10 random things

1. Oliver is 18 months old today! Which means that this Sunday he can go to nursery for 2/3 of church. Which means I can actually pay attention to at least some of church again.
2. Silicone earplugs are Scott's new best friend. He is working a month of night shifts, so he saves lives all night and sleeps all day. We try to loiter in public spaces all afternoon, but the library is only open for so long.
3. I have a new nephew! Scott's sister had a baby boy today. Still unnamed. Phoebe wants his name to be "Homer."
4. Last weekend was the Primary program at church when the kids take the mic and totally preach it. We have had interesting things happen in the past, so Scott bribed Phoebe with a mystery prize. She was well-behaved and didn't add any extra special lines, but now she has been asking me for her prize all week. Not sure what dad had in mind...
5. I'm glad I don't live in Buffalo. I'm not ready for that much snow yet.
6. My mom sent Oliver a car-like stroller - the kind where he sits and plays with the steering wheel and I push him with a stroller handle. It is awesome.
7. Scott misses mountains so much that it makes me crazy. Aren't there mountains in Ohio? Not that we are going anywhere anytime soon.
8. I love my kids' schoolteachers. They put their whole heart and soul into teaching Bruce and Phoebe and just care about them so much. It makes it a lot easier to leave them at school every day.
9. Bruce is really into Greek mythology right now. Ask him anything and he knows it.
10. It gets dark so early now. Today sunset was at 4:16 p.m. I miss you sunshine.

Happy Halloween!

 We started our Halloween celebrations off right by visiting Phoebe's favorite guys who are always in costume. I guess since she dresses like a firefighter 364 days out of the year, she decided to be a "radiologist" for this one day. Bruce was a skeleton and Oliver was a pirate, complete with marker-made beard that he contributed to.

 We went to the school's fall party and did the usual games and pumpkin painting and such.

 Phoebe wanted to get a picture with her new best friend from school. Of course it couldn't be one with a straight face.

Continuing with last year's tradition, we brought Miss J - a fairy princess - along with us. After the party and a bite to eat at Miss J's, we went trick-or-treating on Beacon Hill. The kids got a ridiculous amount of candy and have been binge-eating it ever since.

My favorite part of the experience was hearing people comment on Phoebe's costume. When it got cold, she put her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sweatshirt on.

Nice person passing out candy: "Oh how cute, we have a Ninja Turtle!"
Phoebe: "No, I'm a radiologist."
Nice person: "You look like a Ninja Turtle."
Phoebe: "Look at my ID badge."