Sassy Halloween

Swiper the fox--you can't see his tail, but it was pretty awesome.

She's a maniac on the floor. Actually, she's an 80's aerobics instructor.

The Farmstead--Preschool Style

Sam's preschool group went to the pumpkin patch for a field trip. It was, by far, the best patch I've found for kids under the age of 5. For $4 per child (adults free), they get: a hayride to the patch and a pumpkin, duck races, corn box (like a sand box), jumping tarp thingy, hay maze, musicians, petting zoo, bike races, cow train, etc.

Sam's preschool group.

Noelle's pumpkin.

The cow train. Noelle chose "Duke" and Sam chose "Daisy".

They had these cart races and a track made with tires. Sam couldn't wait his turn.

Birth Mom Letter

In an effort to conserve space for our birth mother letter, I have decided to write it in text message format, let me know what you think:

Dear BM,
OMG! We r so glad 2 have u read this ltr. We hope urt1 and hope that uraqt. LOL! We'd luv nothA bb. Let's have a 121. We will b so ktu.

L8r,
Chad and Amber

Bluestep, Why Are You So Gay?

Dear Everybody. I have been tirelessly working on our darn adoption paperwork. It has taken me almost 6 months. The VERY LAST piece of paperwork we have left is the birth parent letter. What is Bluestep and why do I hate it so much? I'll tell you. Bluestep is the new and apparently "improved" system to do your paperwork online. Hmm. Let's see. I used to be able to complete said paperwork in 3 months. You do the math. Then, there's the restrictions. I'm sorry, you're only allowed pictures that are 450 pixels X 450 pixels. I'm sorry, you are limited to an introductory paragraph of 255 characters (including spaces). And the coup de gras, the birth mother letter. Limit: 6000 characters (yep, including spaces). I have 6,617. I can't, I can't eliminate more. The earlier, unimproved system, no limits. Just keep it around a page or two. I just want to be done! Please, let me be done!

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Poops In a Boot

Sam: "Hey Mom, this boot has poop in it."

Me: (Thinking this is just a pretend game of Sam's) "The boot has what inside?"

Sam: "There's poop in this boot."

Me: (Ha ha, funny story. Grab said boot. Sniff. Sniff again. What the?!) "There's poop inside this boot!!!! How did poop get inside this boot?! Whose poop is this?"

Sam: "I pooped in it. Noelle pooped too."

Jeez. Are my kids the only kids who poop in boots?

Pooter

Tonight I was laying next to Sam in bed telling him a bedtime story about a fish named "Blubber" who cried all the time, then a crab came by and pinched him and told him to stop being a blubber belly and find something to be happy about. Blubber met a fish named "Pooter" (Sam's choice of a name--we have never used the term "poot" before) who tooted all the time and it made Blubber laugh and be happy and then Blubber had lots of friends because he was a happy fish now and they changed his name to "Happy". (Not my most inventive story, but after three years of story telling twice a day, I'm running out of good ones.) Well, Sam thought the farting fish was just the funniest thing he'd ever heard. He laughed heartily at the name "Pooter". And then he tells me "Mom, watch this. Watch this." Silence and then, "Phffffft". Yes, Sam farted on cue at the conclusion of the story. I laughed until I cried. Now, I have lived most of my life with a boy in the house and what I've noticed is that they all seem to have a talent for farting at will.

Adventures In Potty Sitting

Noelle started potty training on Monday. I figured I couldn't put it off any longer; she's been chomping at the bit to do it. FYI, it is my MOST UNFAVORITE JOB of mommydom. Today is day six and we only had 1 (yes, one) accident ALL DAY. She's totally getting it and I can see this is going to be SOOO MUCH easier than it was with Sam. We were at the library this week and she told me she had to "poo poo" and she went in the public bathroom there!!! Fur reals! Thank Heaven for little girls. Do you love Noelle's morning hair?