Pumpking carving time

The next three are the ones I did, like I said I didn't put much effort into it this year.

Isn't it awesome for his first try!?

The finished product.

Just getting started.

Last night we carved pumpkins. I'm really slacking this year, usually I do it about a week or more before Halloween and I do 6 or 7. This year I did it the night before and only 3! I just haven't had time...it seems Isaac has some sort of activity every night and my days are busy with Zoe. Isaac also carved his very own pumpkin, his first time using a pattern like I do, he was very proud and he really did a great job!

Today, I'm doing Isaac's Halloween party at school and tonight we are going to my friend Natalie's house for trick-or-treating. There are 4 of us with kids ages 4, 5, 6 and 8. Isaac is very excited to see his buddies. The 5 year old is Lydia who you've seen in previous blogs. So I'll have plenty to report on tomorrow...I can't wait!

Grandma and Grandpa Lindquist's visit from PA

Dave's parents came in for a visit this week from Pennsylvania. It was their first time meeting Zoe and they were thrilled. We were happy to see them again, it had been over a year I think. I know its hard on Dave not to see them so often. We're both happy they were finally able to see Zoe!

Playtime and a modeling career

"I'm holding onto this chair for dear life! Mom, I told you, I can't sit up yet!!"

"Well, maybe if I hold my hands out to steady myself."

"Alright mom, I'm not quite ready to be sitting up yet!"

Zoe is getting really good at lifting her head and she enjoys tummy time...in short increments.

"Thanks for the toys, Mom!"

I'm so excited, Zoe is changing so much these days. Don't get me wrong, I don't want her to grow up too fast but now she has a personality and we can interact with her! I figured out that she is ready to play with toys now! I got a few out and held one in front of her, she smiled so big and looked at me as if to say, "it's about time Mom, I was wondering when you were going to figure this out!".

OK, so I got a little camera happy yesterday and Zoe was the star. I'm worse than the paparazzi these days! Enjoy the commentary of our modeling session.

Daddy and Zoe

I got a really cute shot of Dave and Zoe, Dave was so excited and proud of it he kept saying "that is the cutest picture, don't you think? Are you going to put it on the blog? When are you going to put it on the blog?". He's such a doting father. So here you are Dave, it is definitely the cutest picture!

Fat Cat

I think I finally may have captured just how fat Perdy really is. It's kind of embarrassing and the other cats have mysteriously gotten a little skinnier since her arrival. Not that they didn't need to lose a few pounds anyway. I keep trying to get Perdy to go outside hoping she'll burn some calories running around but she refuses to go out! Maybe we should get a treadmill!!

Halloween Party at Grandma's

Sunday night my mom had a Halloween party for the grand kids. They made snakes (bread sticks), ate worms with blood and eyeballs for dinner (spaghetti with meatballs) and had cupcakes with cat hair on top (black sprinkles). All the boys were super heroes and enjoyed battling which the little kangaroo (Isabel) was actually brave enough to join in. Their battles can get pretty rough. They had fun and love Sunday dinner at Grandma's but this was especially cool. So we definitely had an eventful weekend and everyone was tired by bedtime (I was in bed by 8:00!) Isaac was really perturbed that he had to go to bed a half hour early but the last thing I wanted this morning was a cranky kid. But of course he was still up before the crack of dawn playing with all his new toys from his birthday party.

Howl-O-Fest at KI

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Howl-O-Fest at Kings Island with Isaac's friend Lydia and her mom, Cara (Zoe stayed home with Daddy). It's a very cool setup for the kids. They can ride the rides, go trick-or-treating, paint pumpkins, make masks, dance at a dance party, and play games. The kids had a great time and were happy to have one last day at Kings Island for the year.

Isaac's late birthday party

On Saturday, we had Isaac's birthday party and here's a shocker...it was a Power Rangers theme! His actual birthday is September 15, but with Zoe being due September 6, not knowing when she would actually be born and knowing I wouldn't really feel up to hosting a birthday party with a bunch of 8 year olds so soon after giving birth, we postponed it. We did celebrate at my Mom's with my sister and her family on his actual birthday, which was the day of the major windstorm so dinner was pb & j by candle light! The party was a lot of fun for Isaac but wow, 12 kids, 8 of which were boys, was a lot to handle. Girls are so different...3 of the 4 girls sat in a circle and played quietly while the rest battled with light sabers. It's a wonder nothing was broken! We had games, presents and cake and ice cream and all the kids had a blast, but needless to say I was exhausted afterward. And of course me being a neat freak, instead of resting after all the kids went home I ran around the house cleaning up! The party went off without a hitch and it was "the best birthday party EVER!".

Typical Monday morning

I need to vent so here we go. This morning Isaac (who is ALWAYS hot and complains about wearing a coat in subzero temperatures) decided he needed gloves...it was 40 degrees this am. Well, I could not remember where I stored the gloves/hats, etc. over the summer. So I'm running around the house trying to find gloves with 5 minutes to go before we have to walk out the door to catch the bus. Add to that Zoe had just woken up and was starting to cry...the beads of sweat were forming. I checked all the obvious places, like where I have always stored them in the past! Finally I found them in a plastic bag from Target under his bed! Normally I would tell Isaac to suck it up but it was chilly and I felt guilty sending him out without gloves...I would have wanted to wear gloves this morning if I had to stand at the bus stop! Luckily Zoe didn't start the real crying until I got back in the house (Don't worry, I don't leave her for more than a minute, all I have to do is watch Isaac cross the street and he goes to the bus stop with his friend and his mom, who by the way is the most wonderful person in the world for offering to do this for me so that I don't have to wait at the bus stop which would require taking Zoe with me which would get quite interesting come winter). So it all worked out!
On a different note...I'm so addicted to this blogging thing that all I wanted to do this morning was get on here and report all our events from the weekend. But this morning being a typical Monday morning, I had to do my 'chores' first. Our weekends are so busy that the house and laundry, etc. get neglected leaving me with a lot of catching up to do Monday morning. I decided I needed to get my chores done before I could play so I spent the morning running around putting all the paraphernalia from our activities away, getting laundry going, doing dishes, making beds, etc. And Zoe was so good, not a peep from her the whole time! At least I had that on my side after the whole glove fiasco. So here I am finally getting to blog...I'm so excited! Oh, by the way, my goal for the day is to get all the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away before there is any more dirty laundry accumulated...I'll let you know how it turns out, I'm sure you're waiting on pins and needles!

