Happy Halloween

Rally cap!

Halloween Routine III

Last night the South Orange Public Library hosted its community Halloween concert featuring Big Jeff. It was hard for me to believe that we were attending our third Halloween Routine. The kids had a great time rocking out with Emma and Jack Bailey to classics like Yellow Submarine and Twinkle Twinkle, as well as Big Jeff's original Boogie with the Boogieman. They danced until they dropped, and loved seeing the costumes of other kids. It was a fun glimpse of what I have to look forward to this weekend. Only four more days!

Library concert one year ago: Quick Week Recap
Library concert two years ago: All Hallow's Eve Eve

Moments...

I've captured this one before, but I think this one's better. Improved oral function by Lincoln, perhaps. They are sharing a sugar cookie Lincoln decorated at his friend Emma's birthday party on Sunday.

Bring on the Phillies!

Girl on a log

Kissable kid

Carey and I both feel nostalgic lately. Every milestone Lincoln passes we think to ourselves, "That's the last time we'll watch a kid do that for the first time." It's a mindset that really helps you appreciate hugs and snuggles. It even makes middle-of-the-night musical beds tolerable. I mean, the day is coming soon when both kids will stay in their room for hours and we won't be able to call them down for dinner. Anyway, all this is just a rambling prelude to a picture that makes me wish Lincoln could stay this cute and cuddly forever.

8 days...

Helping parent

The only good thing about the 1-9 p.m. evening shift I have to work every 15 weeks is that I get lots of QT with the kids in the morning. Last week Lincoln and I rode the train for a few stops into NYC, then got off and rode it back home. Today I got to be "Helping Parent" at Greta's school. Free play for 30 minutes, then 18 kids in a circle say the Pledge of Allegiance (Greta knows it by heart and really belts it out!) before sitting down to talk about the day of the week, the month, the weather -- each item assigned to a kid who stands up before the class and points dutifully at the visual aids when prompted. Then we busted out into two groups -- one finger painting orange "pumpkins" on paper, the other cutting out pictures of things that start with the letter E (elephant, eggs, elk, envelope, earth) and gluing them to a piece of paper. Greta colored each item except the envelope, which she told me is pretty much always white. The two tasks were followed by snack, lovingly distributed by the Helping Parent's kid. Saltines and cheese sticks were Greta's gourmet treats. She carried a basket around to each child and told them, "Please only take two." Two was not enough for most of the boys, of course, who asked for more within minutes, their cheeks bulging with crumbs. After snack it's free play in the gym -- tricycles, volleyball with a large rubber sphere, cozy coupes, and lots and lots of running. I took a few photos and will post them tonight when I get home. Just wanted to get something up now because some readers begin to worry about my health if I go more than a couple days without an update.

Little man

It's amazing how a haircut makes Lincoln look like such a big boy. He enjoyed not one, but two, lollipops at the salon on Sunday while Greta got her nails done. Carey reports he was a perfect angel and even befriended another little boy getting his hair cut. So much so that when Lincoln was done, the other boy's mom asked if he could stick around for a few more minutes because he was keeping her son so calm in the chair.

Daddy's first mani

Well, not really, but it was the first time I ever watched one done. Greta went to Sophie's Nail Salon a few blocks from our house today with her friends Emma and Day. For $10, she got the works -- all sorts of creams rubbed into her hands, a palm massage, cuticle repair, and la pièce de résistance, bright pink nails with white-petaled flowers on each and a sparkle of silver for the flower's pistil. For the record, the color was called "Exposure."

Plies & pirouettes

Once a week Greta takes ballet lessons after school. She comes home in the afternoon and shows Mommy what she learned, and then shows me when I get home from work. Tonight it was a butterfly warm-up stretch and almost first position. Later, she stood on her toes for at least 5 seconds, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

Help! Someone stole our camera!

We loaned our camera to our friend Sarah this week while she was helping parent at pre-school on her daughter's fifth birthday. It was her first time shooting with an SLR, so she had lots of fun. 228 photos in just a few hours! Here are 19 of the best, according to this editor.

First backpack

Carey left the Canon with our friend at pre-school who is helping parent today, so this cell phone photo will have to suffice. Lincoln and his buddy Charlotte (who we babysit when her mom is helping parent) loaded it up with their favorite toys for a trip to the park while I watched the end of the Jets/Dolphins game from last night. (I'm working 1-9 p.m. for the next few weeks.)

Channeling Grandpa

We have a couple beat-up step stools we've used over the years to reach things in the kitchen. High kitchen cabinets, the top of the fridge, that kind of thing. In the old kitchen, the kids also used them to help Carey mix and stir. One was dark brown, the other maple. We let the contractors use the dark brown one for some reason and they covered it in joint compound and paint splatters. Nothing a belt sander and some paint couldn't fix, I decided. Lots of paint, said the kids. We had colorful quarts of it left from Greta's room in Alexandria. I envisioned rainbow stools, but the kids stuck to their gender stereotypes - Greta used only pink while Lincoln started with an aqua blue that he later mixed with pink to create a vague lavender. Greta was fastidious about the process, keeping paint off her dress and just getting a touch in her hair. Lincoln, of course, bathed in it, ruining a sweatshirt and sweat pants. When all was said and done, both kids seemed pleased by their efforts and each evoked Grandpa's fondness for painting. Greta did it first, exclaiming, "Grandpa would be so proud!" Lincoln waited a couple hours until his clothing had dried, then ran around the house yelling, "I look like Grandpa!"

