Halloween Happenings at Preschool

Ryan celebrated Halloween at Preschool on Thursday with Costume Day. I went back to work on Tuesday and the celebration was on Thursday - go figure! But Grandma was there to take some pictures for us.

Here's Ryan's class. There are 19 kids, 14 boys & 5 girls, and 2 teachers. Ryan is Buzz Lightyear in the upper lefthand corner (purple hood, green/white costume).


Ryan was the designated 'Snack Helper' that day, so he got to lead the costume parade! Here he is with Ms. Janet, leading the show. And by the way, he took Teddy Grahms for snack.
There's another Ryan in his class. Ryan Murr told me that Ryan H was the street cleaner in the parade (aka the last one in line), but this is yet to be confirmed.

Potty Training 101

When we announced that we were having a baby, everyone had lots of advice for us.....
"Get your sleep now, you'll need it later." "College is expensive, better start saving."

But no one warned us about potty training! It is definitely the most frustrating task we've attempted as parents. So after 3 months of hard work, I think our efforts deserve an entry on the blog. Ryan has an occasional accident, but overall he's doing AWESOME....big boy underwear everyday and "Mom, I went potty!" is music to my ears.

I think 2 things contributed to his success: 1) Potty Training Boot Camp. Diapers today, gone tomorrow. Mr. Stubborn wouldn't have given them up without some encouragement from us. 2) The "Poop on the Potty Treat Basket". Ryan picked out all the prizes and each time he went poop on the potty, he got a prize. After awhile, he was trying to go poop 4-5 times a day. Several times, he called from the bathroom, "Mom, my poops are stuck!"

Thanks to everyone who gave us advice. We're now pros and can offer consulting services.

[Dear Ryan, I know someday you'll be upset that I posted these pics, but I couldn't resist. You're doing a great job, keep up the good work! Love, Mom]

ISU Homecoming

Go you Redbirds, on to battle, fight for ISU....

We enjoyed a beautiful day in Normal for ISU's Homecoming with Dee, Austin, the Kellers and Uncle Chris. Parade, lunch at Lunkers and football...we were all pooped at the end of the day. But Ryan had lots of fun playing with his buddy, Austin.

Reggie and the Victory Bell in the parade. Check out the fancy new apartments in the background. They didn't have those when we were there.

Jason was soo excited because we didn't know that we were gonna see the Stanley Cup! Apparently two guys associated with the 'Hawks are ISU grads. The cup is riding on the back of this VW.

Sharing some popcorn!

More popcorn!

Halloween Baking

Maternity leave is sooo much fun because we had lots of time to play with the cousins! Angie was brave and invited Ryan & Brandon over to bake Halloween cookies. With 100 cookie cutters to choose from, we ended up with lots of other cookies too...trains, hearts, dogs and more!

They tasted great!

Ryan was quite ambitious with the chocolate sprinkles!

Halloween Happenings

We made our annual trek to Kuipers in Maple Park for some autumn fun. Ryan enjoyed playing in the corn box with the trucks, playing in the train park, and riding the hay wagon to the pumpkin patch where he picked out a pumpkin for himself and Brandon.

Before we went, I asked Ryan if he would pick out a tall, skinny pumpkin or a short, fat pumpkin. He told me he would pick a tall, fat, skinny, short pumpkin.

Folks south of 80 don't wash their pumpkins, but apparently it's the thing to do in the suburbs!