Halloween at the Quigleys

Another Halloween has come and gone for this Quigley household. As Jake said, "This was the best Halloween ever!" He ranks it right up there with Christmas, I think.

For Halloween this year Jake chose to be Harry Potter. Several people thought he was a vampire, however, as he wore a black robe but refused to wear the glasses. "They make me look like an old woman," he said. I wasn't the only person to comment, "Hey, you kinda look like Malfoy with your blond hair," but Jake was not at all pleased to hear that. He used his wand to try to turn me into a puppy.

Annie was a pumpkin for her first Halloween ever. She made it to all the houses that mattered--the neighbors we know--and then Granny carried her home to put her to bed while Ike, Jake and I kept walking.

Granny and Papa joined us for the evening. Papa stayed behind to hand out candy, and Granny (as I mentioned) took over with the baby when it got too late.

We managed to make it to the best house in the neighborhood again this year. This is the fourth year we've made it a point to go there after hitting our own street. This family goes all out, setting up a table with homemade goodies (no razor blades included) and a fog machine and a cauldron and all kinds of cool stuff. This year they didn't do hot cider, but I'm hoping one trick-or-treater's comment, "Where's the booze?" will inspire them for next year*.

After hitting our street, the cool house, and a couple more houses, Jake is the one who ended the evening. He was tired, he said, but I think he just wanted to get home to eat candy... That's my boy: no more exercise, let's eat!

We were home just before 8:00, our earliest finish ever. I guess kindergarten wears a kid out.

We took pictures with our 35mm camera (remember film? back before digital?), so after I get the pictures developed, I'll post them here. Probably just in time for Christmas...

Happy Halloween to all and to all a good night.

*This comment was actually made by the mother of a trick-or-treater. Lest you think I'm encouraging underage drinking or something.

Studying Jake's Brain

As Annie and I have been banished to the computer room while Jake and his friend play, I thought I'd take a minute to write about Jake's brain development...

Okay, not really. But here's the thing I told some of you I'd blog about. Today Jake was part of a study at the Center for Cognitive Development at UNCG. We have a friend who worked there for awhile, and we signed away our children for science, saying that yes, they could study our children's perfect brains to help figure out the brains of other children.

Or anyway, we said that yeah, cool, we'd participate if it came up. So that's how Jake ended up on the 5th floor of the Psych building at UNCG, hanging out with a girl my sister's age. Jake was immediately comfortable with her, I think for three reasons: 1) He got to play games, 2) Annie didn't get to play those games, and 3) He likes pretty girls.

While Annie and I played in a different room, Jake played a memory game with a Winnie the Pooh and a Tigger. I was worried the study would be too...you know, little kiddish (Pooh??) for him until the girl brought out the Transformer-ripoff robot for him to color. He was way into that. He told her all about his Halloween plans, his sister, his dad...and all he said about me was, "I don't know my mom's favorite color." (WHAT? It's PURPLE! It's always been purple and you do too know that!)

The study is focusing on how children learn and remember things about the world around them. He remembered everything about the Pooh, some about the Tigger, and not a darn thing about his mom.

He got a kazoo as a prize for playing along. I wonder if there are places that would pay us money for a peek into our kids' brains...

Now Annie and I will attempt to leave the room and cross through the living room without bothering the boys... It's tough to be the little sister...

Commercialism at its best

Jake just came running in to get Ike and me. "Come look at my commercial," he said.

He had three Transformers set up. He did a short "action" sequence with the three, then said, "Hot Shot and Six Shot Transformers, only available at Toys R Us. If you want 'em, get 'em."

Maybe he'll grow up to be that deep voice guy on commercials...

Also this morning, the three of us played Sorry (the board game). Now, I should explain that I come from a long line of very competitive women. The only times I ever heard Mom curse as a kid were when she was losing in Monopoly. My grandma starts setting up Chinese Checkers the minute she sees Mom pulling in the driveway. My aunt Dottie is just as competitive as those two. And as a kid, I distinctly remember that my Aunt Polly never just let me win in checkers.

We women like to win.

So, imagine my anguish when Jake announced, "Daddy and I are a team. Annie can be on your team."

But...Annie can't play! No fair!

Anyway, what he meant was this: He would in no way ever get one of Ike's pieces out. And Ike wouldn't do it to him. The one time I sent a piece of Jake's home, I was deemed cruel and evil mom. They high-fived again and again, despite me pointing out that, "You know, if Daddy wins, you don't, Jake." (I know, competition can be cruel.)

