We almost lost control of the situation, but were able to
get it back. Connor loves animals and has been pretending to be every single
animal the crocodile hunter eh, well, hunts.
Yes every morning our bed becomes a “habitat” for Komodo dragons,
lizards, snakes, etc. So when Nita asked
him what he wanted to be, he said “Toto.”
Nita and I did not agree on this.
She said he loved dogs and loved pretending to be a dog. I said fine, but in the Wizard of Oz the dog
is a prop, not a character. I won’t go
into detail as to how far this went, but we finally got our cover shot and
Connor loved being the lion. Josie was
never in doubt about what she would be.
In fact when Nita found her little Dorothy costume it even came with
Toto in a basket (like a prop). Anyhoo,
it was fun and Josie got tons of compliments.
Nita even found her some ruby slippers and red hair ties. This was the first time that Josie got more
compliments than Connor…ever. The other
awesome thing was the lion head for Connor actually matched his hair, it really
was perfect. Afterwards we got home and
Connor found the makeup kit, and decided to finger paint. Let’s just say that if we weren’t planning a
bathroom remodel, I would not have been pleased.
Then came Nita’s birthday on the Dia de los Muertos. At my
request Many of Nita’s friends and family sent me little video clips wishing
her a happy birthday. Some were short
and sweet, some were rap songs, some regular songs, some included slot
machines, props, some re-enacted dates from our past, a ukulele, cupcakes and
candles. All were appreciated. I
compiled them into a single video and played it for her when she woke up. She was blown away. Then she headed off to a spa day with some
girlfriends. I got the kids to school
and then promptly spent the next six hours doing chores that she would normally
have done. We then headed out for a nice
dinner when BANG!!! Yep, I backed into
my mother’s car in the driveway. She’d
been bringing the golf cart lately but that was in the shop and I just forgot
it was there. So there’s that. The good news is no one was injured and we
got the cars back today.
A&M beats Alabama.
Are you shitting me?! Honestly I
hoped that we’d get bowl eligible (six wins for those of you keeping score at
home). And before the season I kind of
figured where we’d win and where we’d lose.
In my preseason exercise I had A&M needing wins in the last two
games to get to six, maybe seven. Never in
my wildest prognostications did I consider this scenario, ever! And Johnny F. Football. Wow!
If we go back and read this blog 10-20 years from now, it’ll be
“remember the JFF years?” This kid is a
once in a lifetime type of player, wow. Oh and Josie turned two.
The next day was the kids joint birthday party. Okay okay, I know! I did it on purpose. But seriously, Josie will have a birthday
every year; we may never beat Alabama again.
Okay, so the next day was the kid’s joint birthday party
with full on petting zoo and pony rides.
This year I let go a little bit.
We’ve done this for four years now and I have either been taking
pictures, watching to make sure no one got hurt, or trying to save animals from
being crushed. This year Nita
brilliantly hired a little high school girl who is a photography student to
come take pictures for us. She did an
unbelievable job and took about 500 shots and that’s actually not an
exaggeration. Also, I asked the zoo
keeper guy if they ever lose animals. He
said, “Very rarely, they’re probably safer here with all these kids than going
for a drive with you in the car statistically.”
(Did someone tell him my car was in the shop?) “Plus, they’re about fifty cents a
pound.” So I exhaled this year and just
enjoyed the party. And it was really fun.
Connor loved the pony ride and Josie did as well. Last year, Josie did not like the pony
ride. This year she did it three
times. Josie did learn the improper way
to handle a bunny and got a couple of pretty big scratches on her hand. To her credit, after she cried and momma held
her for a bit, she was back in the pen playing with bunnies and ducks. She even bottle fed a baby goat. Connor showed his fearlessness once again and
had a fun time in the pen. Then while they
were putting the animals up, we transitioned everyone to the back yard where
the playscape was. Connor was having so much fun, he didn’t alert anyone he had
to go pee. He didn’t wet himself;
instead he just dropped trou and went right there. But luckily he turned to face everyone. Yep, everyone got a shot of Connor’s little
pink cobra. My boy.
I mentioned that last part on Facebook and a friend sent me
a link to an article about a family that got a ticket for a 3 year old boy
peeing in the front yard. I mentioned
that I’d probably have been arrested for peeing on the ticket. I’m all about law and order, but sometimes
absurdity must be treated with absurdity.
But alas, it was all just good clean fun. Then the cupcakes came out, songs were sung,
and our guests went home. Connor and
Josie had a blast opening their presents and I can honestly say I have now been
to my first tea party. Josie got a cute
little tea set and poured me a cup just before her nap. My girl.
More transitions coming for the kids. This week, we “send the pacifiers to the
‘papa’ fairy” so other babies can use them.
You see Josie is 2 and therefore a big girl now. The papa fairy will bring a gift and everyone
wins. Connor’s actual birthday is coming
up just before Thanksgiving and he’s already preparing for black Friday. Yesterday he and Nita went through a catalog
of “things he needs.” Nita mentioned
that maybe he could ask Santa. At that
moment he asked Nita to grab pen and paper to write a letter to Santa on his
behalf. It was a very long and complete
list. We might be spoiling that
one. Josie meanwhile is just happy with
everything. She gets the benefit of
every toy we’ve ever bought Connor plus her special ones. So I guess we’re spoiling her as well.
Finally Nita taught Josie to sing “somewhere over the
rainbow” and she is just a little hoot.
Her vocabulary is huge and her sentence structure is pretty amazing for
her age. Meanwhile Connor picked up the
“happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo” song from Madagascar complete with
the monkey spit take and the smell-the-armpit fall. So there’s that.
