Ahh… my astute readers… apparently you
all noticed that my post about Lex’s new haircut did not
include a picture of the finished work. You’re too smart for
me! And my camera was flaky that day so I didn’t have any final
pics :) I do now…. the moment you’ve all been waiting
for….

Isn’t he a handsome little
man!

I took this picture this evening when we
were just hanging out. Seems I missed the “gray shirt, blue
jeans” memo this morning. Never mind the fact that I dressed
two out of the three of them :) Anyway, I love this
picture!

We went to a playgroup yesterday that had
a Halloween party. Lex was thrilled to go to the “Halloween
bouncy house” and eagerly put on his costume and everything. We
had fun (until meltdown at the end) and I started thinking
about various activities we could do today. Today came (dark
and early!!!) and Lex wanted nothing to do with his costume. I
tried to tempt him with various Halloween activities and he
said no, no, no. So we spent the day at home (except for a WW
meeting where I was down another pound, who knows how or
why!?!?!) When Alan got home Lex insisted that he was not going
to put on his costume and was not going trick-or-treating, so
instead we played Trouble and just hung out.

A hungry
little flower. They had free snacks at playgroup and boy did
she take advantage of that :)

A little while later we ate some
dinner and then Parrish came trick-or-treating. I thought maybe
Lex would want to trick-or-treat with Parrish, but Lex said no,
no, no. Eve, however, immediately wanted to go out and walk
with Parrish. She likes Parrish :) So we got her in costume and
Alan took her out. Suddenly Lex wanted to go too! So we got him
suited up and away they went. Half hour later they came back
with more than enough candy for two little monkeys.

A
dinosaur and a flower… an unlikely pair.

Alan
tries to hold hands. Lex loves holding hands these days, but
Eve says “walk! self!” and pulls away.

She
loved the glow stick!

Alan sorted out the candy (nuts,
choking hazards, etc.) and put a little pile on the little blue
kids table. They both (ok, all three of them!) went to town! A
few minutes into the frenzy Alan realized that he had missed
the Baby Ruths and Eve was half way through one! He took it
away from her just before she took a big, peanut-laden bite! I
was scared. Fortunately we had handy the “allergy action plan”
that our allergist gave us two days ago! It said to give a dose
of antihistimine if there is ingestion but no symptoms… so
Eve got her first drink of Children’s Benedryl. She probably
thought it was more candy :) She ended up getting a rash quite
similar to the one she got when she first ate peanut butter,
though the one tonight was a bit smaller. Ack!! So very scary.
She went to bed an hour later, very tired thanks to candy and
Benedryl, her rash mostly gone and no other symptoms present.
I’ll be checking on her a few times tonight!

A shiny
little rash face.

All in all an ok night. Now that we’ve got this silly
holiday behind us we can look forward to my favorite holidays
of year!!

Where a kid can be a kid! We took a drive
today to meet Julie and Molly at Chuck E. Cheese. We had a
blast. The kids ran and played, we ate cheap expensive pizza
and I got to chat with another grownup! Yay! :) I also got to
hold Molly, a lot! She likes me (and other random strangers :)
). Lex’s favorite activity was the “pipes in the sky” and Eve
loved the little merry-go-round. Every time she heard the
merry-go-round music play she ran over and wanted to climb on.
As soon as the ride ended she said “more, more!” I loved the
fact that everything cost just one token and neither of my kids
fully understand the “put money in” concept yet :) A good time
was had by all! Both kids fell asleep in the car (Eve before we
even left the parking lot!) and we sat in the garage for half
hour after getting home while they continued to sleep. Then I
moved Eve in to her bed and she slept for another hour! Lex is
already asking to go back :)

Molly
and Eve riding in the fire truck. Lex was there too, until I
put a token in and made the ride go, then he hoped off and ran
away. Eve enjoyed the ride anyway.

Not a
great picture but here is Eve’s favorite ride. She held on with
both hands and grinned :)

Lex,
climbing to the pipes in the sky. He climbed right up there but
it took him a long time to venture into the pipes. At one point
I asked if he knew that he could go in there and he said yes
but the speakers in the pipes are too loud. Eventually he got
brave and had a great time! On the way home he told me they
turned the music down in the speakers so it was ok to go in
then.

