Charlie and Coretta

Even Charlie was able to get some exercise and check out the costumes all the other children were wearing. Coretta ended up with a lot of candy and some very spooky pink fangs!! I think next year Charlie will need to dress up as well. Although Nick stated that Coretta will need to stop trick or treating by sixth grade, I oppose this idea. I think as long as children dress up, they should get candy no matter how old they are. I guess I am hesitant to lose the magic and innocence that Halloween brings.

Trick or Treat

Coretta had a fabulous time trick or treating tonight. I have never seen children so free and happy than when they are out and about getting free candy! Coretta tried pop rock candy for the first time and loved it.

Geno on the other hand did his best to stay awake as we strolled through the cold and windy night, and finally fell asleep around 8 p.m.

Another Halloween has come and past...

The cutest lion ever!

Geno definitely fought me a little bit to put his lion costume on, but once it was on, he didn't seem to mind it a bit. Hopefully he will be able to handle staying up so late trick or treating tonight, since it will be past his bedtime. Isn't he the cutest little lion you have ever seen?

Geno and Charlie

Geno and Charlie had a chance to bond this morning. I guess Charlie wasn't too sure what Geno had turned into, so he needed to get a closer look. After he had time to inspect the situation, he realized that it was nothing to be afraid of, just Geno in a costume. Isn't this a cute picture!

A roaring good time...

The kids were able to take a picture together before Coretta left for school. This is Geno's first Halloween and he is going to be a ferocious lion! He was able to wear this to Coretta's parade at school. It was a hit. Thanks to Bridge and John for allowing us to borrow Jack's old costume.

Candy Corn Goodness

This morning Coretta woke up at 6:30 so excited for Halloween!! She was able to dress out of uniform for the day as long as she wore the colors black and orange. She found a really cute ensemble at Super Target (my favorite store) that had what she needed to look her Halloween best.

At 1:00 p.m. the first floor students were able to put on their actual Halloween costumes (unheard of these days) and parade through the school for parents and guests. Her principal even wore a costume as a Pharaoh! Her second costume was Super Girl and she looked her super hero best. She definitely could save the world if she needed to. Well...maybe after she gets some candy first.

Giggle Monster Frenzy!

For one of Coretta's school projects this year, the class had to create a giggle monster out or reusable and recyclable material. Coretta named her creation Blubber. The picture below highlights some of her classmates creations! The creativity this class has as well as their sense of pride in their projects was definitely visible as they put these on the Hall of Fame. Great job second graders!

Squeaky Ball

My beloved dog Charlie is a very simple creature at heart. All he needs to be happy is a walk and a toy that squeaks. If only all things in life were this simple!! Here is a very short clip of Charlie in the backyard squeaking his basketball toy! There really isn't much difference between Geno and Charlie these days! Go figure...Enjoy!

Charlie

Charlie really has this thing for squeaky toys. I guess it is one of those things that both Geno and Charlie have in common.

The Sweet Life of Jack the Dog

Today I had the privilege of dog-sitting Jack for the very first time. Grandpa Tom has not left Jack alone since the day he came home. That in itself put a lot of pressure on me to make sure that Jack felt comfortable and not too homesick.

I decided that I would put Geno in the stroller, and attempt to take both dogs for a walk. It amazingly went very well and many people passing by in their cars had a good laugh at my expense.

Jack is probably the most pampered dog I know. Grandpa Tom has a very special relationship with dogs that us regular human beings will never understand. Watching him interact with Jack has been a great experience. So much so, I have made a movie documenting his arrival.

Halloween Spirit

Today Coretta looked around the house and realized that we didn't seem to have much Halloween spirit. She then decided that she was going to create her own Halloween decorations for our house. She first made a scary monster, a ghost, pumpkins, spiders, witches, vampire, and adjectives that described Halloween.

She also had the privilege of creating arts and crafts for Halloween with her brownie troop today. They also made and ate Halloween themed cookies.

Coretta can't wait for Halloween. It is supposed to be 40 degrees outside, so we'll have to bundle up while we trick or treat next week. I, too, believe our house has the Halloween spirit that Coretta was looking for now. Just take a look!