We have smiles!

Could she be any cuter?! These aren't her first smiles but they are the first caught on camera. I was actully wanting to take a picture to send to Dave at work, just a cute little note from Zoe with a picture and she ended up smiling for the pictures...how perfect is that!

The Karate Kid

Isaac has recently started Karate. I thought he would be good at it, thought the discipline required for Karate would be good for him, and I also felt he needed a way to defend himself because he's so small and kids can be so cruel. Well, he LOVES it! I think the reason he likes it so much is because it makes him feel like a Power Ranger (his favorite thing at the moment). His teacher is fantastic, no nonsense-they have to do pushups if they are not following directions, not standing in the proper position, not paying attention, etc! Isaac always has to do pushups for standing with his hands on his hips-a no-no in Karate because if your hands are on your hips you can't defend yourself. It's hard for Isaac because that's the way he always stands, so who knows how many pushups he'll have to do to break the habit. He takes his classes very seriously and has the utmost respect for his teacher, although anyone would-he's about 6'5" maybe 250 lbs and is the Chief of Police in a rather dangerous neighborhood! His teacher is very impressed with him, is surprised he's not had much training before (he took a class at his school in Kindergarten) and feels he has a natural ability. I told him if he sticks with it and tries really hard, he'll be as good as his teacher some day. He thought that was pretty cool!

Spook-O-Ree

Isaac and his fellow scouts (Isaac is the red Power Ranger)
Witches hockey
Isaac in the Haunted House, pretty scary, huh? Keep in mind, it was pitch black except for strobe lights and the skeleton mask was lit up.
I thought this was the coolest effect by far. When we asked the kids "How did they do that?" they replied, "that's simple, his body is the table cloth"!
Isaac makes a pretty scary Power Ranger!
Last night we went to the Spook-O-Ree, a Halloween event with the Cubscouts. There were games, a hayride, a haunted trail and a haunted house, the last two of which I thought were a little scary for 8 year olds but they were troopers, none of them got scared at all! Isaac even posed for a few pictures with the 'monsters'! Isaac and his fellow scouts had a great time and were exhausted by nights end, bonus for me! The grownups were pretty tired too. Zoe stayed at Grandma's, the idea of pushing a stroller on gravel paths did not appeal to me!

Lydia's visit

This is Lydia visiting with Zoe. I babysat Lydia when she was 5 months old until she was 3, she's 5 now. Lydia is such a cutie and these pictures turned out so well, I couldn't pass up the chance to share! Her mom, Cara, and I have been good friends for many years so babysitting Lydia worked out really well. Lydia and Isaac had a ball playing together and get along great, no fighting at all!

All the animals

We love all our pets but Dave has made me promise, NO more animals!This is Joey who I've had since he was 4 weeks old, my sister found him at a park by himself, he is 6 years old and unfortunately has cancer, a really agressive form so each day with him is a miracle. He's kind of aloof like a normal cat but when he decides he wants to cuddle, he's very affectionate.
Here's T.J., my neighbor found him wondering down the street but couldn't take him and I couldn't resist. He is about 4 years old (a guess). He had no manners and was an obnoxious dog, probably why he was dumped, but it didn't take much training to whip him into shape and now he is a very well behaved dog and a great companion to all of us, he especially likes Isaac!
This is Perdita, we call her Perdy. She is about 1 year old and our newest addition. She was a stray at the clinic I used to work at and was destined to be put down. Well I couldn't have that so she came home with me. She's a really big cat but also extremely overweight, but we love her anyway! Perdy has a great personality and loves to lay flat on her back with all four legs spread out. I'll try to get a picture of that soon.
This is Mama, our one eyed cat and my first. She was left on the doorstep of the clinic I worked at (it's hard not to bring them all home!) with her 7 kittens who were about 1 day old. She was missing an eye ( she still had stiches) and her jaw was broken. We discovered later that she had a wire in it which means someone cared enough to pay for her to have surgery. We called her Mama for obvious reasons and after her kittens were weaned it was time to put her up for adoption. Over the 8 weeks she was with us I fell in love with her. She is very affectionate and I just couldn't resist! She is about 12 years old, another guess and I've had her for 10 years. She is a very unusual cat, she sleeps under the covers with me and she always wants a lap to sit on. She even tries to lick us like a dog!

Cub Scouts

This is a cub scout pack meeting in which Isaac had to do a presentation and he also recieved a couple of special badges for work he had done for the pack. He was very proud of himself, and of course we were too! In the first picture, Isaac is the second one from the right, next to the kid not wearing a uniform.

Hodgepodge

A few random pictures of our life. First we have our obese cat (this picture actually makes her look anorexic compared to how fat she actually is), next is the Lindquist cousins, Isaac, Zoe and Pascal (Dave's brother's son...2 months older than Zoe, then we have a picture of Zoe who decided she could hold her own bottle, she held almost the entire feeding! Then of course our deeply disturbed dog, T.J., he very ofter sleeps like this, and then Zoe just checking out the view.