Trick-or-Treat

Last night was a bit chilly, but the kids had a great time. Abigail figured out was she was doing by the second house, but ate candy the entire time or she would cry. She had more chocolate last night than Donny has had in five years. I realized at the third house, Donny was asking if there was milk in the candy he was receiving. We took care of that and at four in the morning, I realized Abigail wasn't wearing necklace. Oh well! (The photos are in random order because I have a little helper at the moment.)

Ragamuffin Parade

Today was Larchmont's annual Ragamuffin Parade and the weather was perfect. After much debate (with himself) Donny finally decided to be a firefighter, which was great because we already had everything he needed. I just had to put the finishing touches on his turnout coat that I made him last year for play. I bought him a shirt that I thought would be really neat with his outfit. Well, it was too neat! He refused to wear his turnout coat so everyone could see his shirt.

The good thing about Abigail's age is that I can still pick out her costume and thanks to Aunt Stephanie's idea a few years ago, Abigail was a hit with all the mommy's. The children thought she was a bag, but the Mommy's knew the real deal. I made a hat with the top of a Tiffany Box and a bow, but it was too small, so I just stuck one of her bows in her hair. I still have a week to tweak both costumes.

The view infront of us as we walked up Larchmont Avenue.

The view behind us.

Shopping

Abigail and I went to Ikea in New Jersey today. Instead of relying on my instinct, I used my GPS for directions to Ikea. I ended up in a traffic jam in the Bronx on the Major Deegan Expressway surrounded by trucks. I wasn't bothered by this until the trucks surrounding me started honking their horns. I tried to ignore everyone, because where could I go? Abigail was so excited because the concrete mixer to the right of us was honking his horn and waving.

I finally decided to really look at the man in the truck behind me. I looked right at his face in the rear view mirror. He smiled in relief that I was finally paying attention to him. He was frantically pointing to the rear of my car. I had no idea why he was pointing and then I had a flashback to the day before.

Sunday was beautiful and the entire neighborhood was outside playing. The teenage boy and his father, who live next door, were in our driveway playing with the two hottest toys in the neighborhood. Big Daddy bonded with male neighbors even more when they found this common interest, the air soft BB gun. Well, when said teenager was finished playing, he yelled over to me, "Tracy, I'm just going to put this on the top of your minivan away from Donny." I thanked him and then told Big Daddy to remind me to take the gun off the roof of the minivan. I'm sure you have all figured out that Big Daddy and I dropped the ball and I was about to transport a weapon across state lines.

Can you believe that gun stayed on the car all the way over the George Washington Bridge and I didn't get arrested for transporting weapons? Once I got to Fort Lee, which is over the bridge, I found a spot that I wouldn't normally want to be and jumped out of the car to retreive the gun. I shoved it under the seat and started to feel like I was packing heat. Abigail and I continued to Ikea for a great day.

This is for Marilyn who knows Abigail obssesion with washing her hands: I should have really thought this trip through before taking Abigail to a place that has kitchen and bathroom showrooms. She insisted on washing her hands at every sink in Ikea. "Washin' my hands, washin' my hands."

Grandpa's Visit

I didn't tell Donny about Grandpa's arrival until he was pulling in front of the house. Donny and I went out to the sidewalk. I asked Donny who was in the truck and his eyes got really big and he said, "That's Grandpa! Why does he have a submarine? Is Grandpa going underwater?" Grandpa was actually pulling a fuel tank from a World War II airplane that he is going to convert into a race car. We had a very nice visit and went to the city on Columbus Day. Although we didn't see the parade, we did visit the Intrepid. Donny took his first cab ride and subway ride.

We have talked about visiting the Intrepid before, so I thought Donny would be really happy. He took one look at the ship and told me he wasn't getting on that thing. I had to carry him on the boat and convince him, along with the help of the Intrepid employees, that the ship wasn't going to sink. Once we were on, he loved everything and I think I heard "Grandpa!" every ten seconds.

Doesn't that missile look like the fuel tank Grandpa drove into town?

Donny is obsessed with guns and I try to steer him away from gun play. When I saw the guns on the ship I told Donny this was his big chance to play with really big guns. He wouldn't get near them, but that didn't stop Grandpa.

Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty.

The subway back to Grand Central, I think Grandpa was ready for a nap.

New Post Below "Visit"

Parent Night

Parent night for Donny's school started at 7:15 on Wednesday evening. We finally sat down, in the tiny chairs, around 7:45 and the director started the evening. She spoke about fifteen minutes and then handed the floor over to Donny's teacher, who was also sitting in a tiny chair. She started by saying, "Your child's day starts at 9:00." She then went on to explain every minute of their day.

Finally moving to discipline, she described the time out technique and then suggested we tell her if there are problems we would like her to work on, such as hitting siblings. At this point, the director who was standing to the side of the teacher, requested the parents inform the school of anything that might affect they children's behavior and gives a grandparents death as an example. WELL, Donny's teacher put her face into her hands, began to sob and rock back and forth in her tiny chair. The director just looked at her and then added, "Oh ya, it's been kinda a rough week around here. Teacher lost her Grandmother." Then she looked back to teacher with a continue your speech look. The entire room was just sitting there and we were all looking back and forth between teacher and director. At one point, a very uncomfortable father said, "I'm sorry." It was barley a whisper and I think he was sorry that he was there to witness this train wreck. The entire scene lasted about three minutes which seemed like an hour. Teacher finally stopped crying, but she was still rocking back and forth and now focusing on a spot on the floor when she said, "Your child's day starts at 9:00." All I could think was HELL NO!

Visit

I asked Donny if there was anything special he wanted to do this weekend. He said he wanted to go to the city and find Grandpa. (We took the train to the city to meet Grandpa a few months ago.) What he doesn't know is that Grandpa is arriving Saturday for a visit. I can't wait to see his face when Grandpa walks in the door.

Dog Walker

I started this post last week, but never finished. I added a paragraph at the bottom as a follow-up.

I arranged a meeting today with a dog walker for Ashley. I was surprised to find her sitting on the bottom step in the front hall talking to Ashley. She explained her routine and that she would just come in and get Ashley and return her an hour so later. She will take Ashley with twelve other dogs to a home with three acres on a local golf course for a large play date, in the summer they will swim in the pool. Ashley will love this, she needs to socialize with other dogs. Maybe she will stop barking at EVERY dog that walks past the house.

**Today was Ashley's play date. She walked out of the house with the dog walker while two children were crying and screaming because the dog catcher took their dog away. (I think they have seen Lady and the Tramp too many times.) Ashley returned an hour and twenty minutes later covered in mud and exhausted. When I arranged the play date, it didn't occur to me that Ashley would need a bath upon return. I am almost certain the other eleven dogs receive their bath from the family housekeeper, unfortunately I'm the family housekeeper.

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Bow

Big Daddy and I literally had to carry Donny to Tae Kwon Do yesterday. He told me that he didn't want to go because doing the kicks hurt his legs. I think he was just over tired. We managed to get him there and once in the class he was the perfect student. At the end of class, the students lined up to receive tape on their belt for something they excelled at during class. Each child steps up to the instructor, listens to the praise, receives the tape then bows to the instructor. I watched Donny through the glass as he stepped up to the instructor to receive an excellent kicks tape. After about a minute, Donny did his bow and I burst into laughter as I watched him. I assumed he would follow the other children and do the proper bow, but he did the bow mommy loves so much. His instructor found it just as funny.