It's a wonderful life...

Since Geno just turned 10 months yesterday, I have decided to create a movie that highlights his life so far. Please take a moment to view my movie and reminisce about the importance of family.

Geno is 10 months old!!

Geno turned ten months old today. His personality is coming out more and more each day. He seems to be a very happy child that does not need much to keep him occupied. If he has a cord, a string, a newspaper, a toy, he can play with it for hours. In his saucer he loves to spin himself around and around and around and giggles loudly at his accomplishment. Guess he loves getting dizzy. He enjoys the freedom of crawling and getting into mischief such as trying to eat the dog food and splashing in Charlie's water bowl.

His hair is definitely beginning to curl in the back which reminds me of Nick's baby pictures. He definitely has a laid back mentality (like his Dad), but he is also very outspoken (like his Mom). He smiles almost constantly and loves to terrorize Charlie. Charlie has really been a good sport.

He loves to be read to by his big sister Coretta and enjoys terrorizing her as well by trying to pull her necklaces off her neck. His favorite stuffed animal of the moment is the one that Grandma Marilyn gave him at Easter. He loves to hug him and kiss his face. He also loves to go to the park, play in the leaves, the sand, and loves to swing. The higher the better and he squeals with delight.

As for Mom and Dad, he loves to hit and slap us in the face, try to poke our eyes out, and when we wince or show pain, he laughs. Not quite sure what that means yet, but it probably isn't good. At least he is able to say Mama and Dada now which gives us both great pleasure.

He has also learned that he can wave bye bye now. It is very interesting to observe because he stares at his hand in amazement and will do it with both his right and left hand. Furthermore, spit bubbles and spit noises are still the "in" thing to do as well as spit his oatmeal out in your face. What a kid!!

He still has a good appetite and have yet to find a food he doesn't like. At least he loves his fruits and vegetables!!

Here is the latest picture of Geno as well as a video of him saying his first word, which was Mama!

Dips, Turns, Twirls, and More...

Coretta's first figure skating lesson is today at Saint Paul's Figure Skating Club. As you can see, Coretta is very excited for her lesson to begin!

When we got to the arena, we laced up Coretta's skates and waited for her class to begin. Amazingly enough, she was able to do dips, turns, (and skate for the most part) without falling.

Here is a video of her first skating lesson.

Sherbert and Coretta find each other!

Coretta has been home for two days because she has a short vacation due to MEA. We decided to declare a Halloween themed day where we created Halloween bags, made caramel apples, and carved pumpkins. Watch our Spooktacular movie!!

Gloob! Gloob!

For Coretta's class, they read a story by a Minnesota author that dealt with a giggle monster as the main character. Coretta then was expected to create a giggle monster herself that could be made only out of recyclable material.

It took about two weeks to create and Coretta had a blast doing it!! First, she used a pop carton to create the body. She then created a pattern with oil pastels on construction paper and stapled them onto the box. This became the skin.

Next, she used two toilet paper rolls and vitamin water caps to create these bulging, goofy looking eyes. One eye was colored blue, and the other colored black.

Her legs were made out of grocery bag handles and her bird-like feet were created with construction paper.

Upon her head, Coretta created hair out of crinkling construction paper and putting orange stickers on the end.

Lastly, what would a monster be without antennas!! Her antennas were made out of handles of grocery bags and stickers.

Here is a picture of her creation!!

Creativity Comes Alive

This year Coretta will have the privilege to be a part of a school enrichment program called Destination Imagination. What Destination Imagination stands for is an international education program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring these solutions to competitions where they compete on the local, state, and global level. Thousands of teams participate not only within the United States, but also 25 other countries! This program begins October 29th and ends March 3rd.

I, too, will have the privilege of working with these students as one of the Destination Imagination Coordinators/Teachers!! Coretta and I will keep you updated on our progress!!

Watch Out! It's Duff Man!

Today was an interesting day to say the least. Sunday, on God's day, Nick decided to brew his first batch of honey brown ale. As promised, it was a family affair, minus Charlie and Geno who are too curious to be all that helpful.

