Halloween, Take 2

Today is the day Sam has been waiting for - the real deal - trick-or-treating! He woke up this morning and wanted to know if it was 4:00 yet. When I told him it wasn't, he thought he had better try on his costume just to be ready.

You know, the Batman costume. The one that was shipped to us by my best friend so that he wouldn't have to be a turtle - again. The one that he declared his devotion to last night in the line at the grocery store. (The lady behind us asked what he was going to be and he said, "Batman. My mom and grandma couldn't find me one, but Jen and Anna sent one to me so I don't have to be a turtle.)

He put it on, and 2 minutes later took it off and announced he was just going to be a turtle. "The Batman might be too scary for some kids."

I tried all day to talk him back into the Batman. I told him that there would be lots of kids in lots of different costumes and I didn't think Batman would be anywhere near the scariest one. Joe pointed out that he happened to have Batman underwear on and didn't he want to match his underwear? I emphasized Batman's big muscles - he could be the superhero protector of Sadie the Duck - didn't that sound fun?

No deal.

So here is where we say thank you to Jen and Anna for sending us the costume that was supposed to save the day, from Sam the Turtle.


Maybe next year.
Because Sadie seems to have claimed the turtle for 2010. As soon as it came off Sam's body, she jumped right in.

Pumpkin carving fun

Sadie loved the scooping part - she kept saying "Cook?" with a big smile on her face.
What a fun mess!
Whoa - how did that face get on there?
She was very proud of her pumpkin.
Sam was not as enamored with the scooping - a bit too messy.
But he was all over watching Joe carve out his specific requests on his pumpkin face.
The finished product - with the requested round eyes, eyebrows, no nose, and a 3-toothed mouth.

Halloween Songs

Halloween Parade

Sam seems to have the parade wave down.

Halloween 2009, Take 1

Sooooo.....last year Sadie got the joy of two different Halloween costumes. (See here and here.)

This year, it is Sam's turn.

I scored this awesome duck costume for Sadie at a resale for $2.50. While that is amazing enough in and of itself, it is made even more wonderful by the fact that she loves ducks. It's the first animal she identified by name and she loves to make quacking noises whenever she sees any type of bird. (It probably helps that the kids' bathroom is completely outfitted with a rubber duckie theme, down to a large duck painted on a wall next to the toilet, thanks to the previous owners of our house. They were even kind enough to leave all the accessories, from the garbage can to the Kleenex holder.)

I thought it would be really cute if Sam went as a turtle (from last year, since it still mostly fits) and Sadie was a duck. It would be like our own little set of pond creatures.

However, when I ran this by Sam, he informed he had already decided to be Batman.

Darn.

I did make a slight attempt to find a Batman costume. And by "slight attempt" I mean I looked at Target once as I passed the Halloween aisle with Sadie in the cart as she was trying to escape since I was dumb enough to let her ride in the "big part" of the cart like Sam usually gets to since Sam was at preschool and she somehow fooled my into believing she would actually sit down the entire time and I was feeling bad for her since Sam was having a grand time at school while she was running errands with me.

I also looked one day at TJ Maxx but they only had Batmans in sizes way too big. I called home (where Sam was with Joe) from there to offer him a couple other choices (astronaut and shark), but when he heard there was no Batman in his size he said, "I'll just be a turtle."

Sweet!

Then the note came home from preschool about the Halloween parade and the fact that there were no costumes with masks allowed, so Batman was out anyway.

So I tried not to feel too guilty about not really coming through on the Batman thing.

I considered buying a Batman for him to wear trick-or-treating (and just wear the turtle for preschool), but could not bring myself to spend $20 when he had willingly agreed to wear a costume we already had.

But then the guilt set in.

And while discussing it with the world's best best friend (who happens to be a school counselor and has a stash of random Halloweeen costumes for elementary kids who might not have one), the aforementioned world's best best friend just happened to think that maybe she had a Batman costume stored away in a box in her basement.

And she looked.

And she was right.

So today Sam got a package in the mail.

It's a little bit big, but it will be fine.

Actually, it will be more than fine.

Sam's exact words when he opened it today were "Mom, I love it."

Here he is as a turtle (for our neighborhood get together today - this was before his package arrived).

So I did get my set of pond creatures, at least for a day or two.


And on Saturday you'll see the duck with her brave protector, Batman.

The Pack-and-Play is packed away

And I may never shower again.

