Thursday, October 30, 2008

Going... going...

The Rainbow Pest Experts came by today. After seeing a mouse multiple times running through my house, sweeping up mice droppings daily and shivering at the thought of the rodents, I decided it was time to take action. Mr. Pest Expert went around our whole house sealing up holes (yes, many. The house was built in 1918) bigger than a pencil width. He then laid out bait to kill those that are trapped inside (augh).

As he left, he shook my hand and said very professionally, "It was nice to meet you, your puppy and your very well-behaved children."

I'm pretty sure he preferred Tootie since he couldn't stop raving about her.

For a different take on mice, visit Harlan House.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Trick-or-Treating at the grocery store

It lasted all of ten minutes, but we went to the store today for treats. They gave out chips, apples, carrots, yogurt, soda cans and vhs videos. Oh, and toy cars. They had fun. We sat at these tables after and ate almost all of the food. Then they didn't eat dinner because we were so full of cheetos. Awesome.









Haircuts and hair styles

I gave the boys a haircut today.

I'm bringing back the "spike." BEFORE- the rat tail. I was tempted to let it grow longer, but am extremely embarrassed by it. So... no.
AFTER- a little crooked.




On Isaac's birthday, I scheduled a tour at the fire department in our neighborhood. The firefighters were incredibly nice to our kids.
They let the kids go through the pumper truck to the other side.






Then all the kids got to hold the ax. What mom asked to hold it? Lisa, was it you?

The firefighter put on all of his gear very slowly. He didn't want to scare the kids and kept saying "don't be scared."





He said the gear plus ax is about 60 lbs, plus the hose weighs about 40-50 lbs when the water is coming out.
He asked a couple questions: What do you do if your clothes catch on fire? Cal yelled out, "Stop, drop and roll!" Then he asked, "What do you do if you are in a smoky fire?" Cal answered, "Crawl!" He just had fire safety in school last week. I take no credit for my kid's knowledge. But I was still proud.

Emily and Alex

Jess, Sammy and Freddie. Sammy, the sleep-deprived boy who is refusing to sleep, got a little freaked-out when the firefighter started getting out the gear. But he quickly calmed down.

Laura and Mado


We went to McDonald's Playland for lunch.



Matthew

Laura and Kate (Sara's daughter. I had her for the morning and she loves to cuddle. So we just pass her around.)


Cal and Hannah with their cones.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Choo Choo

Warning: This is a long post.

Eric is out of town for Isaac's birthday on Monday. So we celebrated his birthday today.



Note: My camera was on Auto, but the flash didn't cooperate, so some of these pictures are fuzzy, dangit.






Dana and Lauren (Eric's sisters, in from Chicago) went to Target early for batteries and came home with donuts (powdered sugar, as you can see).





The Aunts also bought this Geo-trax plane for Ike.






Cal will not smile normal for a picture at this point in time. I went through at least a couple years of my childhood like this, but I'm hoping Cal will grow out of it earlier.


Cal got Ike this car that sort of falls apart and makes crashing noises when it hits a wall. He told us later that he got it "for both of us."








Eric and I got him a firehouse. A manlier version of a dollhouse. It came with a bunch of furniture, too. Craig's List is awesome.



Grandma Barb and Grandpa Steve got him this digger. Isaac is obsessed with diggers and makes a "ckkccckkkccc" sound when he sees one.Eric wears the hat well. Sexy, sexy man.Dana and Sous Baker, LaurenFinishing touches...

And, Walah! The cake. Choo Choo!

Isaac completely dug us singing to him. Then he blew out the candles himself. Or sort of breathed them out. I'm not sure how he knew. Nobody told him to do it. He's a birthday genius.


The small party was at Choo Choo Bob's- a local train store that has 6 train tables. Sammy and Cal going crazy with the balloons.



Isaac (Laura's man)



Aunt Lauren and Aunt Dana




Laura, Jess, Me





Isaac was elbowing my face out of the way. Punk.





The birthday room. Jacob, Jess, Isaac, Laura



Dietrich, Freddie, Atticus, Sammy, Calvin




Eric and Brad







Ike on Eric's feet





Calvin- he smiled normal because Laura took the picture. Laura, how did you get him to do that?





Mado in her princess attire.



Atticus

In the front of the store there are about four electric trains running around. This is Isaac's favorite part.





The Miller kids














Jacob and Jess

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Jess the Witch

I stole this picture off of Sarah Jo's blog. Isn't it awesome?

Funny Dance

Cal is making his wish list in the background.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

What's your job?

Out-of-the-blue, Calvin said to me today, "If you need a job and don't know what to do, you can just have kids!"

Halloween Crafts and Treats

We had a couple friends over to make Halloween crafts and to eat some ghouly treats.

Grandma Barb and Grandpa Steve bought the boys their Halloween costumes this year.

Ike the MonkeyCalvin the DragonMaking spiders out of crackers, pb, pretzels and mini-kisses.

Emily brought these crazy mouths made from apples and almond slivers.Isaac eating his creepy crawly slime.
???
Jess brought these faces for the kids. Here's Alex.

Freddie the chicken

Bobbing for Apples
Calvin actually did it!