The first thing that Nick had to do was to boil one and a half gallons of water. Once the water is boiling, you then need to steep the grains into the water for fifteen minutes. This step was quite interesting because you put this mixture into a sock. The next step was to add the malt extract and allow this to boil for one hour. At different stages, different hops were added for flavor. At the very end of this process you add a pound of Minnesota honey which becomes what is known in the beer world as wort. Once the wort has been chilled, it is time to sanitize your fermenting supplies, and then add three gallons of water to your glass carboy. Once this is done, pour in your wort, pitch your yeast, put your air lock on, and then you wait. An active fermentation can take a week or two. This is the completion of phase one. Please feel free to view the slideshow below to see this process first hand!

Look at me!

Geno has been busily crawling around our house and getting into lots of trouble, so I thought to myself...What is next? The next step in the world of Geno is to get him to pull himself up and stand. Geno actually has been working on balance which is demonstrated in this picture. After his nap I made him hold on, and amazingly enough, he could!! He thoroughly enjoyed shaking the crib, as if he was saying, "Hey Mom, look at me!."

Watch out world, here he comes!

Ever since Geno began to crawl, he has been a very busy kid. Nothing is sacred, and nothing is safe or too far away for his reach. It seems that his favorite object of choice are my plant stands. He will army crawl at the speed of light to get to one and try to pull it down.

If I remove the plant stands, the next object of choice is definitely any type of cord or anything that resembles one, Geno does not discriminate, it could be a speaker cord, cords plugged into electrical plug-ins, shoelaces, Charlie's collar, sweatshirt strings, you name it. If it is long and resembles a cord, he will find a way to get to it.

The other day, I actually heard two large crashing noises while Geno was on all fours exploring his new frontier. The first one was when Geno pulled the gate down on top of himself and began to cry, and the second time was when he was in Coretta's room and pulled the barbie doll house down at which time he laughed. He is not completely aware of his brute strength, but when he does, watch out world, we are all in trouble.

As promised, I have captured some video of Geno crawling as well as his exploration of the English language. Enjoy!

Orange, yellow, brown, and red...

Today I volunteered to be a chaperon at Coretta's school. They took a field trip/walk down Grand Avenue in Saint Paul. Each group was given a specific social scientist and were asked to observe their environment to find things that social scientists may use in their research. Coretta and my group were anthropologists. We looked for representations of art, music, religion, food as well as buildings and things people did that looked fun. Afterwards, Geno and I joined Coretta in the school cafeteria for a corn dog hot lunch!

Once we got home, Coretta and Geno frolicked in the fallen leaves. Since this is Geno's first fall, he enjoyed crawling in the leaves, listening to the crunch they made, and wondering if they were food. Coretta being her eighth fall, already knew not to eat them, but always enjoys jumping in them and throwing them all around!

The Crawling Caterpillar

Today at 11:00 am something miraculous happened. Geno was busy playing during his routine tummy time, when all of a sudden he started crawling! It wasn't like the small sort of crawl, but a full fledged crawl to reach his toy caterpillar! I cannot even believe it! I quickly called Nick and we both agreed that it is definitely time to start baby proofing!

Nick's Home Brew

For Nick's birthday Coretta, Geno, Charlie, and I bought him a book on how to brew beer, six northern brewer mugs, and a $100.00 gift certificate to buy a starter kit. One thing he has learned is that the key to making a good beer is sanitation, which he has asked for my assistance. Because brewing beer is essentially a science experiment, Coretta and I will also be dabbling in Nick's new found hobby! Soon as he makes his first batch, he plans to have a beer tasting party. We'll keep you posted!

Sippy Cup Heaven!

Geno is in his ninth month and has now discovered the joy and the art of the sippy cup. In the following clips you will see Geno look at the cup trying to figure out it's use to the pure satisfaction he has when he figures out how to drink his juice. Many people say that the ninth month is full of many surprises, and I am starting to believe that this is the month Geno thrives! My son is starting to become a baby boy!

The school of Geno

Geno is now able to sit up all on his own!! He loves to play on the kitchen floor with his toys and especially loves his trucks.

