Happy Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Bridget woke up at 7:30 am, and the Great Pumpkin had left her a bag of Halloween treats near her bedroom door. I heard her open the bag and take a peek, but she didn't take the bag with her when she came into our room to wake us up. I asked Bridget if she got a Halloween treat bag, and she said "yes", so I told her to bring it into our room so that she can open it up. 

She was excited to find a few Halloween books, stickers, Play-Doh, a coloring book, 3 small puzzles and a couple of pieces of candy. Of course, she wanted to read the books first. So we read, then did puzzles, then colored. 

I ended up falling asleep on the couch for an hour and a half, and fortunately, Bridget didn't get into any trouble. She continued to play with her stickers, puzzles and coloring. At some point, Shawn came upstairs to check on us, and saw that I fell asleep, so he took her downstairs. When I woke up, they were playing with Play-Doh, and Shawn was constructing a very elaborate Play-Doh pumpkin. 

Next up, lunch time, then we got ready for the Halloween party at Bridget's school. Bridget was excited to see her friends dressed up in their costumes. Her friends were dressed up as Snow White, Cinderella, Prince Charming (ironically, that was the boy who always bites Bridget), Dorothy, and a monkey. They all looked very cute!

So the parents were directed to the parking lot, where everyone brought in treats to pass out to the kids from their trunks. (Trick-or-Trunk) I guess we missed the memo about decorating your trunk, because almost everyone showed up with elaborately decorated trunks. It took about 45 minutes for all of the kids to do their trick-or-treating, and it was fun to see all the different costumes. Shawn took Bridget around to all the cars, while I passed out the candy. 

After that, we headed back home. At first Bridget did not want to go trick or treating on our block. She hung out with me and neighbor Jeanne as we passed out candy to all the children. Once things got a bit busier, Bridget decided to go trick or treating. So Shawn took her up and down our block. When that was done, she continued to help Jeanne and I pass out candy. She really liked running up to the babies in strollers that stayed back by the sidewalk with their moms. She'd give them a lollypop and Play-doh for a treat. The moms liked that too.  Overall, we really weren't that busy, and having Jeanne around to talk to made the time fly. 

Next, Bridget and I quickly stopped by a co-worker's house two blocks over. Unfortunately, she wasn't home, but I got to talk to her husband whom I've never met. He was very nice, and of course, everyone I meet is just so curious about the triplets. So we talked a bit, Bridget jumped in their big pile of leaves (the main reason we stopped by!) and then headed back home. As soon as trick or treating hours were over, we all headed to Grandpa John and Grandma Kathie's house. 

Bridget fell asleep about 20 minutes before we arrived, which was both good and bad. It was good, because she needed the sleep, but it was bad because it wasn't enough sleep, and she was a big crab most of night. She enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and Austin too. I think she had the most fun reading the counting book with Grandma. She showed Grandma how she could count the pictures in the book. Then they spent a lot of time "eating" the candies on the last page of the book. 

When it was time to go, Bridget wanted no part of that. She screamed and shouted all the way to Route 53. Ugh! The funny part of her screaming, was that she'd just scream out one or two words at a time. "My bottle!" cry, cry, cry "Pumpkin!" cry, cry, cry "Candy" scream, scream, scream "Flashlight!" scream, cry, scream "Mama!" cry, cry, cry, "Milk!" over and over, non-stop. Right around Bolingbrook, she finally fell asleep. Whew!

And that was the end of our fun-filled Halloween. Photos posted at My Mobile Me Gallery. The link is on the right. 

A delightful day

Bridget and I have had a delightful day today. Our morning started at the usual time, Bridget and Shawn were up by 7:30 and I waddled out of bed a bit later. We all had some breakfast and Bridget had a popsicle with her breakfast. See, a few days ago, Bridget watched an episode of Sid the Science Kid, and Sid made homemade popsicles out of juice. Last night, Bridget remembered that I said we'd make our own together. So this morning, she wanted to eat her creation. No problem, she had an orange juice popsicle-perfect breakfast food! 

After that, Shawn and Bridget went to the library for Lapsit and to select new books. I used that time to move toys from the toy box to the newly empty living room cabinet. When Bridget came home an hour later, she said she saw Miss Kathy, had lots of fun, picked out new books, and could I read the books to her. 