My one consolation? When Jake turned to Ike and said, "Daddy, you smell like farm animals."

There you go. Oh, and I won the game. :)

A Week of Firsts

While year one of a baby's life is full of firsts, there are some pretty significant firsts in a kindergartener's life, too. This week Jake experienced two of them.

Tuesday his class had its first field trip. They went to the farm at A&T. Apparently Jake was simply astonished at what he learned (that's sarcasm, FYI)...When I asked him how the trip went, he said, "It was cold and I was hungry."

That's my boy. See cows, think food.

Last night Jake had his first sleepover at a friend's house. He had a much better time with Carter than he did on the farm. They stayed up late (you know, 9:30 or so), but still got up earlier than Jake would normally (5:45 this morning! Thank goodness they weren't here!). He had pizza for dinner and...chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I told Carter's parents that they've ruined Sunday morning pancakes forever now. My pancakes will never compare to the chocolate chip ones Carter has.

When Jake came home just before lunch today, Annie was ecstatic. She's been following him around ever since he got home, "talking" to him and trying to play with him. It just hit me why she's so happy to see him, other than missing him like Ike and I did: last night was her first night away from Jake. Except for when she was a newborn, anytime the grandparents have kept Jake, they've also kept Annie. So she's used to being away from Mommy and Daddy for a night or two. But to be without Jake? Apparently it was unbearable...

One more thing, then I'm putting both kids down for much-needed naps. Today while I was bending down to pick up Annie, I accidentally hit Jake on the top of his head. I hugged him and apologized, and he said, "It's okay. But next time can you just aim for my forehead instead?"

As if I was aiming for him. Poor kid, this is what he will remember: Carter gets chocolate chip pancakes, I get hit on the head...

I'm just saying...

Look, I won't get preachy. I'm poor and most of my stay-at-home mom friends are also poor. I understand the temptation to shop at an evil place if it's cheap.

But here's more about Wal-Mart.

Here are a couple of points in the article:

Wal-Mart recently fought hard against a Chicago city ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $10 by 2010, and threatened to sue if the ordinance went into effect. At the same time, it has claimed that the average wage for its employees is $10.11.

Although the retailer says it offers health-care benefits to a majority of its employees, it fought long and hard against a Maryland law that would have required nongovernment employers with more than 10,000 workers to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health benefits (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/2/06, "Wal-Mart Foes Hop a Bandwagon").

And here's an interesting site that seems to keep up with Wal-Mart.

Just sharing what's out there...

Hillary & Condi Sing A Duet

Thanks, Jaimie, for the link.

Click here to watch the best politics I've seen in awhile. No matter where you stand, it's pretty funny.

Halloween Fun

Here are two Halloween-themed games to waste part of your day.

I got the first from Ike's aunt Jane. Carve your own virtual pumpkin.

I got the second link from my aunt Sue in Georgia. It's one of my favorite things to do with cats.

See how much time you've wasted? :P

Pumpkin Patch 2006

My family came to Greensboro Thursday night to take the kids (and us) to a local Pumpkin Patch and then out to dinner. This Pumpkin Patch doesn't compare to the one we usually go to in Winston, so I guess next year we'll make the trek there instead. Here are the pictures my dad sent (the pictures are really the point, right?).

Annie waiting patiently for the Great Pumpkin.
 

Annie having some "body control" issues. I guess she was overwhelmed by all the pumpkins.
 

Jake picking on his little sister. I really thought this would start later...  

Jake with the pumpkin he and Ike picked out.
 

There's another good one of my sister, but it's a terrible picture of me, so that's not going on here. This is my blog, after all. I only have to put good pictures of myself on it. 

Playing Dress-Up: Boy-Style

Jake and a friend played "dress-up" in his friend's old Halloween costumes last week. The pictures were too cute to pass up.


Here they are as bobble-heads...


And here, unmasked...


And Jake with his mean face...

A Good Storyteller

This morning, after a really rocky start because I'm evil in the mornings, I started telling Jake a "choose your own adventure" type story on the way to school. It involved his favorite things: him as a knight, dragons, goblins, and his best friend from class. :)

He has no idea how he made my day when he said, "Mommy, you're a good storyteller."

It's the biggest compliment he could have given me. (Okay, I also wouldn't mind, "Mommy, you've lost so much weight!")

Speaking of good storytelling, I don't normally "review" books here, but I will recommend the one I just finished. It's Digging To America by Anne Tyler. If you've never read Anne Tyler, and especially if you're a woman who has never read Anne Tyler, you need to go do that right now. She's written 17 novels, so you'll find something you like. Mom, thanks for loaning me the book, I'll get it back to you next time I see you.