His speech still contains a lot of babbling and consonant play, but he is able to utter the words Mama and Dada now. The greatest part of all is that he actually said Dada for the first time the morning of Nick's birthday.

His motor skills are also improving and he is able to scoot backwards. Here is a picture of Geno flirting with the camera.

Babysitter of the Year

For Nick's birthday, I decided to take him out to see the Regina Spektor concert. Grandpa Tom did not hesitate at the chance to watch Coretta, Geno, and Charlie. He really knows how to make this time special by playing board games like Cadoo with Coretta, watching the Incredibles movie, and always sharing an abundance of treats.

While Grandpa and the kids are bonding, Jack (Grandpa's dog), and Charlie have a great time as well by chasing each other throughout the house. This seemed to be a wondrous time, until Jack jumped on Coretta's head while she was sleeping and woke her up. Hopefully Jack didn't get too sick since he leaped on the table and ate a whole piece of German chocolate cake. I guess he wanted to celebrate too!

Here is a precious photo of Grandpa Tom and Geno together! We love you Grandpa!!

Coretta's Baby Book

Coretta's baby book has finally been re-binded by the help of Grandpa Earnest. Due to wear and tear the binding had been broken and the pages were falling out. The neatest thing is that Coretta was able to create her own cover page which she did by creating a colorful design with oil pastels and incorporating one of her baby pictures. Now her baby memories will be protected for good!

Is that an American girl?

What is more precious for an eight year old girl than an American Girl! Coretta was waiting excitedly for this package to arrive in the mail from Auntie Heidi!

When it came today she quickly opened the package to find the brand new 70's American Girl named Julie. This doll and Auntie Heidi also share a special connection since they both came from San Francisco! Here is a photo with Coretta and Julie!

Webkinz frenzy!

Coretta was very excited to receive her new virtual pets named Pinky, Scruffy, and Fluffy. Pinky the poodle was born on February 25th, Scruffy the white terrier was born on April 21st, and Fluffy the cocker spaniel was born on July 17th. In order to keep her animals both happy and healthy, she must go online each day to feed them and give them their check-ups. So far all animals are doing great! Here is a picture of Coretta in her favorite birthday jammies from Grandma Marilyn with her Webkinz.

Queen for the day

Coretta was definitely treated like a queen for the day at school. When she woke up, she had the privilege of choosing an outfit that did not have plaid or the color blue in it because yes she could be out of uniform to celebrate her uniqueness. She was also given a crown to wear for the entire day of school and brought cupcakes for all of her classmates to enjoy!

Only a godfather's love..

Here is an endearing picture of Geno and Grandpa. Geno is laying his head lovingly on Grandpa's shoulder. No one else was able to comfort him at this particular moment and Grandpa was definitely enjoying the moment!

Is that a dog on her lap?

Here is a photo of Grandma actually warming up to Charlie. With years of torment by dogs as she would walk the countryside in Detroit Lakes, she has finally allowed Charlie to make his way onto her lap and into her heart. I think she finally understands the loyalty and companionship that a dog can give you! She even fed Charlie Geno's remaining oatmeal. It must be love!!

Coretta is finally eight years old!

Coretta had an excellent birthday party! She invited ten of her closest friends for a day of rollerskating, video games, and more. Although many of the girls hadn't rollerskated before, by the end they were all doing great!

Around lunch time, they had cheese pizza, chips, pop, and cake. Without a doubt, this was the best birthday yet!

Coretta and I actually skated together and if I do say so myself I haven't last my touch. Nick on the other hand never dared to put the rollerskates on.

Following this party, Nick locked the keys in the car and thanks to the Woodbury Police Department's quick response, we were home for Coretta's family party.

Jack and Emilia came up Friday night and spent some quality time with Geno, Coretta, and Charlie. They spent time playing Candyland, chasing Charlie, exploring the back yard for insects, and watching the movie Robots. Here is a photo of Coretta, Emilia, and Jack!

Roll with it!

Coretta's most prized possession that she received for her birthday were her Heelys!! All day she practiced in the living room, in the kitchen, outside, and even at Super Target. Here is a photo that shows her excitement!