An Interesting Fall

It's been an interesting fall.  In most of September and October, we had much warmer weather than normal, which meant that are leaves stayed green and didn't fall off our trees.  (We definitely didn't have one of those gorgeous, colorful falls that New England is known for...)

Then, after a balmy 60 degree week of weather, we have a freak snowstorm, which brings 12 inches of heavy, sloppy snow.  (This October storm was definitely a record-breaker for the state of Connecticut since we usually don't see snow until late November or December.)

Now our weather is back in the 60's (unusually warm for November), and there are still leaves on the trees (also unusual).  The trees in our backyard and all over the state look sad and injured; many lost limbs because the snow was too heavy for their delicate branches.

So, our fall has looked something like this:

Pumpkin picking on the third week of October.

The March Farm pumpkin patch.

"I'm ready for a ride Daddy."

"I'm ready for a ride Daddy."

Our first snowfall...the last Saturday of October!

I'm so glad I bought the snowsuit and boots early this year.

"Look Mommy.  It's sticking to my glove."

The pumpkins from the March farm pumpkin patch.

"Time to build a snowman!"

This weekend was the cleanup.  We had large branches down in our front yard, side yard, and backyard.  While it was tough work to remove the branches, we did have fun.

1) My husband had the chance to go to Home Depot and pick out a brand new chainsaw.  (He was like a kid going to a candy store.)

2) Little Lewie enjoyed playing in the leaves.  In fact, he loved them so much that they became "Lewie's leaves."  I wasn't allowed to rake his leaf pile. 

3) We tied Lewie's plastic kiddy pool to the back of our mower.  It helped us move the large branches to our front yard.  (The town is supposed to come and pick up the branches.)  It also made a great ride.  It was like water tubing but without the water!

4) Lewie had fun taking pictures with our camera.  The last picture is either of me or our trampoline.  I'm not sure which one he was aiming for...

 

  

  

  

A Stormy Halloween in Connecticut!

Wow, so after four very LONG days, we finally have our power back.  We lost it during Hurricane Irene too, but this time, with 20 and 30 degree temperatures at night, staying at home in the cold and dark just didn't work well.  After spending one night of having my husband and I and Little Lewie try to snuggle together in our queen bed, we realized that it just wasn't going to work.  For one, my husband was pushed off the bed by Little Lewie, and so he was forced to make his way to the couch.  Then, when Little Lewie woke up at 5 in the morning coughing and shivering, I just knew we had to do something. Something.  Even I could feel the chill in my bones.

The next morning, Halloween morning to be exact, we went to Friendly's in the next town over (one of the few places with power in the area) and started making phone calls to hotels.  We had tried the night before but with no luck.  Every hotel in the area (and probably in Connecticut) was booked.  This time, our second call--a call to the Omni Hotel in New Haven--was the charm.  Sure it was an expensive hotel--$200 per night--but we had no friends or family to stay with since they were out of power too!  We also found out that our entire town (98%) was without power, and they had cancelled trick-or-treating activities.

We made reservations to stay at the hotel for two days, and then went home eagerly to pack our bags.  To us, heat and a nice hot shower just couldn't come fast enough.  We reserved a room with double beds; the agreed arrangement was that Little Lewie and my mom would sleep in one bed and my husband and I would sleep in the other. 

While my mom, Lew, and I felt displaced from this experience, Little Lewie loved it and probably had the best Halloween ever.  Once at the hotel, we dressed him up in his little vampire costume, and brought him with us to my place of work.  (My college was open and running, but my husband's college was closed due to no power.)  After he had fun entertaining everyone at my work, we did a little trick-or-treating in New Haven.  (This part of Connecticut felt like it hadn't even been hit by the storm.)  He would very carefully select a piece of candy and then ask if he could go into the person's house to "see" it.  After trick-or-treating, Lewie got to enjoy riding up and down the elevator of the Omni Hotel over and over again, scaring unsuspecting passengers with his very grown-up growl.  (Yes, he took his role as vampire very seriously.)

Now our power is back, and Little Lewie had a make-up Halloween party at his pre-school yesterday--another chance to wear his costume!  The experience definitely cost us some money, but all in all, I feel blessed.  For one, we were very lucky to be able to stay at a hotel and still be able to celebrate Halloween.  (I was even able to show my mom a few nice restaurants in New Haven--an experience she never would have had otherwise.)  And two, we are back home safely and soundly to our happy, warm house.  I'll never take our home or electricity for granted again!

My little vampire sitting at my desk at work.

Little Lewie at the hotel.  (I couldn't peel him away from the elevator even to take a picture!)

Captivated by the elevator.

Getting ready to scare his little friends at his pre-school Halloween party.

Posing in our yard.

This picture speaks for itself.

 And for the grand finale, a short video clip of his roaring/growling in action: 

(Very scary and only for the brave of heart!)

Birthdays Galore!!

In my last post I mentioned how many birthdays we celebrated this month--eleven to be exact!  For all four weekends in a row, we had parties to celebrate both on Saturday and Sunday, and sometimes we even had two on the same day!  Since these parties are for both good friends and close relatives, I'm realizing that October will always be labeled as the birthday month for us!  Now, in all honestly, we probably won't have another party to celebrate until March!