Julie
and Molly. Molly took a little while to warm up, but then she
loved me! She is a super cuddly baby :)

My
favorite Calvin face :)

Because I know curious minds want to
know… Have I shared our costume saga yet? Keep in mind that I
don’t really care one way or the other about Halloween, so the
idea of spending $$ on a custom that Lex may or may not wear
didn’t really appeal to me. We’ve been chatting about it, he
and I, for awhile now and initially he didn’t want a Halloween
costume. I was ok with that, but nervous about what to do if he
changed his mind on Halloween day. The he announced one day
that he wanted to be a snowman for Halloween. Ok, we went on a
mission to find a snowman costume, but turned up just two…
neither of which he wanted. I looked in to making a costume,
but it seemed pricey and who knows if he’d wear that either!
Then he wanted to be nothing again. One day I was in the
basement digging through a box of dress-up clothes we have and
I found a dinosaur costume. It’s kind of like PJs really, but
clearly a dinosaur. I brought it up and hung it on the newel
post and a week later he announced he wanted to be a dinosaur!
Just yesterday Alan was able to get him to actually try the
thing on and it fits ok. Score! Eve is going to wear a
hand-me-down flower costume that mostly fits. She didn’t really
have any say in the matter. She’s getting mighty opinionated
lately though, so we’ll see if she’s willing to get dressed up
with the time comes!

C’mon Christmas!
There’s a holiday I can really get excited about :)

We had another appointment with Eve’s
allergist today, just to touch base and make sure we’re doing
ok. Alan got to meet the doctor and practice with an expired
Epi-Pen. We asked the doctor about kiwi and he said the allergy
does exist, but it’s very rare. He recommended we give her a
little bit more and see what happens. I’ll try later this week.
Tomorrow we are going to meet Julie and baby Molly at Chuck E
Cheese, so we wouldn’t want an allergic reaction of any sort to
interfere with that! The appointment was otherwise uneventful.
The doctor wants us to come back in a year for another
appointment to see how things are going then.

Mema and Grandpa Tom sent us a Halloween
care package and one of Eve’s favorite items was her pumpkin
ears (as she calls them). She likes to wear them and she laughs
hysterically when I wear them. When we went out yesterday I
asked her to pick a hat and she choose the pumpkins :)

Funny
girl!

A very
Collier look.

I tried
to open the door and take a picture, but she whipped them off
before I could take the shot. Oh well, this picture is funny
anyway.

We had a busy, but nice weekend. Friday
night I helped my friend and 3rd recruit with her first
Pampered Chef show. She had a huge turnout and did great! I’m
very proud of her :) Saturday my little PC team had a table a
trade show. It was fun and I got two bookings and two orders,
so it was fun and worth it. I also scheduled Lex for his very
first professional haircut. I met some ladies from a new salon
and they were super nice and only charge $6 for a kids cut. I
asked what happened if we got there and he refused to
cooperate, the lady said no charge, of course. She also said
that they have tons of toys and can cut his hair while he plays
with the toys! We’ll see hwo it goes :)

Today we just took it easy. Well, we went out to lunch,
grocery shopping and cleaned the car, but nothing too eventful!
I apparently don’t have much to blog about these days, but here
are a few cute pictures for you all :) Alan took tomorrow off
(since he worked all last weekend and lots of late nights this
past week) and so he’ll be joining us at gymnastics and then
we’re taking the kids to vote! Lex is excited to turn 18 so he
can vote too :) Tonight I was telling him that voting is
important because its how we choose who is going to lead our
country, and state, and towns. He said, “I want to be the
leader!” :) I’d vote for him! Someday.

They
entertained themselves very well while I cleaned the car. They
helped me get all the stuff out of the car, then while I
vacuumed they read books in each others car seats, and then
they helped me wash the doors and plastic parts with wet wipes.
Very eager and helpful kids!

Playing
with the camera again. I don’t generally like pictures of
myself, but Eve always makes them better :)

A random
shot of Lex. We brought the easel into the dining room again
and they both love to color on it. I should scan some of their
artwork some day. He’s getting very
creative.

I found
them in the living room like this one morning. I was in the
kitchen, but came looking for them because they got very quiet.
Aren’t they adorable!

I’m not lost or MIA, just busy and sick :(
I have a head cold and I’m trying to get ready for my Pampered
Chef expo this weekend. Eve is just getting over a cold and Lex
is just getting a cold. We’re doing not much these days, just
trying to make it through the day. I have a fun picture that
Eve drew that I’ll try to scan and post. They do a lot of
coloring now on the easel. I’ll post more later. If you’re in
town this weekend, come visit me and my team at the Upper
Valley Women’s Expo. It will be fun.