Now I'm going to go dig through the books we're selling at Ed McCay's to make sure I didn't put any Anne Tyler books in those stacks...

The PMS Cure

Okay, nobody get too excited. It doesn't actually cure PMS. BUT it seems to help.

I find that if I sit and mindlessly watch old episodes of Grey's Anatomy (thanks for the link, Erica!), letting myself cry over ridiculous situations that have nothing to do with my life (and the deaths of people who are actually only extras and not real people at all), I feel better.

It's healthier than drinking and cheaper too.

(Can anyone else tell me if they're experiencing worse PMS now that they're in their 30s? It's practically crippling me here...)

The kids while we were gone

Ike and I went to Beaufort, NC, this weekend for a wonderfully relaxing trip. We slept, we ate, we walked, we read. Out of habit, I still occasionally woke Ike up from a nap like Jake always does, but for the most part, we were complete adults. It was a beautiful thing.

The kids stayed with Nana and Granddaddy. Here are a couple of pictures taken of them.

How To Be A Bad Mom: Part 1 of One Million

Tip #1: Record "Halloweentown" on Disney Channel for your 5-year-old. Allow him to watch it "late at night" (you know, 7pm is late for a 5-year-old). Stop it partway through to put him to bed.

This will insure that your child will be 1) exhausted, and 2) too scared to sleep. Thus, you will have a long conversation about reality vs. movies and actors. This will then lead to a long conversation about the bad guy in the movie and how he can't be real. Eventually, you'll pull out the GOD CARD: bring in the Bible, put it under your child's pillow, and pray with him that God will protect him from bad dreams.

Following these steps, you will then go to your own room, cry a little because you are horrible, then pray a lot that really, God, please don't let him have bad dreams. We'll start going to church again, I mean it this time.

Tip #2: Hold screaming baby for 30 minutes. Be sure to get very frustrated, despite the fact that you know screaming baby can't help screaming. Wait for 5-year-old to yell from computer room. When child yells over and over, baby will cry louder and louder.

Walk with baby to deal with child. Answer phone with message from principal at school...something the answering machine could easily have gotten.

Deal with frustration and irritation (and PMS) by slamming phone into metal filing cabinet beside cradle for phone. Repeat. Repeat. (Really you're just trying to get it into the cradle...strongly...)

This will insure that both children will start crying loudly. Because of your tantrum, baby and child will most definitely cry, and child will tell you he wants Daddy instead. You will think, ahh...to only be Daddy...The hours might be long, but they are tear-free...

Calm down baby, put to bed. Calm down child, put to bed.

Following these steps, you will then go to your room, throw the covers over your head and pray that tomorrow you will be a better you.

And maybe you will. But probably you'll only do something so that you can write Tip #3...

Spam

I love it...

Homeschooling

Ha ha ha ha. Don't worry. I'm not really going to homeschool. No one call DSS.

Last night Jake was up several times. Without going into too much detail (but I'm a mom of small kids--I'll gladly give you details if you want them), I was worried that he might have a stomach bug, so I kept him home today to be on the safe side.

Apparently he's fine. He's been running all over the place, playing with/tormenting Annie (and me), getting out toys...just like it's a weekend. He suggested this morning, "Maybe we could homeschool."

??

I told him that sure, we could homeschool for today. But you know, there are laws saying he needs to go to school. I know, I lied. Technically we could homeschool. But I'm pretty sure there is some sort of law out there dealing with moms who go psycho when their five-year-olds won't listen while they're homeschooling. So I didn't actually lie, I'm protecting the kid. Anyway, it's all a moot point because when I explained to him that homeschooling meant we'd be writing and reading and learning things like he does at school (instead of watching Disney Channel all day), he changed his mind.

"Not today," he said, "I'm feeling too lazy."

Me too, kid. Me too.

He has also said today that he misses school. When I asked what he missed most, he said he wished he could go play secret agents with his friend Luke on the playground. And since Luke's mom reads this blog, I thought I'd write that here. :)

Wiggle Time & Jake's Billy

We are on Wiggle Time here in the mornings. Now no one in our family actually watches The Wiggles anymore. They drive Ike and me crazy, and Jake just doesn't care for them. But each morning it never fails: The Wiggles are on in the background. I've begun setting the clocks to them. "Jake, The Wiggles are off, it's time to brush your teeth and go to school." Thank God for the Wiggles, we'd never get anywhere on time...