 

New kicks

My every-frugal wife got Lincoln a new pair of sneakers the other day. Size 7, Nikes, just $8.99 at Other Mothers. But neither the brand nor size matter much because THEY'RE RAINBOW SHOES!

First decade

Carey may be impressed by 1,000+ posts in this blog, but that's nothing compared to 3,650+ days as husband and wife! We spent part of the morning watching a VHS tape of our wedding day. Lincoln lost interest after about 10 minutes and played with Elmo stamps. Once Greta saw Carey's dress, she wanted us to fast forward to our first dance. But we stuck it out and made them listen to this:

I will make my home in your heart from this day forward.
Carey, you are my closest friend.
I ask for nothing more from life than that I may live mine with you.
I promise to stand by your side forever -- through laughter and tears, when weak or strong.
I pledge to you my trust, my faith, my loyalty and my never-ending love.
You are my confidant, my soulmate, the one I adore.
Publicly and without hesitation, I commit myself to you.

Thank you, my sweet, for living those vows with me.

Popcorn boy

Like his Dad, Lincoln's a big popcorn fan. He doesn't eat it very often, after Carey read some horror story of a boy choking to death in a movie theater. So Lincoln is advised to eat it one kernel at a time, which he does so very meticulously. I brought a half-eaten bag home from the train station tonight and he sat with it between his legs, reaching in every 20 seconds or so to grab another piece, thoroughly masticate, and repeat. At one point he stared down into the bag and said, "I love you, popcorn." Me too, Linc, me too.

Snack a la Cart and a new feature

I just wanted to post a cute picture of Lincoln with his friend Charlotte, as they were shopping together at Eden Gourmet last week:

But when I logged in to Blogger to put up this pic, I realized that yesterday Rob wrote our 1,000th post to this blog! I suppose that is a milestone of sorts...but then I think that you are usually aware of milestones before the fact and not after, so perhaps it wasn't. At any rate, I'm so glad he started this endeavor because the blog has become the baby book I've never put together for either Greta or Lincoln. Whenever I feel nostalgic (which has happened a lot in the last week since our friends, the McVety family, welcomed their daughter Shaw), I curl up with the laptop and scroll through old posts, feeling so happy and content and blessed. I thought perhaps you might like to share my walks down memory lane, so paying the highest compliment I can to one of my favorite blogs where I got the idea, here is where we were...

One year ago: Getting to yes
Two years ago: Tuck me in!
Three years ago: Fall Festival

Curiosity

Vose Ave., South Orange: The sound of a nail gun echoes in the chilly fall air.

Lincoln: What's that sound?
Carey: A nail gun.
Lincoln: What's that?
Carey: It's a tool you use to drive nails into things.
Lincoln: What's a nail?
Carey: It's a piece of metal that attaches two things together, like two pieces of wood. But you can also use it to hang a picture on a wall. You hit it with a hammer unless you have a nail gun, which is faster.
Lincoln: I want one.

Sleeping beauty

Carey snapped these on Sunday. They make her wistful for our baby. He's such a little boy now. Talks non-stop, runs non-stop, and cuddles only early in the morning or when he's really tired. But when he's sleeping it's easy to remember those precious months when all he knew was a warm embrace and soft whisper.

Yay for Indian summer!

Best day of the year here in New Jersey, by far. Perfect temp, cool breeze, warm sun. After church I snapped some shots of the kids playing in the church's pumpkin patch. While Lincoln napped, Greta and I went on a bike ride with the Haydens. Stopped for smoothies and an hour of play at Taylor Park. Now it's sunset and I get to watch the second half of Jets/Saints while Carey whips up homemade macaroni & cheese and a ham steak. Life, dear readers, is good.

Click here for 16 more shots in my Facebook album.

Seton Hall University Day

It's an annual tradition here in South Orange -- one day a year when the closed campus of Seton Hall opens itself up to the townies. It's mostly a family affair with activities like make-your-own scarecrow, paint a pumpkin and ride a small engine, wheeled "train" around the quad. We were the first family to ride the train. Carey convinced the kids to wave so that people would wave back.

Because of the threat of rain, they moved most things inside the recreation center, where the bands were way too loud and the hot dogs were incubated in hot water trays. But they did have a big blow-up slide and a BMX ramp where the Free Cycle Action Sports Team performed some pretty crazy bike stunts. Unfortunately, my camera battery died.

Carey and Greta ended the afternoon watching a college kids theater production of "Beauty & the Beast" while I took Lincoln home for a nap.

Foreign relations

Because they're caring for my 95-year-old grandfather, my folks don't visit nearly as often as they'd like. And when they do visit, it's always a bit of a whirlwind. Arrived about 3pm on Wednesday, left around 10am on Thursday to visit my sister on her 40th birthday.

We crammed a lot into the nine waking hours we had together. First up, a downtown stroll culminating in a stop at "Dragon Playground." The kids showed off their high-speed sliding skills and Greta made up an elaborate game in which she was the princess and Grandma was given the honor of being the Queen.

Carey cooked a lovely meal -- pasta bolognese, chased by brownies ala mode -- while Grandpa helped the kids carve a kitty pumpkin.

Once the kids were asleep, we gathered around the modern hearth, our 42-inch Vizio. Didn't watch anything, but the muted picture provided a nice glow in the room. We listened to Dad's college roommate Per, who was visiting from Norway, talk about where he lives as Carey tried to find it on Google Maps.

All in all, a lovely visit. They certainly did not overstay their welcome.