Sunday, November 6, 2011

Toby Tiger

We have a cat, and we get to keep him forever, as the kids say.  This is to distinguish him from the stray, who only comes by once in a while.  We picked him up from our local animal shelter last Thursday, and he's been warming up to us a little more each day.  He might be nocturnal: today he played with a rubber ball from 4 am to 8 am, and he's been sleeping ever since.  He likes to hide and sleep up high.  Right now he's resting in a cupboard in Trace's closet: at least three feet off the ground.  Most of the night he was sleeping on the bed with Trace and I--he's pretty friendly at night.  And boy oh boy, his purr machine works perfectly: he can purr for hours during the night. 

After tossing around a few names for a day (including Topaz, November's orange birthstone which would be appropriate but difficult to pronounce, don't you think?) we settled on Toby Tiger.  So here you go, meet Toby Tiger.

Jack cuddling with Toby Tiger.

Comfortable in Trace's closet.

Sleeping together.  Too cute!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Halloween 2011

Halloween is a busy day around here.  There's a preschool trick-or-treat around the downtown stores, and then in the evening we always trick or treat around our neighborhood.  This year was no exception, although it's hard to believe that after six years, this will be my last year taking a child around downtown.  These kiddos are getting big!

This year Caroline was a character from her newest favorite book, Ladybug Girl.  The girl in the book is even named Lulu, and since we call our girl Carol-lou, or Lou, or Lula, she seems like a perfect match.  Caroline was extra excited because she had outgrown her rainboots last year, and we've been waiting for her size to come in at the army surplus store down the street--and on the weekend before Halloween they finally did: so my ladybug girl had ladybug rainboots to wear just like the ones in the story.  I don't think you can see them in any of these pictures, but they might make it into some other photos this winter. 

Jack was a pirate again this year, with the addition of his talking parrot, which was fun to take to school.  He was wanting to be something scary, and we decided that the parrot startling people would be scary enough (just ask Grandma Jo--once the parrot said something when she was babysitting and the power had unexpectedly gone out.  That parrot can be scary!)
The rest of the pictures tell the story of our day.  First we have Caroline with her best monkey friend Marilyn, ready to go visit the downtown shops.
 
  
 Lindsey, Graham, Marilyn, Caroline and I.  Check out the next picture for an explanation of my outfit.  I am awfully lucky to have such a close friend who lives so near, and with kids similar ages.  Marilyn and Caroline also go to preschool together, and they're such good friends that Linds and I have both mistakenly called them Mar-oline and Car-ilyn.


 Caroline as a pumpkin. 
 Do we look alike?  Could we be sisters?  We were Waldo for Halloween--or actually one of the other girls at the store, Khrista, was Waldo, and we were the imitators.  Or maybe we were Wenda?

  Two kiddos ready to go trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Doesn't that pirate look tough?  He's pretty good at saying "Arrrgh matey," "batten down the hatches," and "shiver me timbers."  Trace even taught him a pirate joke: where do all pirates come from?  Arrrrgh-kansas.  I'm not sure Jack knows why it's funny, but he repeats it with a nice growl!
Oh, in the middle of the day Caroline had her Monday ballet practice.  In the midst of getting two kids, their costumes, and a Halloween snack for Jack's class (this was easy and cute, but time-consuming), I forgot Caroline's ballet bag with her ballet and tap shoes in it.  The first part of her class is ballet, and then the last fifteen minutes they work on their tap moves.  I ran home and got her shoes, so I missed the ballet, but I thought I'd share this video I took of the little girls, in costume, practicing their tap to Kermit the Frog's Happy Feet.  Too cute!