Halloween Party
Year: 2011
Happy Halloween
We had a Halloween party to go to at our friend’s house, and decided to take Owen with us for a little bit! He wasn’t thrilled about putting his costume on…until we told him we couldn’t go on a car ride (his favorite!) until he had it on. Then he was very interested in putting it on! When I was drawing on his nose and whiskers with a makeup brush, he kept saying “Tickles! Tickles!” 🙂
And then at the party…
Octagons aplenty!
So Tom was changing Owen’s diaper in his play room, when Owen gets excited and says OCTAGON! Tom looked around wondering what on earth Owen was seeing (from laying down on the changing table) that looked like an octagon…?? He called me in and we’re both looking, as Owen keeps saying “Octagon! Octagon!”
He was referring to the tray ceiling. 88|
Then when we were eating breakfast, he looked up and again said “Octagon!” Yep, the tray ceiling in the dining room.
Later that day he noticed the one in our bedroom, too (even though it isn’t as noticaable because it’s not painted and it’s oblong).
What a smart whippersnapper.
Sucker!
Ticklefest!
You may want to turn DOWN your volume…the little boy gets loud!
Bath time!
Credit card fraud, UPDATE.
On August 22 I posted about the credit card fraud we experienced with Discover. Since then, I’ve been patiently awaiting the results of the investigation resolution to hopefully find out who did it or how they did it or what happened to them—or anything.
Guess what I got?
A form letter saying the investigation was closed. That’s it.
I called and all they could tell me was they withheld paying the company (where the $700+ was charged) and it was up to that company to investigate to recoup their losses. And they apparently never did anything so that was it.
I wanted more, obviously. I guess I should be happy they took care of it immediately—that part was super easy—but I was ticked. I’ve never had this happen before so I guess I didn’t really know what to expect.
I just expected more.
😡
So damn cute.
After I put Bella in the carrier this morning, Owen immediately saw her and said “Oh no! Cat stuck in a cage! Help!”
Slide climbing!
Lovely. My new iPhone4S has a crazy bug.
I can’t rotate any of my new iPhone4S pics once they’re offloaded to my computer. They appear fine on the phone, but aren’t rotated correctly once they come off. Interestingly, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which are not rotated (I thought it might be all photos taken from the front-facing camera, but that’s not the case). If I try to rotate them using Win7’s built-in Rotate feature, I get this:
They are NOT read only. It does NOT happen with iPhone4 photos (which I have been using for the past year)—just 4S. I shut down iTunes and they still wouldn’t rotate. A reboot did nothing. If I Preview it and try to rotate it, I get this:
Which leads to no Help information. 🙄
BUT!! If I open it directly into Photoshop, it opens with the correct rotation, at which point I just save it and then the thumbnail is correctly rotated.
I have a TON of friends with the new iPhone so we can compare stories…and only one other person has commented on the same problem. I can’t believe we’re the only two this is happening to… Anyone? Anyone?
I’ve submitted Feedback to Apple with the bug, but of course I don’t hold out much hope for a fix unless thousands of other people are submitting the same bug without actually Twittering or Facebooking about it.
A new play area…
Before hitting the golf course down at the end of our dead-end street…he had to get his feet wet! I think it’s physically impossible for a little boy to skip a mud puddle. 🙂
Just chattering away…
Running running running running running…
He loved (LOVED!) the flag.
And then back to the splashing…
And then home to play in his own water. This is him dragging his sprinkler to the edge of the driveway so it makes a waterfall. 🙂
First time feeding ducks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1c4TdVfc7U
Just down the street at the golf course is a pond where ducks and geese hang out. We finally made it down there with some bread…
Owen mugging for the camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQBkNx2oZbQ
It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these, so here you go…
Freak occurrence or the start of the terrible threes?
So in our normal morning routine, I was in my bedroom doing stuff and Owen was running hither and yon playing and hiding and whatnot. He was gone for a little while but I don’t worry because I can usually still hear him.
So he comes in the room holding out his hand and saying “STINKY!” And I look and—yep, poop. Smeared all over his hand. UGH! The little bugger had stuck his hand down his dirty diaper! (I had actually been a little worried about this the past few days, as I had noticed him with his hand down there…but then I thought “Why would he do that? He’s NEVER done that!” and then kinda forgot about it. Until today.)
So I marched him into his room (making sure to take him by the wrist so he couldn’t touch anything) and wiped him down, changed his diaper, and changed his clothes. Thankfully none had made it outside the diaper…yes, I thanked my lucky stars…and he just kept saying STINKY! and POOP IN THE TOILET! (which is what he always says when he poops—he knows that’s where it goes but he doesn’t care about actually getting it there). Then we went and washed our hands in the sink.
Please keep your fingers crossed that this was a freak occurrence. PLEASE.
MSU’s good luck charm!
Yes, Owen has to wear this every game day. 🙂
He just LOVES driving with daddy!
Since the weather was gorgeous and Owen hadn’t played outside yet, we surprised Tom by meeting him down at the entrance to the subdivision (which meant a half-mile walk to get there). Which then meant Owen could do something he loves…
So that’s where he left them!
Owen’s Personalized Train
So back in Michigan, I took advantage of a deal (Groupon or Living Social or something) for wall art for Owen’s room. They had lots of cool stuff, but since they were a fairly new company, they were offering personalization services for free—so I took advantage and had them design Owen’s name into a train. They actually emailed me three samples, I combined them into something else, and that’s what I ordered. We knew we’d wait until we were moved into the next house before we put it up…and it happened to be our old house in North Carolina. We had originally planned to put it in his bedroom, but there just wasn’t room once we got everything set up…so we decided to put it in his playroom…and he LOVES it. When he saw it, he was so excited—saying CABOOSE! CABOOSE! and then saying the letters of his name!