Or I guess I will have to join the rest of the world of responsible adults and actually get out of bed before my children do.

Sadie gets into everything. And until last week, my solution to her not getting into every book on my bookshelf and drawer in my nightstand and calling who knows where on the telephone and fighting with her brother during my shower was to put her in the pack and play with some toys while Sam sat on my bed and watched TV.

And then last week, after my shower while I was ironing a shirt to wear, she did it.

She hoisted herself up onto the side rail, looked at me, said "out", and flipped herself over to the other side (with a really big grin on her face).

I hoped she only did it because I was 2 feet away and could catch her should she fall. I tried to convince myself she really wasn't brave enough to try it while I wasn't watching.

And then Joe was home the last of rest week (due to kidney stone blasting) and he was available to play with kids while I showered.

I actually had kind of forgotten about her little accomplishment when I showered yesterday.

Until I opened up the shower door and was greeted by my smiling daughter, "Hi, Mom!"

And so the pack-and-play has been packed away.

I guess I'll set my alarm for the morning.

Ugh.

My little pumpkins

Even though I think they conspire against me to never both look at the camera and smile at the same time, I still think they are wonderful.....

The end (at least for now)

Tonight was our last post-placement visit for Sadie with our social worker. Not that the visits are that difficult, but it's just nice to be done with someone checking in on you. I realized tonight that we had our first home study visit pre-Sam in March 2005 and have had somewhere around 17 visits in the last 4 and a half years.

Before the first visit, I spent days cleaning the house, Joe contemplated hiding any R-rated movies he happened to have in case they would somehow disqualify us from being approved, and I even baked brownies and offered the social worker about 6 different choices of something to drink.

Before this last visit.....not quite the same. The speech therapist was on her way out the door as the social worker came in, Joe was slightly doped up on Vicodin post-kidney stone blasting, and the cleaning effort consisted of wiping off the toilet seat really quickly with a bleach wipe.

The closest thing to a brownie was a tootsie roll I might have had in the bottom of my purse that was still sitting in the mini-van.

And I didn't even offer her a glass of water.

I'm assuming we still passed.

Our little theologian

Sam, ever since seeing some Transformers on a t-shirt, has been slightly obsessed with wanting to watch the movie Transformers. We, of course, have told him no, citing the reason that is is much too scary for 3-year-olds. He thought he found a way around that defense this morning.

Sam: Mom! I can watch Transformers! I won't be scared, 'cause God is always with me.
Me: Oh really?
Sam: Yes. I can watch it.
Me: Well, even if you won't get scared, there are things in the movie that are not appropriate for little kids.
Sam: Oh. Does God want to watch it?
Me: I don't know, Sam.
Sam: Does God like Transformers?
Me: I don't think he probably watches it.
Sam: Well, he doesn't have to be scared. Jesus is always with him!

And then Sam wanted to go outside (and it's still a little chilly out there this morning, never mind the fact that we were all still in our pajamas).

Sam: Mom, I'll go check the weather. (He sticks his head out the back door.) It's a little bit warm and a little bit chilly. We'll be ok with our coats on.
Me: It's still a little chilly. Let's wait until later.
Sam: It's okay, Mom. God is always with us. You don't have to be cold. It's just the wind that God made.

He DOES have hands!

Sam has been asking a lot of questions about heaven and God lately.

At lunch on Tuesday, amidst discussion of whether the chicken nugget he was eating was shaped like a shark or a whale, he randomly asked, "Mom, are there trees in heaven?"

"I don't know honey. Probably not."

"Is there food in heaven?"

"Yes, I'm sure there is food in heaven."

"And I'm sure there are toys in heaven. And books, too," he chimed in.

That was followed up with "Does God have hands?"

I tried to explain that God isn't exactly like a person, so he probably doesn't have hands like we do. Then my dad happened to call, so I let Sam ask him, and I believe he got quite an exposition on God being a spirit. I asked Sam if he wanted to ask Papa the rest of his questions, and he said "Maybe tomorrow."

I guess one explanation a day from a pastor is enough.

The next day in preschool I knew they had learned a new song because Sam was very excited to tell me, "Mom, God does have hands. He's got the whole world in them!"

Happy Sadie Day!

One year ago today, we had the joy of meeting our daughter for the first time. So, today we celebrate Sadie Day!
It's hard to believe it has been a year. It doesn't seem that long ago, yet at the same time it is hard to remember life before her.