This afternoon (post-Wiggle Time, more like Oprah Time) Jake had a friend over for a couple of hours. Here's a conversation I overheard while they looked through Jake's Transformer box.

Jake: This Transformer is Chinese. You know how I got a Chinese Transformer?
Friend: How?
Jake: My Billy goes to Chinese.
Friend: What?
Jake: (Frustrated) My Billy goes to Chinese. He really does.
Friend: Oh. Who's Billy?
Jake: (In Best DUH Voice) My uncle. Billy??!! I have an uncle Billy and he goes to Chinese.

And that ended that. I guess Jake thinks everyone should know his Billy. Who goes to Chinese.

The Apprentice (for daddies)

Sorry I haven't been posting much (for anyone who is paying attention). There's just been "too much to tell" as Jake would say, with very little time to tell it all.

Anyway, here's a conversation Ike and Jake had tonight while they were brushing Jake's teeth.

"Daddy, is it your job to keep the house clean?" [Becky's note: Ike did indeed clean almost the entire house last weekend. It seems that Ike would be a much better housewife than I am...]

[Pause] "Yeah, Jake, apparently it is."

[I chimed in here from Annie's room to ask] "Well, Jake, what's Mommy's job then?"

"To take care of me and Annie. And Daddy, your job is to...ummm...well. You're fired."

So now Ike has been fired. From cleaning the house. Man! I had such a good thing going with that too!

In other news, Annie's 9-month appointment was last week. All is well with the baby girl. She's in the 25% for height and weight, which is amazing since she never eats. At her appointment, she weighed 17.10 pounds and was 26.5 inches long. She didn't even cry at her shots this time because the nurse gave her this banana-flavored flouride treatment for her (two) teeth. She was so into that taste that she barely flinched when she got those shots. I suggested to the nurse that she give her that stuff every time she has to get shots, but I don't think they'll do it...

Oh, and Nana and Granddaddy had fun editing one of the pictures of Annie from the other day at the farmer's market.



I think it's creepy and weird-looking, but I guess we do look alike(Babyhead Two is mine).

If They Weren't My Kids, I'd Steal Them

The kids and I met Nana at the Farmer's Market yesterday (not the one with moldy vegetables...the one that sells all the "local" bananas and lemons...). Annie got pretty fussy toward the end, and Jake acted so rude by the time we left that he got grounded for the first time ever...but they sure did take some cute pictures. Here they are.

Annie is in a jacket of Jake's, since I forgot to take hers.
 
 

They were both fascinated by the farmer at this booth. Apparently he was a funny guy...(That's who they're looking at, while Mom and I both kept calling out, "Annie, look over here! Smile at the camera, Jake!" We just aren't as interesting, I guess.)
 

See this face? That adorable face was about 10 minutes from major attitude explosion. Is he 5 or 15??
  

$30 for a shower?? Money well spent...

If Mastercard still had their contest for doing your own "priceless" commercial, I'd have my own to submit.

Gym Membership: $30

Toiletries for Gym Bag: $20

Taking a Shower with No Interruptions: PRICELESS

Yep, I joined a gym. Last Monday, Ike and I toured five different gyms in town, including Pyramids, Fitness Today, Bryan YMCA, AC Fitness for Women, and Gold's Gym. Don't make any more suggestions in the comments, people: I've already picked one and I'm done with looking at gyms.

I'm happy to say that everyone at every gym was friendly. No one treated me like I was old or fat...that was nice... Each gym had benefits and disadvantages (okay, Pyramids had no disadvantage other than price...way too expensive for our budget). In the end what sold me was this: Gold's Gym was the only place where the person giving our tour said that they clean the nursery and the toys after every shift.

That's right, the most important thing to me about the place I work out is how my child will be doing. I mean, duh. Wouldn't you think that would be obvious? Couple walks in with baby, looking for gym for stay-at-home mom. Do you really think I'm going to be most excited about the DVD players on the treadmills when your nursery hours suck? (Ok, those DVD players were very cool, I have to admit.) Or the tanning beds and smoothie bar? The music piped in under water in the pool (okay, also very cool)? Nope, I want a clean nursery with friendly staff working it. Oh, and I want one more thing.

A chance to shower ALL BY MYSELF without getting up at the crack of dawn. Without having to hear the baby cry the whole time and without worrying about what my son might be doing.

A shower. A clean place to put the baby. Oh, and treadmills too? Bonus! We found our gym...