Two weekends ago, we headed to Bishop’s farm … we’ve gone every year since Zachary was 6 months old! We met up with a bunch of our friends. Zachary jumped in hay, played on a caboose, rode a train, and picked out a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch. It’s fun to watch him do more and more every year!

This past weekend was a super busy and fun one. We hosted a kid’s Halloween party for 53 guests! My sister, James’ parents, and Chrissie’s family came up on Friday. I got to meet Chrissie’s 2-month-old baby Samantha (“Sam”) for the first time.  

Devil … Cinderella … Stitch

Devil … pirate … pirate (Our guests included 2 sets of twins – and all 4 were dressed as pirates!)

Zachary was a dragonfly … complete with segmented iridescent body. There are elastic wrist hoops in the wings so he can flap them! Jason was dressed up as a tiger and came in his own safari themed cage! With Zachary climbing out of his crib lately, we’re thinking about commissioning his parents to make a cage, I mean CRIB lid for us too.

Tiger (out of cage) … fairy … Bob the builder … Monkey on a train

Flower … fireman … Batman … sweet Hershey’s kiss!

Thank goodness for open floorplans and good weather … it wasn’t as crowded or stuffy as James’ feared.

Dragonfly and Cinderella putting together a puzzle … Batman and a rock star decorating cupcakes! We made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes in advance, and filled little plastic pumpkins with candy. Coolwhip was used to as icing to “glue” the candy to the cupcakes.

Tigger and Bob the Builder makes/eats cupcakes while a Transformer works on an art project using Halloween themed foam stickers. The kids really liked the foam stickers! They were pumpkins stickers you could dress up by sticking a pirate hat, sunglasses, or a mask on top.

Ninja? … a resourceful Stitch uses sticker scraps to create a mosaic … skeleton

I think it went pretty well. My vegetarian crockpot curry was undercooked, but luckily Bhavana brought Indian rice. The chicken curry was fine though – and there was a vegetable tray, salad, and lots of desserts too!

The next day, Alice and I went shopping. I picked a free Aveda perfume (coupon for my birthday 2 months ago), a free pair of Victoria Secret underwear (random coupon in the mail) and also a pair of Express wide leg slacks that were marked down from $79 to $19 … bargain shopping at it’s best! Afterwards, we went to Ed and Lori’s for a Greek themed dinner. I love homemade hummus - yum! 

Oh – and one more thing that happened the weekend Alice visited. She shaved her hairline a few week ago , and so she had ‘forehead stubble.’ We waxed her hairline using the kit I got for my birthday. The result was superb. She also wanted me to wax her ‘mustache’ even though I swore I didn’t see any hair. Big mistake – she broke out in a rash! Fortunately, she is between jobs and didn’t have to go back to work on Monday.

Okay – just for fun … vote for your favorite costume!

School pictures are getting crazier every year … here’s Zachary at 3.5 yrs old.

And is it just my extreme cheapness or are school pictures overpriced? They were $25 per sheet … we got a $75 “deal” on 4 sheets.(So yes, there is a extra sheet of firefighter pictures to send to family.)

Some pretty fun weekends just flew by! Last Saturday I went out for dimsum with a few friends. And then on Sunday, we went to Dylan’s house for a lunch playdate. Very delicious pasta …

After we got back from Dylan’s, Zachary and I went on a walk in our “backyard park.” I’m really out of shape; I was sore for days after chasing Zachary around! I know a lot of 3-4 year olds are riding bikes already, but I can’t imagine not being able to just reach out and grab the handle of his trike. And while he was throwing acorns in the stream, I held on to the belt loops on his shorts. I am such a helicopter mom!

This Saturday, we went to two birthday parties! First, we went to Round Table Pizza for Marco’s birthday party – they invited everyone from his daycare … and Music Mike! The kids loved Music Mike. James loved the pizza … ate 6 slices and then slept all afternoon…gross. Happy 3rd Birthday Marco!

After James woke up, it was time for another birthday party. We went to Alex’s for dinner and cake. They made empanadas for appetizers and a Chilean corn pie for the main dish. Yummy! We gave Alex a set of sliced wooden foods, held together by velcro. It came with a wooden knife and chopping board. We’re hoping that when he grows up, he’ll cook for us too!  Happy 3rd Birthday Alex! 

On the development front, Zachary has trouble pronouncing some sounds, so we’re taking him in once a week for speech therapy. He loves it! The therapist says he’s very teachable and eager to learn, and we’re already seeing improvements.