The month of November is already shaping up to be baby shower month.  I have two scheduled...one for Saturday and one for Sunday...on the same weekend!  Sometimes I wish everything could be spaced out evenly...like it would be nice to celebrate one birthday a month instead of eleven right in a row, but life doesn't work it's magic that way...  Sometimes it's either all or nothing!

Here are some random pictures from our birthday parties.  The kid birthday parties were the most fun; we went to a bounce barn, Chuck E. Cheese, a hall with a DJ, and a house party with face painting and balloon animals.  I need to diet from the amount of cake I ate this month.  Ugh!

My mom and I started the birthday month by celebrating ours together. 
(Hers in on the 8th and mine is on the 3rd.)

Wyatt's 3rd birthday at the Bounce Barn.

Lewie and I at the bounce barn.

The two Lews at the bounce barn.

Maya's 3rd birthday party at her home.

Lewie enjoying yummy cupcakes at Maya's birthday party.

Lewie's cousin Sarah celebrates her 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.

Lewie patiently waiting for pizza.

Sarah, the birthday star!

Lewie's first driving arcade game.  (He looks way too excited about driving!)

On the merry-go-round.

Riding the mechanical horse...

"Slow down there fella."

Our Second Field Trip!

This month has been a complete whirlwind!  Every weekend we have celebrated somebody's birthday.  After celebrating mine on the third, we then celebrated my sister-in-law's, my mom's, my six-year old niece Sarah's, my husband's boss's, my father-in-law's, and now my mother-in-law's.  Then, sprinkle in a few more kid birthdays parties of Little Lewie's friends.  I think Little Lewie now expects that we have a birthday celebration at least once a week.  Just yesterday, he started asking about when he can have some more birthday cake!

This month has also been quite busy at Little Lewie's pre-school.  There have been projects for us to complete at home, an Open House, and a field trip!  Since I volunteered to chaperone, which basically means I volunteered to watch my own kid, I made sure I took the day off from work so Little Lewie and I could have some mother-son bonding time.  I knew he was going to enjoy taking the school bus from the last field trip we had, but other than that...I had no idea what to expect.

Enjoying the school bus ride!

The farm.

Hanging out with Miss Kim (Lewie's teacher from daycare last year).

Bonding time.

Lewie and one of his little "pumpkin" friends.

Nice horsey.

"Hey, you can't eat my sleeve!"

Driving the apple truck.

Picking out a pumpkin.  (Mommy had to pick it up since it was "too heavy.")

I love my boy!

First game of "Duck, Duck, Goose!" 

In some cases, this field trip was a lot like the one we took in the spring.  Little Lewie loved the school bus, he still got impatient with the 15 minute hayride, and he didn't always listen to given orders either by his teachers or by me.  However, there were signs that he's getting older too.  This time we used the potty, and Little Lewie had a chance to test out his camera taking skills.  (He's become just as fascinated with the camera as he is with the phone--hmmm...I wonder who he's learned that from?)   He also learned how to play "Duck, Duck, Goose" for his first time.  When he was picked, he didn't know what to do, so I had to ask him to stand up and show him.  Unfortunately, like all kids, he didn't want his turn to come to an end, so even when we told him it was time for him to sit back down in the circle, he still continued to tap everyone's head.  Evidently, his little friends didn't know the exact purpose of the game either, so then some of his other little boy classmates got up and started chasing each other around the circle.  It was pretty silly; only the girls stayed in the circle and actually followed the directions (Ha!)

It was nice to have some mother-son bonding time at his school.  Ten years from now, I picture myself chaperoning his field trips to NYC or his first school dance (gulp).  Okay I'm going to stop thinking about that for now...

Another birthday?!

This week I turned 36.  I feel pretty ambivalent about it, except I look back at pictures of when I was in my twenties, and then it hits me--I've aged.  I have wrinkles.  I have cellulite.  I have aches and pains.  I'm tired.  Since the clock is ticking, I still wonder if Little Lewie will ever have a sibling.  One part of my brain says I have to try now, and another part says I may not have the stamina to keep up...  Little Lewie is already a whirlwind of energy that keeps both Mommy and Daddy on our toes.

Courtesy of Google Images

Yes, the signs of aging are there in spite of my best efforts to exercise and eat right (at least most of the time).  Still, I'm a year wiser and a year more experienced.  I've learned a lot in one year--this must count for something.  I've grown a little more tolerant of my messy house.  I've learned how to stretch a dollar.  I've learned to be patient during three year-old temper tantrums.  I've learned that marriage is worth fighting for, and I've learned to accept imperfection at most every level.

However, I've also learned that gratitude is everything, and if we ask enough, our prayers are answered (even if they are answered differently than our expectations).  I have a lot to be thankful for, and so while I'm "aging" and "learning" , I'm also celebrating moments both big and small.  This year, I suppose, will go by just as quickly (or maybe even quicker) than the rest, and no doubt, I will find a new laugh line that never appeared before, but as long as I've got an attitude of gratitude, and I've created a new laugh line instead of a frown line, 36 will be a wonderful year.