Happy Halloween

Thank goodness Halloween fell on a Friday this year.  It's 8:30pm, CJ and I finished trick or treating about 45 minutes ago, and I'm beat.

I started the day with a deficit because I had several proposals and budgets due, and just as important, today was the annual pumpkin carving contest at Matrix Group.  This year, I was the designated carver for Lethal Weapon.  So, between the proposals and the pumpkin, last night was a really late night.  Check out my pumpkin at left and see what you think.  It's a little hard to see, but I carved a cat, spider and pumpkin in a window.

Halloween is always a big deal at school, so I spent the morning at CJ's school.  The kids got dressed up in their costumes, then paraded around the block.  They were so cute!  Ms. Courtney taught them to wave and say Happy Halloween to people on the street.  And they were trick or treating at the luggage shop and the local bank.  Afterward, the kids decorated and devoured cupcakes, listened to stories and put on a little show.  For the show, the kids recited Maurice Sendak's October poem about ghosts and goblins.  Very cute!

I worked furiously in the afternoon to get some proposals out; I didn't get everything done so I have some weekend work ahead of me.  Oh well.  I think half our clients left early today to go trick or treating with their kids.  At 4:30pm, a huge group of families gathered in the park behind our house for a pre-trick or treating playdate.  Then, at 6pm, there was a Halloween parade through the neighborhood, then we got down to the serious business of trick of treating.  At left is CJ holding hands with his best friend, Beckett.  These guys are buddies!

CJ was really antsy to go trick or treating.  Lucky me, the parade started before I had time to give him dinner, so by 6:30pm, CJ was wired from a lot of candy and chocolate.  Good times!  We started at the front of our neighborhood, went past our house and must have knocked on three dozen doors.   It was a beautiful evening; the weather was clear and cool, perfect for being outside.

Oh yeah, this year, I went as a bad fairy.  Check out my pink and black wig.  I got it at Target a couple of weeks ago.  When I tried it on the first time, CJ took one look at me and said, "mom, take it off" in the tone of voice you expect from an embarrassed teenager.  Several times tonight, CJ would say, "mom, show them your bad wig."  Hilarious.

The best decorated house goes to our neighbors, Seana and Duane.  The front of their house was decorated with a ghost, leaves all over the sidewalk and steps, and spooky lights.  The windows had spooky lighting and scary sounds were coming from the house.  The best part was Duane, who was dressed as the grim reaper.  Duane would sit very still on the front step; he looked like another decoration.  When the kids would come near, he would say, "boo!" and scare the daylights out of the kids and even some of the parents.  I thought I did well with my lights, pumpkins and scary skull, but our house had nothing on Duane's handiwork.

Interestingly, when I talked to CJ about trick or treating yesterday, he didn't seem to remember that he had done it twice before.  I wonder if he will remember trick or treating next year.  He's 4, so he should start having memories, right?

I Love Yard Sales

There was a pretty big yard sale in our neighborhood and I could not resist checking it out.  I just love yard sales.  Yes, I love the bargains, but I also knew it would be fun to hang out with our neighbors and CJ would enjoy running around with his buddies.

Maki gave me $60 since I didn't have any cash and told me to call him if I needed more.  Thankfully, I only spent $45, but boy did I get good stuff!  I got 10 CDs, 14 DVDs, 4 gorgeous Chinese prints and a purple planter for my office!

Among the DVDs I got were:

• All 3 Indiana Jones movies
• X-Men 2 and 3 (Maki and I have not seen the third movie)
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (yes, I admit to being a Keanu Reeves fan)
• Amadeus and Immortal Beloved (about Mozart and Beethoven, respectively)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• Batman Begins

The CDs are mostly from the 80s, including including Bob James, Prince, Vivaldi and Wham (yes, Wham, don't laugh).  How's that for variety?

Now you know why I love yard sales.

CJ Loves Jessie

My niece Jessie spent last weekend with us.  CJ had a ball playing with her older cousin; Jessie was awesome and ready CJ lots and lots of books.

On Saturday, we went to Yoko, a Japanese restaurant in Reston.  My god, these kids really love their sushi.  CJ ate 10 pieces of nigiri - 6 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of tuna and 2 pieces of egg sushi.  Jessie ate two rolls - a California roll and an eel roll.  I am pretty sure that the kids ate more than I did.  At left is a cute photo of CJ and Jessie (and two other girls) watching the sushi chef make their lunch.  

