The great pumpkin

Here’s Ryan in his pumpkin outfit from his first Halloween. Ryan had a good time, though I took him home early with a case of chilly cheeks. With his winter hat on underneath his outfit, I called him the Gangster Pumpkin.

It was nice going out as a family and meeting more of our neighbors. Gina, a big fan of both Halloween and cuteness, was in her glory with Ryan. Now we have a bucket of sweets and plans to start a diet tomorrow. The good news is tonight’s daylight savings time. An extra hour for candy!

Proud pumpkin papa

My workplace lets family members trick or treat every Halloween. The office is full of costumed kids for the last two hours of the day. It’s cute but not a big deal to me except for the leftover candy. But this year was an exception: Ryan’s big debut! Gina left work early, picked Ryan up, and changed him into his costume, a super-cute pumpkin complete with hat. The three of us made the rounds. Ryan kept a firm grip on his candy bucket until he focused on a sucker, and was well on the way to unwrapping it before I had to thwart him. He was sleepy-headed but perked up once we removed his stifling costume, and I relished the opportunity to show off my family.

Now I’m off to eat some of Boo’s candy.

Blogapalooza!

Nine local bloggers and I are participating in National Blog Month in November. The goal is to post every day for the month, so each of us is contributing three topics for my fellow blogger Becca to pick from. She’ll send us a new topic every morning. Should be interesting . . .

Mrs. Franklin and the mountain of leaves

This was the first year I had to rake leaves in our yard. We’re in a neighborhood where the trees are only 10 years old, so it took a while for them to mature enough to make raking a must. So while grilling dinner, I broke the rake out and kicked the leaves to the curb.

That got me thinking about my brother Andy and Mrs. Franklin’s yard. Mrs. Franklin lived on a double lot, with her house on one side and an empty lot next to it. Her property was covered with huge, mature trees, and the leaves would be several layers think by the middle of the fall. So once a year she payed Andy and I to rake and bag them for her. 

We spent a whole weekend clearing those leaves. We worked like dogs. But she paid us each 30 bucks, which back then was a big deal. So we spent the weekend on our hands and knees, stuffing those bags to the gills. We only saw Mrs. Franklin at the very end, when she gave us the big payout. Other than that, she hid in her house and left the leaf bags on her doorstep. 

Andy and I used to look forward to and dread that weekend each year. We wanted the extra cash, but knew we were in for some backbreaking work. At the same time, we felt a huge feeling of accomplishment when we finished the job. There’s something to be said for a hard day’s work. Andy and I earned every cent.

Now instead of bagging leaves you rake them to the curb. You just leave them there and wait for the leaf sucker-upper to take them away. I’m sure Andy and I would have been all over that in the Mrs. Franklin days. But a part of me thinks, that’s cheating.

PJ day

Today I heeded my bosses’ advice that “if you’re sick, stay home!” Boo Bear was still not himself, so he hung out with me in our PJ’s. Our big accomplishment was defeating the final boss in my super hero video game. Ryan was a bit of a liability, as his character stood still in the middle of the screen while Ryan chewed his controller.

Gina came home and said she was coming down with something herself. She must have been feverish, because she challenged me to a video game. Five minutes later the fever broke and she didn’t want to play any more. But still, it was a first.

Now I’m trying to build up the will to take the trash out in the rain.

The miserable Moose men

I woke up with another cold. Hopefully that’s all it is. Meanwhile, the baby has been crying most of the night. He was happy when I picked him up from daycare, but went ballistic as soon as his tiny rump hit his car seat. After dinner he shrieked and wailed like he never has before, and Gina and I pulled out every trick in the book to try to calm him down. One of the few things that worked was to let him hold his own Xbox controller. That’s my boy! We think he’s cutting his next pair of teeth. Here’s hoping the rest aren’t as bad.

Daddy’s team

It was a nice weekend spent mostly at home. Here’s my two favorite peeps:

Reminiscing

Gina’s been psyching herself up about the possibility of going through labor again. She held Ryan in her lap and told him what an adventure his delivery was. I listened to Gina’s gripping tale, then summed it up for him:

“The problem was she was seeing two of me and none of you.”

Healthy and happy

Ryan’s sleeping peacefully in his crib after his first day back at daycare. Tonight he was smiling, laughing and talking.

All’s right with the world.

On the mend

Gina stayed home with Ryan again. He looks and sounds much better. He slept through the night and took two long naps. I’m about ready to crash myself. Now that the steroids are kicking in Ryan’s juggling the living room furniture, but we figure he should tire out in another half hour or so.