Happy Halloween!

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Random Moments this Week...

with Miss Debby

trying out the brand new stroller (Ethan's not a fan yet)

how plants get repotted when a toddler is left unsupervised on a porch for 5 seconds

and yes, everything this giant little man eats goes straight to his cheeks

Boo at the Zoo, Round Two!

We attended our second ever "Boo at the Zoo" last night. It was a lot of fun.There is sometimes a fine line between "costume" and "child abuse," according to Ethan.
Andrew's favorite part, by far, was Frankenstein's Foam Zone. Too bad his parents didn't have the foresight to save this station until the very end; he was soaking wet after this and we had to take off his Buzz costume. :(


Here's the animated version of Buzz enjoying the foam zone:




And finally, here we are at last year's event; click here if you care to take a gander.

Yesterday at the Pumpkin Patch

Beautiful Fall Morning

I love fall. Andrew, Ethan, the hounds and I had a good time playing outside this morning (so did Buzz and Woody).




Ethan enjoyed the fresh air as well, even though his thoughts on hand-me-downs are not as positive.

Waffle House Wonderings

• Why did we think we'd actually get quick access to one of the three 4-person booths on a Sunday morning at 9:30 am, knowing the loyal church-goers would be out in full force?

• Why do parties of TWO feel entitled to any of the 4-person booths when there are plenty of two-seaters available? Yes, they're more spacious, but just be courteous for once, people.
  

• How can the said parties of two just sit there leisurely, apparently free of guilty conscience, while the family of four waits patiently (well, almost) for 30 minutes (directly under the AC vent - glad we brought jackets)?

These questions may never be answered. Oh, well. Once we finally got seated this morning, in a luxurious booth nearest the bathroom, we had good behavior and a good breakfast. It was Ethan's first Waffle House experience. He slept through all the excitement.

More Photos from Grandma Cathy's Visit

What is it?

Wanna play a game? Look closely. What do you see? Give up? Allow me to zoom out a bit...







Curious?


You should be.



HERE. Click on the photo to enlarge it if you dare. Jon, Andrew and I witnessed this two nights ago in the Applebee's parking lot (Grandma was at home watching little man). A couple of folks were bent over, oohing and aahing and our curiosity got the better of us so we went over to them. They said this spider was running erratically all around then suddenly "exploded" (aka gave birth; I can relate) and stopped moving altogether. The sad (or happy, depending upon your take on 8-leggers) fact is that once most spider mamas give birth, they just lie there and die. That's what this girl was doing. We were strangely saddened about this, on top of being totally grossed out, of course. Jon was like,
"Get in the car QUICK! They are everywhere!"
I agreed.
If I had been brave enough to get near her, I would have put my hand in the pic for scale; with her legs sprawled out, she was as big as my palm... NOT KIDDING.
And as long as we are discussing spiders, we have a lot of these 50-cent-piece-sized garden orb weavers building in the doorways of our house. It's such a refreshing morning when you leave the house and run smack-dab into one of their webs, lemme tell you. Both Jon and I scream like sissy girls when it happens (sorry Jon, but we do), which is weekly (I am not exaggerating). 'Tis the season for spideys, I guess.
I hope my blog friends will still talk to me after this gross post. It was just too wild not to share.

Grandma Cathy is Here

Jon's mom is visiting this week. We've been having fun. Here are pics from around the house and at the SC state museum today (the museum was Ethan's first public outing other than the pediatrician's office).

With Grandma on the Train

Mommy and the Mastodon

Imagining Life with Four Andrews

Layers of our Planet

Checking out the Mechanical Trains, of course

Dora: Super Tongue

Woody and Buzz: MINE, ALL MINE!

Grandma and Baby Ethan

Daddy and Andrew in the Yard

Accidental Ethan Bunny Ears