So we read books. She selected 2 Dr. Seuss books (78 pages each!) and one other shorter book. It took forever to read those books, but Bridget stayed focused on the stories better than I did. After that, she asked if she could watch the Dr. Seuss video she checked out at the library, and I said, "Sure." So she watched The Cat In The Hat. That was just a short video. After the Cat In The Hat, there was some other Dr. Seuss story called "Should I Fly a Jet, Should I Be a Vet" or something along those lines. The whole dialogue was just "should I _____", and various jobs were pronounced. Bridget said she's going to be a teacher, vet, hair brusher, clown, and elephant rider. 

Next was lunch. After lunch we colored some Halloween pictures. Even I colored a picture. It was actually really nice quiet time. Bridget can stay so focused on one task-it's amazing. After coloring, it was mandatory rest time, so I could nap. She stayed in her new room from 1:30-3:30 and was pretty quiet the entire time. She did get out of bed a few times to grab a book or a toy, but most of the time she was resting in her bed. 

Not so surprisingly, at 3:30 she was in pretty good spirits. The rest did her some good. So we finished up more Halloween coloring. Before coloring each picture, she'd say, "This picture is going to be for ___." And she'd then start coloring with that person in mind. "Grandpa's going to like my purple picture." or "Daddy likes pumpkins. I'll color him a pumpkin." She can be so sweet! I must say, her pictures are starting to look pretty good too. She is coloring different objects different colors, and doesn't stop until all the white spaces are colored. Grandpa John got a very special picture...Bridget attempted to write her own name at the bottom of the picture. Most people wouldn't recognize a single letter, but since I saw her as she was writing, I can make out all the letters, except G. She still struggles with G. And her E had about 10 horizontal lines instead of 3. 

Next up, Bridget wanted another juice popsicle. Ok, great, it was past afternoon snack time anyway. This time she had an apple juice popsicle. After that, but before dinner, Bridget played on her own. She spent a long time playing Connect Four by herself. She would just put the checkers in the slots and make designs. Then dump them out and start all over. She accidentally made the letter "L" with the checkers, and she thought that was really cool. Then she played a game where she put a little snack bowl on the floor, and tried to drop checkers into the bowl while standing over the bowl. Then she made up a game where she shot the checkers out from between her fingers by pinching her fingers together. They'd go flying across the living room and she was so proud that she could do that. 

Finally, dinnertime. After dinner, Bridget cleaned up her toys in the living room, then Bridget and I watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Shawn finally made an appearance to read a bedtime story and tuck her into bed for the night.  It's 8:30, and I think I'm going to bed for the night too. I'm exhausted. 

Here's a short video of Bridget's focus while coloring.

The end result. 

More photos from today are in My Mobile Me Gallery.

The New Bedroom

Bridget's room is a-l-m-o-s-t complete. Shawn had me help him install the ceiling light fixture and put on the outlet covers, and help him haul all the furniture into her room---nah! Just kidding! He did all that stuff by himself. He was a busy little bee this weekend. What is not done just yet are the baseboards, moving her clothes into her closet and dresser, ordering the new blinds, and some small finishing touches, like what toys are going in her room and what is staying in the living room. 

We were both surprised by the amount of space left in the room after getting all the furniture in. There should be no problem having the 3 girls eventually sharing that room. Next step is to put the finishing touches on the nursery. The crib needs to be set up, and clothes moved into the dressers, and the closet needs to be cleaned out, because I don't even know what's in that closet anymore. 

So what did we do today? A few days ago, Bridget saw a commercial for Grands biscuits and she said, "Mama, could we make those together or something?" ("or something" is her new catch phrase. She adds it to all of her sentences now.) I said, "Sure." so today was Grands biscuits day. In fact, it was yummy real breakfast day. I started making bacon and sausage. When I got tired of standing on my feet, Shawn took over and finished up the meat and made some scrambled eggs. He also put the biscuits in the oven too. We each had our favorite juices: Bridget had apple juice. I had orange juice, and Shawn had orange-strawberry-banana juice. It was nice. We've been in a cereal rut lately.  

Funny Bridget quote. Shawn gave me a piece of sausage, and I said, "No thanks, I don't want any sausage." Shawn said, "Why?" I said, "Because it looks a bit underdone, and I don't want to take any chances." Bridget said, "Why, Mama? Why don't you want sausage?" I said, "Because it could make the babies sick if I eat it." Bridget said, "Why? Will they choke and die, or something?" Ah, kids!

