This must have been the year of the Batman costume because I lost count after the 20th one I came across. Larsen was Batman, of course, while Mandi and I decided to dust-off our pirate costumes and dress up as well. We went out trick-or-treating with a few of our friends around our neighborhood. If seeing all the clever (and not-so-clever) costumes wasn’t fun enough, watching the kid’s amazement and excitement about getting candy by simply knocking on a door was. Larsen’s strange and freakish Batman-head-basket ended up as full as it could get. Later that night mommy and daddy inventoried all the candy and made sure it was safe to eat…yum!
As seen on I-20 during our drive back from Abiline this weekend. Now that’s something you don’t see every day!
Sonya and Chris got married this weekend all the way out in Abiline, about 3-hours west of our home here in Lewisville, TX. We drove out Saturday morning, grabbed some lunch on the way, and checked into our hotel for the night. Since every trip must present a challenge of some sort, we ended up with a “smoking” room since all non-smoking kind were occupied. We were hopeful this wouldn’t be such a big deal, that is until we walked into our room. Can I take a second to tell you how nasty cigarette smoke is? Not only does it stink, but it embeds itself so deeply into the fibers of things like carpet, furniture and curtains that trying to get rid of it is nearly impossible! The front desk said they had a “ozone” machine they could treat the room with, but it was going to be a while before they could get to it. I could not bare it any longer, so I ran to the nearest Target store and bought a bottle of extra-strength Febreeze and a bottle of their air-freshener. Let me tell you, as good as Febreeze is, it is no match for cigarette smoke smell. After spraying every square-inch of that room with it you could still smell the cigarette smoke! The hotel eventually sent someone up to treat the room while we were attending the wedding, but they might had as well skipped it since there was no discernible difference in the way the room smelled afterwards. But I digress…
The wedding ceremony was very nice and, as expected, plenty of mascara had to be reapplied that night. Larsen was very well behaved, but little did I know he was just saving his energy for the reception. Although Larsen turned up his nose at the hamburger they brought him for dinner, he had enough pent-up energy to dance the night away. We all had a blast dancing and watching Larsen’s moves (have you ever seen the Sienfeld episode where Elaine dances?).
Every year (or is it almost every year) I carve pumpkins for halloween, and every year I strive to find the least intricate design I can. You see, you quickly learn how hard it really is to do all that fancy carving after you unsuccessfully try to carve that 20-legged spider design your son chose, or the multi-window and bat infested haunted house complete with gargoyles and what-nots. And don’t think that because you bought that fancy pumpkin carving kit is going to be your saving grace. Even with the right tools you are just setting yourself for failure, so heed my warning and stick with faces. I mean, after all that’s what they are supposed to be! The people from Ireland and Scotland did not carve scarecrows, bats or skeletons on their turnips to frighten Stingy Jack away, they carved scary faces! So there, carving anything else than a scary face is anti-halloween and diminishes the true meaning of this beautiful holiday. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
But lets just say, for the sake of argument, you do end up successfully doing all that tricky intricate work. We live in Texas where the air is fairly dry, which means the thinner the pieces of pumpkin you carve the faster those pieces will dry and shrink into oblivion. So now you are forced to cover every exposed surface with petroleum jelly in order to minimize the drying, and that is just too much gosh-darn work for a silly pumpkin.
So now, based on that, guess which one of our pumpkins lasted the longest?
Three games into the season and you can already see who the “serious” players are. Nico, for example, is definitely the MVP of the team. That kid can really maneuver the ball and shows no fear when it is time to get the ball back. There are others like Chase and Brendan that truly play their hearts out, but all of them have shown a noticeable improvement when compared to last season. I guess one year makes a huge difference when you are 4 or 5.
Larsen hasn’t been as enthusiastic about it, but the season isn’t over yet. Although there is still a chance he might decide he loves to kick that ball, it is perfectly fine with us if he doesn’t. These activities are more for the team spirit than for the sport itself, and help him experience enough activities and sports so that he is able to truly decide what he loves, likes of just plain doesn’t care for.
Mandi took Larsen to the pond to feed the ducks, but unbeknownst to them there was a fire-ant mound right on their path. Unfortunately Larsen happened to land right on top of it, and by the time he realized what was happening it was much too late. By then plenty of ants had already fount their way up his clothes and begun their attack. It goes without saying that Larsen was not a happy camper.
For those of you who have never seen what a fire-ant attack looks like, here are a couple of pictures for you.