Fall coat –> Winter coat
Yay! Owen’s 3T coat still fits him. Bonus that it was a fall coat in Michigan and will now be a winter coat in North Carolina.
The Not So Great Pumpkin Hunt
I figured Owen was old enough this year to go pick out his own pumpkin, so off we went.
This was about as close as he got to any of them.
And this is where he wanted to stand.
So it was a complete bust. Again. I can’t wait until he enjoys these type of things…because it bums me out when I plan cool things and he could care less.
Smartypants.
Backstory: 1) Owen generally wants us to start a new show before the first one is even done. He knows when it’s ending and says “More rocket!” or whatever show it is that he wants. 2) Tom gets up with Owen on the weekends so I can sleep in (which really just means wake up around my normal time, but leisurely, without having to get Owen, change the diaper, etc.).
So this morning I was up (7:30) just laying there waking up, when I hear our bedroom door open and I figure it’s Tom. Nope, I hear “More rocket! More rocket!”
I was still a bit groggy so tried to get Owen to climb in our bed to watch. “NOOOOOO!!! More rocket!” And he was very adamant. He came over and took my finger and pulled me out of bed and dragged me down the hall—all while I was wondering where Tom was that he wasn’t able to stop Owen.
Yeah, he was downstairs getting Owen his snack. And had only been gone a minute or to. But Owen was smart enough to figure where I was and knew I could get him what he wanted so he wouldn’t have to wait for Tom to get back.
Stinker.
Best haircut experience yet!
Well, aside from his very first salon haircut when he had no idea what was going on so he couldn’t be freaked out…
He was getting quite scraggly and ragamuffin (see his recent “birthday month” photo) so we knew it was time. We postpone as long as we can because we know he hates it and throws a tantrum and it’s just. not. fun.
We tried a new place (again) and surprise surprise surprise—aside from an initial 20-second tantrum where he did NOT want to sit on my lap (so Tom and I switched) he was fine. Don’t get me wrong—he wasn’t exactly happy about any of it—but he sat pretty still and tilted his head as requested. She was even able to cut cleanly around his ears with scissors! And cut his bangs twice (I requested them a little shorter, and since he was pretty much cooperating, we went for it)! Then he was super excited to pick a toy from the drawer…because there was a car in there! Oh, happy boy.
This is him at our next stop—the farmers market.
Hiding! Smile!
This is Owen’s favorite place to hide in the back yard. And he’s actually more hidden in this picture than he usually is—he normally just holds one twig in front of his face.
If you tell Owen to smile, this is still the smile you get!
He’ll play anywhere!
Wagon fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1g-xRU2ZwY
He still loves his wagon! Thank you, Grannie Lin and Papa!
Trapped…and giggly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XawvUirvpt4
Sometimes he says he’s hiding, sometimes he says he’s under, and today he said he was trapped!
Texas Roadhouse Insanity
Dear Texas Roadhouse:
We were looking forward to dining with you tonight because 1) it was Tuesday which means free kids meal, 2) we had a free appetizer coupon for my birthday, and 3) we lucked out in getting there before 6 to take advantage of your early dinner specials. Unfortunately, however, we couldn’t take advantage of all three of those at the same time, which I find very disappointing.
At first we were told we couldn’t use both the free app coupon and the free kids meal—I guess because it falls under the coupon policy of “not good with any other deal” but I think that’s crazy—your in-store all-the-time deal of kids eat free shouldn’t be counted as a deal or special. But, fine, whatever.
Then we got our bill and noticed that only one of our before-6-special-price meals rang up correctly. Come to find out, we were told NEITHER should have rung up with the special price…due to the free app coupon being used. Wait, what? Again, ridiculous in my opinion. We did talk to a manager who took the bill back and after 10 minutes finagled it with two separate $1 line item credits to make my dinner the correct price and she did give us a coupon for a free appetizer for the trouble… but honestly, I’m not sure I’ll even bother using it. We always eat with our son on Tuesdays and we usually take advantage of the early dinner meal deal, so heaven forbid I try to use a free app coupon again and face the same insanity.
We love your restaurant and go at least twice a month (partially because we love the food but partially because of the great deals you offer), and I find it hard to believe that you have such strict rules on using coupons with in-house offers. I can see not allowing two free app coupons on the same ticket (or even at the same table), but not allowing ANY other specials because you used a coupon? I’d like you to reconsider your process of handling this issue. I felt ridiculous complaining about a small amount of money, but it was more the principle of the thing.
Sincerely,
A Regular Customer for Many Years,
I wonder if I will hear anything back from them…
At daddy’s softball game!
Well, actually it was softball… Tom called to tell me he was in a pickup softball game if we wanted to come. It was a gorgeous day and Owen was up from his nap, so off we went. And Owen was REALLY excited about the whole thing—he just kept hopping around saying BASEBALL! BASEBALL! BASEBALL! and was ever MORE excited when someone handed him an actual softball to carry around! Of course I didn’t capture the best parts, but I did get some to give you an idea.
And then running the bases with daddy after the game!
Family cuddle time!
Do parents not teach school fundraising etiquette?
I hate school fundraisers because it’s always overpriced crap…but if a kid comes to my door, is polite, introduces themselves [and tells me if they’re a neighbor/on my street if they don’t already know me], tells me what they’re selling and what the money goes toward, I WILL buy something.
But these kids who ring the bell and just say “I’m selling stuff for school. Do you want anything?” and then just stand there waiting? Or see me sitting on the porch and yell from the road “Wanna buy some cookie dough?” Sorry, not gonna happen.
Do parents not coach their kids at all on this stuff?
I certainly hope by the time Owen is school-age, they will just take a monetary donation so we can skip the selling nightmares. But if they don’t, you can be damn sure he’ll be polite and knowledgeable about what he’s selling.