We give thanks for her birthparents who gave her life, the nannies at the orphanage who cared for her, the volunteers who performed her first surgery and comforted her in the days after, and the foster family who loved her. We also are so grateful for the mission group Love Without Boundaries that provided so much for her orphanage through nutrition, medical, and foster care programs.

And most of all, we give thanks for God for bringing us together. She needed a family, and he placed in our hearts a love for a little girl halfway around the world.

What a smile!

Just try to ignore Sadie's foot randomly peeking in from the side.

A little too quiet

Again. At least it didn't involve toothpaste this time.

A reunion

Two weekends ago we had a family reunion on the Ericson side. I can't remember the last time all the cousins were in the same place at the same time - probably at my grandma's funeral. It was wonderful to have us all together, and Sam and Sadie enjoyed getting to spend time with so many people that love them!

Here a few photos - mostly of the kids. For those of you relatives reading this, I'll post my other pictures to Uncle Rich's picasa album....

Sam and Aunt Winnie having fun with Tinker Toys.
Carl with my kids.
The kids (minus Ginny) jumping? on the bed. Who allowed them to do that?
The little kids (and Grandma) table
Sam and Ellie posing on the steps.
Sam and Ellie "cleaning off" the deck, which they actually eventually accomplished.
Sam and Ellie going on a walk with their walking sticks.
Glad to have an engineer in the family to build some really cool stuff.

Mr. Wiggles

Sam wiggles so much - especially when trying to sit and eat a meal - that my mom often calls him Mr. Wiggles. He usually falls off his chair at least once a day, if not once a meal (and then pops right back up to take another bite).

The teacher in me foresees a lot of little sticker charts in his future, so I have been trying to get him to at least make an attempt at sitting still lately. Today I asked him, "Sam, could you sit still just long enough to eat? Why do you wiggle so much?"

His response: "That's just the way God made me."

Hard to argue with that.

Too many questions

Today on the way home from preschool, I asked Sam about his morning.
Did you have a good day at preschool?
Yep.
What did you do?
Played.
Who did you play with?
I don't know.
Did you paint?
No.
Did you play computer?
No.
What did you do?
I'm tired of telling you about preschool, Mom.

I guess at least I didn't get the "nothing" response.....yet.

The dreaded vegetable

For the past 8 months, Sam has claimed to not like carrots. Every time I put one on his plate, he is quick to remind me that he believes they are not edible. He has even gone so far as to gag on them when trying to get one down with a big swig of chocolate milk (his dad's preferred method of consuming "icky" veggies).

Tonight I made a pot roast in the crock pot with potatoes and the dreaded vegetable. I put a little bit of everything on the kids' plates and went back over to the counter to get my own plate ready. While I was over there, Sam asked "Mom, what is this?" I responded with a general "pot roast" without even turning to look what he was asking about.

Then I walked over to the table and saw him putting a carrot in his mouth.

Voluntarily.

And apparently, it was at least the second one of the night.

"Mom, what is this? I like it."

"Really?"

"But it looks like a carrot."

"Oh. It's pot roast vegetables." (I wasn't going to ruin a good thing!)

After he had finished all the carrots on the plate, I did inform him that they didn't just look like carrots, they were carrots. I expected some not-so-pleasant comments from him.

"Oh! I like carrots now! I'm big enough to like carrots!"

Last week. Or maybe it was the week before that....

...I seem to be losing track of time lately. How did it get to be October?

So, I guess it was about two weeks ago. We made a quick trip to Muscatine to visit our old playgroup friends and see a friend from high school that was passing through town with his son from Ethiopia that we hadn't met yet. They were in the process of moving from Texas to South Dakota, and we thought we had better take the opportunity to meet their son (and see the adults too!) while they were only a couple hours away.

Wednesday night we did my friend's pumpkin patch with playgroup. Follow this link to see what the kids looked like last year when we stopped in mid-October right before we went to China.

How did they all get so big? (We are missing two from last year - Trey and Magnus moved to MO.)
The boys in the hay maze.
The boys playing beanbags.
Sadie digging in the corn. She played here for a l-o-n-g time.
Parachute time!
Eli (and Shawna) giving Sadie a ride.
And Thursday morning we got to meet Isaiah!

My daddy's a fighter pilot!
Apparently Sadie would like to be one too! (Sam would not let us get it on him, though.)
The kids on the couch.