It's been quite awhile since the last update. Halloween went off without a hitch. We began trick or treating at about 6:00 p.m. and didn't stop until 8:30 p.m. (despite a steady drizzle of rain for the last hour). Ethan was dressed as the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz and Liz was Dorothy. Ethan had boundless energy as long as he was getting loot. Elizabeth was in the stoller getting pushed by Daddy so she was happy. After it was all over, both kids had about 20 pounds of candy each! Amy and I had to go through and purge some of it to save the kids' teeth and dad's waistline. That Sunday, we put the Halloween decorations away. Ethan took it in stride, and asked when we could get the Christmas decor out. Of course, I used Ethan as an excuse to get the Xmas gear out of storage. The second weekend in November we put up the trees, stockings, and various Xmas decorations. The kids loved it and were a lot of help! The next weekend, I put the Christmas lights on the house and broke out the deer and decorated the Choke Cherry tree in the front yard. Ethan seems to have completed the transition from Halloween to Xmas; however, he did keep his "witch that takes her head off" and "skull globe" out.
Elizabeth turned two years old last week. She has started to sing her ABC's and argue with us in complete sentences. Needless to say, she's progessing very well. Amy and I gave her her presents on her actual birthday (Tuesday te 18th). She got a fisher price cash register, Elmo laptop, and a shopping cart. The fisher price cash register was the hit of the presents and she and Ethan spent a fair amount of time arguing over who gets to play with it. Ethan was understanding the fact that all of these toys belong to Liz and he has to wait until she is finished with them or shares them with her. He's used to dominating the use of the toys. He's getting a lot better. This past weekend we had a party for Liz, Ryan, Shannon and Jaycie were able to attend all the way from the snowy north. The kids loved playing with their cousin. Liz got a new Elmo DVD, Elmo slippers, Snoopy, and an Elmo bucket. She also got an Alaska activity book and Alaska socks.
This week will be a busy one between duck hunting, Thanksgiving, shopping, and parties...stay tuned!
