Happy Halloween!

Cate and Timmy went out trick-or-treating together for the first time this afternoon. Cate really got into it after the first house when she realized that candy was involved. She was jumping along the sidewalk saying, "Ok, one more house, baby! Come on guys!" She would pick out candy for herself and for little T.

We picked up pizza for dinner and as kids rang the doorbell, she ran to the door to help Tim hand out candy. She seemed unphased by the costumes and just dropped candy into the big kids' bags. She was VERY wound up after dinner and treated us to a long song and dance routine which I eventually got the video camera out to capture, so I'll have to upload that. Timmy didn't seem to mind wearing his giraffe costume (which was worn by Cate last year) and I think he just loved Halloween because he got to hang out outside and roam around for awhile.

Our baby bumblebee

Baby giraffe

Timmy the teaser...he loves to antagonize her at the moment

Timmy the giraffe, 2010

Cate the giraffe, 2009

First Haircut

I know that many of you are wondering why we haven't bothered to trim Cate's hair up until this point. There are several reasons. Primary among them are that I knew Cate would scream and cry when getting her hair cut (she did), and we made several appointments earlier this fall and she kept napping through them.

So her hair is a cute little bob (although I told the woman that I really wanted it longer than a bob). I think it really looks cute though and Cate likes to admire herself in the mirror. We went to a place that specialized in cutting children's hair but the woman who cut Cate's hair did not have much patience for her crying. I'm not sure we'll be going back there, but I'm glad that her hair looks nice and neat.

So, How is it?

I think that the question I am most often asked these days (other than Cate's incessant, "Why, Mama?") is, "So, how is it being at home?" My answer is pretty much always (unless no one napped) that my life is so much better, so much less stressful and that now that Timmy is one, it is really fun to be with them all day.

I've been thinking though that I've been away from work for a few months now and I should really be disciplined about practicing my French, studying, reading, speaking it to Cate and Timmy. The other night, Mrs. Benesh (aka Bee Bee) brought me a box of macaroons from their recent trip to Paris. Seeing the beautiful box made me remember what I love about French culture, French food and speaking the language. So this morning, while Timmy napped and I drank my third giant cup of coffee (not very French), I let Cate choose which one she would like to eat. She chose pink, of course, and we spoke French for a few minutes while she told me how good her "cookie" was.

Vacation

Last week we finally got to go to Florida to see Mimi and Pop's new house. I was nervous about how Cate and Timmy would do on the plane, in a new environment, on a different schedule, but they did great. They slept well at night and during the day and would even sometimes take a very late afternoon nap so that we could go out for dinner and go dancing in the town square (more about that below). We had a great time just hanging out, swimming, shopping, golfing (the boys) and finally catching up with the Celluccis and Edgars. Of course I don't even have a picture of me and Jen and we decided that Bobby and Tim got to spend more time together on the golf course than we did, but we snuck in some hang out and shopping time in between kids' naps.

Cate loved to ride in the golf carts. Timmy was a bit too squirmy to go very far in them though.

I wouldn't say that either of our kids loved the water. Cate talks about the pool like she loves it but they both complain a lot while we're there.

This is Cate's current fake laugh face.

New friends, Timmy and Luke with handsome Jake in the background.

At the dock after lunch

Big Tim, Little Tim

Wrestling is Timmy's new favorite activity. He just lies on his back and waits for someone to come and get him.

At the wildlife sanctuary

Almost every night we would go into town for dinner and then to hear the live music play. Cate LOVED this. As soon as we would get close to the music, she would start dancing on the sidewalk and when we made it to the dance area, she just let loose. She does have skinned up knees from some of her wilder moves, but when you ask her what her favorite thing was on vacation, she immediately says dancing...followed by ice cream cones. In the second tolast picture, the singer from the band came down to sing with Timmy because Timmy was enthusiastically waving his arm in the air (his only real dance move) to the song. I think that the band thought that he was waving to them.