After lunch, we went to Tyson's Corner mall to get some watches fixed, look for some new shoes, and visit the Lego store.  CJ is finally old enough to play with the small Legos, so we bought him a small container of Legos.  We were hoping that CJ wouldn't see the Thomas Lego sets, but no such luck.  I'm surprised were made it out of there without buying any Thomas Lego sets.  (We did promise a set or two for good behavior and stars.)

On Sunday, after a heart-stopping breakfast of sausage egg mcmuffins, we headed out to Old Town.  We met up with our friends Emi, Elena and Rona to have lunch and take the water taxi to National Harbor.  It was a beautiful day and the kids loved the 20-minute boat ride.

We got off at Gaylord Place, which is a gorgeous property.  We walked around the hotel, checked out the many restaurants and then the kids ran around the colonial garden.  Afterward, we walked down to National Harbor.  There are more shops open than the last time we were there, but there are still quite a retail shops that are coming soon.  With the economy the way it is, I wonder how many shops will wait until next year or simply never open.

As usual, CJ loved playing in the sand park at National Harbor; this is where the Awakening statue has been moved to and it's nice to see more people enjoying the statue.  After strawberry milkshakes, it was time to take the water taxi home, meet up with Maki, and head home.  

I can't believe it's October and 80 degrees outside!

Maurice Sendak Poems

Imagine my surprise when CJ started reciting poetry in the car one day.  His teacher, Ms. Courtney, has been teaching the kids poems by Maurice Sendak.  I would not have though that a 4-year old would be ready to memorize poetry, but you can see the results for yourself.  Of course, it helps that the poems and are silly and fun.

Here are the words, since CJ is talking so quickly.

September by Maurice Sendak

In September for a while,
I will ride a crocodile
Down the chicken soup-y Nile.
Paddle once, paddle twice,
paddle chicken soup with rice...

October by Maurice Sendak

In October, I'll be host 

to witches, goblins and a ghost.
I'll serve them chicken soup on toast.
Whoopy once
whoopy twice
whoopy chicken soup with rice.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

Yesterday, we went out to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with our friends Eve, Karl and Hans Erik.  It was glorious weather and I'm so glad they reminded us that the Festival is closing up in a few weeks.

CJ and Hans Erik had a great time watching guys test their strength on the anvil test, they loved going down the big slide, they enjoyed the food (quesadillas and cookies for them), and they enjoyed watching the bagpipe band The Rogues and the comedy show St. George and the Dragon.  Hans Erik was dying to be in the St. George show, but he got beat out by a kid with a louder "huzzah!"  Hans Erik brought his play swords and the boys loved their mock sword fights.

Me, I come for the food.  I adore the sweet potato fries (with horseradish sauce) and the sweet corn dipped in butter.  Yum!

Maki enjoys getting dressed up as a poet.  He has the requisite poet's shirt, vest, tights and medieval moccasins.  I'm not a costume kind of gal, so Maki hopes that CJ will want to go in costume sometime in the future.

We were all just really happy to be outside in the great weather.  Since it's Oktoberfest, the Festival was crowded, but we went on the early side, so it wasn't too bad.  October 18-19 is the last weekend, so if you want to go, go soon!  And go early to find a decent parking spot and avoid the crazy traffic on Route 450.

The End of Parallel Play

I've noticed recently that CJ is playing with his friends, as opposed to playing beside his friends.  My books say that somewhere between the ages of 3 and 4, kids start to play with other kids, as opposed to parallel play where they play in the same general area, but not with each other.

At a school picnic on Friday, CJ played hopscotch with other kids, then around and played with a shovel with his buddies Jack and Caden.  I was impressed, btw, that rough housing  and playing with a shovel did not turn into boo-boos or hurt feelings.  The boys were great!

When CJ's friends come or a playdate, the kids will tell stories to each other, make their trains interact with each other, and comment on each other's artwork.

CJ is Making Train Tracks by Himself

Just recently, CJ started making large and complex train tracks all by himself.  This is new.  In the past, Maki or I would help him with the Y pieces and the connections through the turntable.  But now, he knows how to insert junctions, make the tracks curve around the table or couch, and create parallel tracks.  Very impressive!

CJ still likes it when people "play trains" with him, but proudly reports to me that he "made the tracks all by himself."