Our Family Potluck/Halloween Party

Here we are at the end of the evening!

Grant with his cousin "Baby Emily" or how he says it, "Baby Emiwee"

cousin Jeremy

Proud new grandparents


Uncle Jerry

Scott posing as Bill Murray from "What about Bob?" and his parents

Dad and Grant

Curious George talking to the Jr. Zookeeper



Grant's first fit of the evening...there were several


Anakin, Jr. Zookeeper

cousin Jessica

Aunt Diney

Aunt Debbie


Our cousins Chris and Jennifer have a family potluck every three months. Well, this one was a potluck and costume party. So, finally Grant's costume arrived in time for the party and for him to dress up on Halloween, too. Now many of you may remember he was a very cute monkey last year, but this year, he decided to be something completely different (or so he thinks is completely different), Curious George. Grant is Curious George.


Here are some fun family photos.

A Harvest Celebration!

Cars lollipop and Magic wand!
The girls and Jennifer
Slide!!!

Jumper
More slide
In line at the slide
Socorro
Grant's favorite

Grant was invited to attend his friends' Socorro and Audry's Harvest Carnival at their school the Friday before Halloween. Okay, we decided to go. The day of the carnival came and Grant was excited!!! I picked him up from school and off we went to meet up with our friends. Well, my friend, Socorro and Audry's mom, was not able to leave work on time...this means I was with the girls and Grant for an hour before she came. At first, it was okay. Then, the troops were growing restless. The deal is....a 3, 4 and 6 year old are not conducive to considering each other's needs, but only look for their own. So, I had to keep going in rotation as to what we did together.

We played all kinds of games. After winning at the game you would get a ticket...if not, well then NO TICKET. Well, at the end of the evening then we could cash in our tickets for some really cool toys (well, at least they were really cool if you are under the age of 10)!!

When my friend Jennifer arrived, we ate dinner and then she and her youngest daughter manned a booth for an hour. So, all in all, I only saw my friend for about thrity minutes. The kids had a great time and my Grantito was tired. He finally won a Lightning McQueen lollipop and Socorro won a magic wand!! But the best discovery of the carnival was the fact that he could go up and down the inflatable slide for as many times as he could...which was about 40 times!!! He was so tired on about the 35th time that he could barely get up the stairs. It was so funny. We had the best time...thanks for inviting us guys!

What do we do with pumpkins?

What do you do with pumpkins? Well, you go out and buy carving tools and carve. So, the family set out to do just that. Grant "carved" (with the help of Mommy and Daddy...or as he calls us "Mama and Dada") a smiling pumpkin face. Then, I carved a cat sitting and Scott carved an alien. Here is how it worked out...not too bad.

Now, I am not sure why, but they didn't last more than four days. Grant's pumpkin looked like it had taken out his dentures and the mouth was caving inward. My cat shrunk and looked like a toothpick sticking up. Scott's alien...well, let's just say we could not identify what it was.

An Epiphany

Well, Grant is so smart...he had an epiphany the other night. We went to a graduation celebration for a former student who just received her BA. Yeah Sarah!!!! Well, as soon as we arrived Grant had to go "potty." So, while in the restroom he asked, "Mom, what that?" (as he pointed to the toilet cleaner. I told him it was a device to keep it smelling good and clean in the restroom. He looked puzzled, so I repeated myself and said, "smell, son, doesn't it smell good." He then told me (in a matter a fact tone), "Mom, women's always smells good, but men's really does not smell good. Women's smell gooder than men's stinky."

So, at a great old age of three, my son (the boy genius) has already figured out an invaluable lesson and that is that a men's public restroom is STINKY. LOL

A List of Words, Phrases, and Funnies...