After breakfast was when Shawn finished up the ceiling light, outlet covers, hung some signs on the wall, moved the bookshelf, moved the books onto the shelves, moved her kitchen and dollhouse in. Bridget helped out a little too. After everything was moved, Bridget must have spent an hour or two just playing and reading in her room. It was kind of nice! We're trying to teach her that if she takes a book off the shelf, she needs to put it back. She is responsible for keeping her room clean, which means no toys on the floor. So far so good. Sure, she needs some reminding, but she's not complaining YET. 

Since we had a big breakfast, no one was hungry for lunch, so we just had an afternoon snack of cheese, crackers and grapes. Everyone was doing their own thing for awhile after that. Then we went to Target to buy a lamp shade for Bridget's big-girl lamp. Bridget fell asleep in the car, and somehow Shawn managed to get her into Target in the wind-storm and she didn't wake up. So we brought a blanket in with us, and let her sleep in the shopping cart. She probably slept for another half hour or 45 minutes while Shawn and I selected a lamp shade, and bought a couple Christmas presents. 

After Target, we had some dinner, then Bridget and I put the lamp together. She played with a white board and dry erase marker, and got black marker over her brand new white polo shirt. (That's not coming out!) Then it's rub-a-dub-dub, Bridget in a tub, and off to bed with her. Overall, a very busy but very productive weekend in the Morris house. 

Be sure to check out Tina's blog to see what Kaitlyn and Bridget did during their sleepover this weekend. Very cute, Auntie Tina!

A Kid-Free Day & Night

Ok, so we don't get a lot of kid-free days and nights, and I'm positive we won't be having kid-free nights once the triplets arrive, so I guess we should enjoy it.  Shawn drove Bridget to Tina's house at 8:45 am this morning. Dave, Kaitlyn and Bridget were going to a Halloween party event thing through the Bolingbrook park district. I'm sure they all had a blast. 

I really didn't do much throughout the morning and early afternoon. I watched the Today show for awhile. I took a shower. I did all things computer related. I took an hour and a half nap. I ate lunch. During this same time period, Shawn and Dad installed the laminate flooring in Bridget's new room. 

After lunch, I drove up to Plainfield High School for a visit. I've been meaning to visit for quite some time now, and I figured I'd be pressing my luck if I waited much longer. I got to school about a half hour before school was dismissed in order to get a decent parking spot before the busses blocked everything. That also gave me a half hour to waddle my way up to the second floor Math office. It was so nice seeing co-workers again! Even people that I don't usually talk to on a regular basis, stopped to say hi and see how I was doing. It's really a great place to work! I miss it a lot. So I talked to two hall monitors, a secretary, the copy clerk (all the most important people in a school setting) and all the Math teachers. I ran into 3 former students as well.  Again, it was very nice catching up with friends and just being in a school setting. I miss the students, I miss the familiar smell of the hallways (I'm not saying its a nice smell!), I miss living life according to bells and I miss doing math daily.

When I got back home, Shawn and Dad were still working on the flooring. They should be done by 6 pm. There were a few snags along the way, but they got through it, and the floor looks really nice. 

Don't know what we're going to do with the rest of our kid-free evening, but I'd like to go to dinner and a movie. Or dinner and a trip to the grocery store. Shawn wants to finish the baseboards so that they can be installed tomorrow. My oh my how life has changed. Before kids, we would have spent a day like today probably driving hours just to go to some mall we've never been to. Then we'd spend the rest of the day exploring whatever seemed interesting in whatever town we ended up in. Now, we get a "day off" and we're wanting to go grocery shopping or get house work done. 

Will update more later.

So we went to dinner at Max & Erma's because I had a coupon. They have a really good pretzel bread appetizer, so we ordered that along with our drinks. When the waitress came back, the gave me my drink and Shawn a beer. Shawn was like, "I ordered the same as her." the waitress thought he said, "I'll have the Sam (Adams)." No big deal, the waitress came back with the right drink quickly. Next comes our meal. Poor Shawn...he ordered fish and chips and his fish was WAY overdone. It looked gross! When the waitress came by and asked if he wanted another order or anything else, Shawn refused. He was full off of the appetizer and his fries. A few minutes later, the manager comes by to appologize, and she took Shawn's meal and the appetizer off of our bill. I felt bad for Shawn, he worked hard all day and he didn't even end up with a good dinner. Anyway, since so much money was taken off of our bill, I couldn't even use the coupon. 

After dinner, we headed to Dominick's to do a little grocery shopping. It was nice because it was rainy, it was Friday night, and NO ONE was in the store. So we made it home safely after the store. We watched a bit of tv and headed off to bed.