Me: Do we have any of those movies?
Will: No.
Me: Well, what’s your favorite movie of the one’s that we have?
Will: I don’t know. One with Legos in it.
Me: What about the movies we already have, don't you have a favorite?
Will: Silence.
Me: Okay. Reina, what’s your favorite?
Reina: Meemo. (Nemo)

Me: What’s your favorite food?
Will: Candy
Reina: I want to watch a movie tonight.
Me: It’s not movie night Reina. Will, what’s your favorite kind of candy?
Will: Chocolate.
Me: Reina, what’s your favorite food?
Reina: Harumph.
Me: Are you mad that it’s not movie night?
Reina: Harumph.
Me: Will, what’s your favorite food that’s not candy?
Will: Meat.
Me: Reina?
Reina: (Silent treatment)

Me: Okay, moving on. Will, what’s your favorite clothing?
Will: My Lego shirt.
Reina: My princess dress.

Me: What's your favorite book?
Will: The one with the Lego's in it.
Reina: My princess book.
Me: Really? What about "Noisy Nora" or "Llama, llama, mad at mama"?
Reina: I like princess book.

Me: What’s your favorite drink?
Will: Blue juice (some horrible ‘bug juice’ concoction that I bought once at the gas station and made a huuuuuuge impression apparently.)
Reina: Apple juice
Reina: I want to watch a movie.

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Saturday was our last flag football game of the season. We woke up to cold, wet weather and I called the coach to tell her that we wouldn't be there because had a cold and Glenn had left for hunting and I didn't want Reina to be out in the weather, blah, blah and blah. The coach said she understood but wanted me to know that they'd be handing out the end-of-the-season medals. I told her we'd be there shortly. I knew Will would want his medal and I wanted him to see that you can be rewarded for sticking with something and trying hard. So off we went. Will's the frozen one in the blue hooded jacket with white and black stripe on the sleeve. It was pretty darn cold. And wet. And miserable. After about ten minutes, the coaches called the game. There were more kids crying on the field than were not crying. I think that's a pretty good measure of whether or not a game should be cancelled. So flag football is over with for another year. Besides getting some exercise and working on hand/eye coordination, the best thing that has come out of the season is that Will wants to watch football with me now. Yeah!!! I have someone to teach all about the game. How to yell at the tv, stomp around the house when the game goes poorly and the importance of never, ever listening to the tv announcers, and instead turn the radio on and mute the tv so that the action never quite sync's up and anyone else watching with you gets frustrated and finds something else to do. A family tradition will live on!!

After the snowy football morning, the kids and I headed to Brighton for the weekend for a sleepover at Pop-pop's house. I ran the Denver half marathon on Sunday and Grandma graciously babysat so that Pop-pop and I could go to the Broncos game that afternoon. It was an action-packed weekend but we all had a lot of fun.

The stairs in Pop-pop's and Grandma's house are a magical place. Every kid who comes over gravitates towards these stairs and our two are no different. Whether they are jumping off, wiggling down or having a tea party, the stairs are the place to be. I tried about 10 different shots to get a good picture of Will and Reina on the stairs and this was the best I could do. Wayyyyy too much going to sit still for a picture, Mom!

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The weekend before last, we piled everyone in the car on Sunday to visit the farm that we receive our weekly share of vegetables from during the summer. Reina was still recovering from the stomach flu but the weather was too good to miss and so we headed out.

We chowed on some hot dogs.... Growled (??) at some farm animals..... And picked lots and lots of pumpkins.... (hey look, The Beard is back!)
Picking pumpkins is great and all, but nothing beats a really good slushie.

Riding in a wagon is HILARIOUS! Especially with freaky blue lips.

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Join us next time for a hard-hitting look at Trigger's favorite things. Hint, it's birds. And Glenn.

Potty Training: Chapter 2, The Sequel, The Nightmare Continues, etc.

I'll give the same warning I gave at the beginning of the post I wrote about Will's potty training exploits in September 2009. If you (looking at you, Pop-pop) are uncomfortable with talk about poop, pee, vomit, toilet humor and more, just skip this post and catch up later in the week. We will have pictures of pumpkins and farms and good, clean fun. But today, I must recap the potty training experience of Miss Reina Pauley.

I (prematurely) wrote a few months ago that Reina was practically potty training herself! It was going to be so easy! She was excited to use the potty! It was all true but see, Reina has some pretty lazy parents at times. We didn't capitalize on all of the toilet momentum and then found ourselves with a 2 1/2 yr old who would stay dry at school all day and then come home and be content to think that the bathroom was just for baths and making big splashy messes in the sink. With a little firm nudging from her preschool teachers ("So, hey why don't you bring underwear for Reina to wear tomorrow?" Me: "Wha? She's ready for that?"), I decided that it was time to take the plunge.

We picked out little pink and purple princess underpants and added some Dora and Boots for good measure and off we went. I woke up Reina on Saturday morning and told her that she was a BIG GIRL and no more diapers! Yeah! Insert all sorts of enthusiastic, gung-ho, platitudes here. It was slightly worrisome when she said, "I'm not a big girl. I'm a baby!" but I tried to stay optimistic. The first day wasn't as bad as I expected but there were a few accidents and one giggly moment for me when she peed all over the rug and then looked appropriately bewildered like, "Where did that just come from?"

On Sunday, Reina started to get the hang of it and had slightly fewer accidents than the day before. She stayed home on Monday with me because she had a bad cold, but we kept on trucking and by Thursday she was accident-free and she's stayed that way since. We even endured a quick visit from Mr. Stomach Flu and I thought for sure we'd have to pull the diapers out again but she was a trooper. At one point between vomits, she weakly told me that she had to go potty. All together now, awwwwww!

I'm so proud of my sweet girl. Reina still loves her M&M's and hones her negotiation skills before and after each trip to the pot. As we were walking out of the bathroom yesterday, she pointed out that I had failed to pay the potty tax ("You forgot something mama!") and she asked for 10 M&M's. The potty tax is high! For the record, the current payment schedule is 2 yellow M&M's for #1 and 3 assorted colors for #2. Will has an astonishing ability to hear the slightest rustle of the M&M bag and he's by your side in a flash to get his fair share. At the risk of having a really wierd and unfortunate reversion/backslide/whatever, he gets a few too.

As I was hugging Reina yesterday and telling her what a good job she was doing, she proudly told me "I'm not a baby anymore - I'm a big girl!"

Me: Whimper.