Grant is a talker...I know this is not a shocker if you know Scott or myself (especially me). I read a friend's blog recently and read the words and phrases that her kids have acquired so far...well, I haven't kept up with that and I need to for the time I finally get around to doing Grant's scrapbook. So, here goes:

Grant's nicknames:
For Mom: Mommy Kanga, Mama, Mommy, Honey (after Scott calls me that)

For Dad: Daddy, Dada, the Man with the Yellow Hat, Kookoochica, Daddy Chica

He loves to call the dogs and cats all kinds of names; Ways for Waylon, Silly Willie for Willie, Lola Kanga for Lola...you get the point

My dad sends Grant money and asks me to buy him things along. So, a lot of times when we are out, I will buy Grant a book or toy or chocolate milk and tell him that Grandpa Bill sent him money to buy this item. The other day, Grant and I were in the store and he wanted a toy. I told him that he didn't need teh toy and he responded, "Grandpa Bill wants me to have it Mommy." ....pretty smart kid


When we pull up to Grandpa and Grandma's house, I ask Grant who lives here. He says, "Grandma lives here and let's Grandpa stay too." Then I ask, "Where does Grandpa live?" He responds, "Mostly at the shop."

He sings songs like, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," "Upside Down," "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Throw It Out the Window," etc.

When he is doing #2...He asks, "Can you leave, I need some privacy." Then, when he needs help cleaning, he yells, "Daddy, I dooonnnne, Dadddddy, I dooonnnne."

Scott asked him today, "Do you want a bean burrito?" Grant says while taking a deep breath, "Oh yes!, and let's eat it at the shop!!!"

We have a game we play with Grant about giving him a surprise if he behaves. It could be as simple as reading an extra book or making jello together (not necessarily a bought item). When you tell him that you have a prizey for him, he will say (with a deep breath for dramatic purposes), "What is it?"

Then a couple of nights ago, Grant decided to play the game with Scott and later me. He will tell us, "I got a surprise for you." "Wanna know what your prizey is?"

Grant use to tell me that I was small, now he can't wait to tell Scott and I that our tummies are too big and we need to exercise. Gee, thanks for the honesty. I've told Scott that he must be working for Weight Watchers.

He knows often tells Scott, "Here Daddy, I got some money for you to go see a concert."

Last but not least (and certainly not the last ever...), when we are out and Grant wants to leave or go home he will say, "Let's go, we need to go home feed the kitties." He is too funny!

Pumpkin Patch, Slides and Carvin'

Well, I was introduced to the CalPoly Pumpkin Patch about three years ago, when our friends, Ryan and Kara, told us about it. We have been going ever since. We were supposed to go, then our weekend became hectic and then two hours opened up. We literally drove to CalPoly, took pictures while picking out our pumpkins, bought our pumpkins, let Grant ride the slide four times and drove back home...1 hour and 56 minutes!!! Yeah, baby.

While at the Pumpkin Patch, we realized that half of the reason anyone goes to these things is simply for the photo opportunity. We hustled into photo shoot mode and Grant...well, he was not so up on the plan. Let's see, Grant's plan went more like this: let's sit in the wagon and let Daddy pull, then let's get out and try to pull,....then, let's throw pumpkins and run around....and lastly, let's ride the slide (a lot)!! We had a great time and two hours was enough for all of us.

Happy Birthday, Kimberly!

Costume contest


Kimberly

Grace and Grant
Boys will be boys!
Baby Eliza
Kimberly
Maya

Grant The AceMan
Isabel
Mirella
Natalia

The girls at work and I share a major common trait....we have 13 kids between us (and I will not even begin to tell you how many animals!).

Anyway, Alex had a great idea for her daughter's second birthday...A Halloween themed party!! So, the kids dressed up and we all had a party. There were a lot of kids (more than just our group) and they played games, jumped in the bounce house and went trick or treating in Alex's neighborhood!

Grant and I sat down on the computer and picked out his costume. We knew we had Kimberly's birthday/costume party, plus another and Halloween. Yes, three times he could wear this costume. He decided on Curious George...I know you are not surprised. He was a monkey last year, but not Curious George. So, he gave up all opportunity to be Lightning McQueen and went with CG. We ordered it on Monday and by Saturday (the day before the party), we came to the realization that his costume was not showing up on time...hmmm. What to do? Well, luckily we had something in his closet that worked. We found a 1980's aviator flight suit (you know, like Top Gun) and put him in it. The aviator suit was found at Scott's Grandpa's house about three years ago. This is the Grandpa that Grant is named after, so it was fitting that he wear it. It looked adorable (as you see above...he is our Maverick).

The kids had a blast and so did the adults. Happy 2nd Birthday Kimberly!!