Geek-o-Lanterns

I didn't carve this pumpkin, but it sure makes me happy that somebody did.

You can check out the rest of the "Geek-o-Lantern" gallery here. Maybe I'll try the Firefox one next year.

Pumpkins

Last night we got together with some friends for a pumpkin-carving party.

Here's Daddy hard at work.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

And here are our masterpieces: Daddy's One-Eyed Jack, Mama's Angular Annie, and Joy's Bucktooth Baby. I like the little one best, probably because its smile reminds me of my own Baby's toothy grin. :)

Trunk or Treat

Since few children live in our apartment complex and fewer still venture into it to trick-or-treat on Halloween, we essentially celebrate that holiday when our ward holds its “Trunk-or-Treat.”

Here we are at the big event yesterday: Mr. Lincoln, a random medieval lady, and Joy the Ladybug.

Some of Joy's friends and their parents had creative, fun costumes. The Couts went for a Wizard of Oz theme (complete with Toto), while the Cullimores were Prom King and Prom Queen 1984. I'm assuming Sophie is the high school's butterfly mascot. (Note: This photo was shamelessly pirated from the Couts' blog. Hope that's OK.)

A Little Help from Daddy

Joy was standing on her tiptoes tonight (with the table for support) . . .

. . . but she still couldn't see much. Fortunately . . .

. . . she has a strong daddy to help her out.

Different Pumpkin Strokes

We spent part of our home evening last night at the local pumpkin patch. I quickly found a pumpkin that said it was mine and asked me to take it home. Who am I to argue with such a well-mannered squash?

Unfortunately, my husband doesn't speak Squash. Since he is an engineer rather than a linguist, his approach to pumpkin selection is to search the entire patch for the most symmetrical gourd. Meanwhile, I took charge of finding a Joy-sized pumpkin, since Baby was busy helping Daddy.

We may have different styles of pumpkin picking, but the important thing is that everyone came home happy. :)

World Turned Upside Down

Every now and then, it's nice to look at the world from a different perspective.

Chip Off the Old Bookshelves

I doubt Joy will learn much about sports or scrapbooking from her parents, but she'll definitely learn one thing:

"Books are Cool."

We've been reading to Joy about hungry caterpillars and pajama-clad hippos since she was brand new. At first she didn't seem to get much out of it, but these days she gets excited when we pull one of her favorites from the shelf. She even turns the pages when silence clues her in that we've finished the ones we're on.

I love books - they've entertained me and taught me so many good things over the years. I'm glad that our little girl is starting to take an interest in them, too.

Sigh - so many books, so little time.

Playing With Our Food

It fell to us to host he play group in our humble abode yesterday. This time we were joined by newborn Landon Wallin, and . . .

. . . by Anna Burbank! Joy was elated to have another girl in attendance.

Everyone say, "I love peas!"

Since Jessica's birthday was a few days ago, we ended the play group early and headed to Souplantation to celebrate. I planned to offer Joy some Cheerios, but she had other ideas. While my back was turned, she leaned over (I always underestimate how far she can reach) and grabbed a big piece of broccoli off my plate. I was about to take it away when I realized, "Wait! My child is eating a cruciferous vegetable of her own accord! Why should I discourage this?" So Baby and Mama contentedly munched our broccoli together. No wonder Joy liked it - that broccoli salad with craisins is the best I've ever had. I actually went back for seconds.

Dry Pool Humor

It's a balmy 62 degrees out, so Joy decided to head out to the pool and work on her tan. She's such a big girl that I told her she could play in the pool on her own . . .

. . . at least until they finish filling it back up with water.* Remember, Joy - no diving allowed.

*Apparently you're supposed to drain and refill a pool every five years or so. Otherwise the water gets hard and the chlorine doesn't work as effectively.

Decisions, Decisions

"Hmmmmm, should I study engineering, or ballet?"

Play Group

Joy and her contemporaries got together pretty regularly before summer, but then our schedules all went crazy and the play group fell by the wayside. Now that things are back to post-vacation normality, we've decided it's high time our kids (and their moms) had a bit more social interaction.

Here Nathan tries to explain the principle of sharing while Paul admires Joy's socks.

We tried to arrange the kids for a group photo, but Matthew and Joy thought we had lined them up for a race instead. Fortunately, Jessica got a nice shot before those two went AWOL.

Incidentally, if anyone else in the area has a baby around this age (they currently range 6-10 months) and would like to join us, let us know. We plan to meet every Tuesday, and we'd love to have you. :)

Duh Mama and Da Tan Phantom

I had a "Duh Mama" moment recently. No, not "Da Mama," which of course is ebonics for "the familial matriarch." I mean "Duh Mama," as in "Good grief, Mom - how did you not see THAT coming?"

It started when we realized that Joy can reach our vertical window blinds from her crib, and she likes to pull them aside and peer out the window a while before laying down for her nap. I thought it would be cute to go outside and get a picture of her. Most of you can see where this is going.

When Joy saw her mama through the window, and realized I didn't plan to come get her, the waterworks instantly switched on and the photo shoot was cut short on account of rain.

After listening to about five minutes of solid crying, Phillip decided that Joy needed a visit from The Tan Phantom. On rare occasions when we need something in the bedroom during naptime, Phillip goes in under our tan blanket so Joy won't recognize Daddy and want to be picked up. The Tan Phantom also helped Joy a few times early in her standing-up career, when she was dead tired but couldn't figure out how to lay down on her own. It's hard to say whether the Phantom's efforts to comfort her had much of an impact this time, but you've got to give him points for trying.

Conference

Happy General Conference Weekend, everyone! We always look forward to the first week of April and October, when we get to hear from the Lord's Prophet and Apostles. It's almost as fun as Christmas, without the stress and waistline expansion.

Here's Joy paying close attention to Elder Hales.

On Saturday we watched the sessions with Phillip's parents . . .

. . . then on Sunday we watched them with mine. It was pretty breezy in Arrowhead this weekend.

That didn't stop us from taking a walk to the playground afterward, though.

Peas

Joy is becoming increasing picky about food - favoring fruits over veggies, rejecting some things if they're not mixed with foods she likes better, etc. Her gastronomical nemesis is peas. I've tried mixing bits of them with other things, but unless the pea ratio is very small she doesn't go for it. It's an uphill battle, with a very steep grade.

Today, as I was strategizing how best to increase my baby's pea intake, I suddenly had an epiphany. I loathe peas. They're one of the only veggies I refuse to cook. They're part of my Food Axis of Evil. So why on earth am I so determined to feed them to another person who probably inherited a genetic prejudice against them?

I thought up a few half-hearted answers, like "She needs variety, and there aren't many green baby veggies to choose from" or "I shouldn't impose my likes and dislikes on her," but frankly they all pale before the cold hard fact that Joy hates peas and her mama doesn't blame her. So I think we'll try green beans and a few mixed vegetable combos to get Joy her green veggies. If she hates those, too . . . well we'll just cross that bridge if we come to it.

(Strained squash cosmetics - they're so hot right now.)

Bon Appetit

Well, I took the plunge and learned how to post recipes on our family website. The pumpkin cookie recipe is there, along with a few other favorites. I plan to add more to the recipe page (and to the site in general) in coming weeks. In the meantime, happy baking and thanks for giving me the push I needed to learn this.