Happy Halloween!

I am too exhausted to type (as I eat the full size Baby Ruth that I stole out of Isaac's candy bag).  Mackenzie and Isaac had a fabulous Halloween!  Isaac was a pirate all day and had a fabulous time saying "Arrrr".  Mackenzie went to school as a fairy and changed into her mermaid costume from last year as soon as we got home.  After dinner, she asked Manu if she wanted to wear the fairy costume trick or treating.  Manu's dad, Sunil, works with me and it was their first Halloween.  Manu caught onto trick or treating pretty fast, as I assume any 5 year old would, and they all finished off the night with a lot of candy.

The Kids First Trip to ONU

The Freed Center, the performing arts center at Ohio Northern University, where Brian is now the Technical Director, hosted ImaginOcean today.  It is essentially a play whose characters are fish puppets that tells the story of 3 fish friends going on an adventure together to find treasure.  The fish are neon and the whole show is performed under black lights.  Well at least that is the best description this non-theatre person can come up with for the show.  This was the first show that we have gone to as a family and we had a lot of fun.  The show was well timed for the short attention spans of our 2 and 5 year-old kids and, since we know an in-sider, we got to see the fish after the show and get our picture taken with them.  Well, Brian and Isaac and I did, Mackenzie wasn't too keen on actually getting close to the fish and their pupeteers.  So she watched from a distance.

You may have noticed that Isaac has a cool hockey shirt on.  I got it for him because I thinkit looks a lot like the Chicago Wolves (only a little less scary), and Isaac is quite fond of it.  Brian and I went out with another couple last night to go watch the Notre Dame hockey team beat the Bowling Green hockey team at BGSU and we had a lot of fun.  I haven't been to a hockey game in a long time, but I am thinking I may have to pick up that habit again.  I think we may even have to get the kids some skating lessons.  Mackenzie has already asked Grandpa Mike if she can go ice skating at his lake house.

All is Good

I have spent the last two weeks of work in Requirements Gathering and Fit/Gap Analysis meetings for my next project, an implementation of PeopleSoft's Enterprise Learning Management module.  I am really excited about this project as I think we have a great team, but two weeks of meetings is really difficult for this intravert.  I am thinking about booking conference rooms next week so I can hide out and relax, just me and my computer.  I know, super sad.

We are heading to Michigan for a quick trip this weekend.  I just found out that my Aunt and Uncle are in Michigan from Texas, so I am excited for them to possibly get to see the kids.  I don't think that Isaac has gotten to meet my Aunt Candi.  Isaac and Mackenzie have been telling me how much they miss their Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Mike and for some reason Mackenzie really wants to see Grandma Kathy's Halloween decorations.  Perhaps it is because our house has been decorated for Christmas for over  month and Halloween isn't even here yet.

The kids and I went and got new fish today.  Yes, I am a fish killer.  Evidently even thought I bought a fish tank kit, I needed to buy a heater and thermometer as well, or at least a heater.  I bought both though and the fish tank has stayed at 77 degrees for a few days, so we went and got new fish tonight.  We also looked at cats at PetSmart.  I think my mommy instinct is kicking in again, and since we have decided we aren't going to have any more kids, I actually thought about getting a pet (other than fish).  It only lasted a very brief second though and then I came back to reality and we paid for the fish and left.

Oh, the car.  They are fixing our Torrent and we are supposed to get it back next week.  So, luckily for us we didn't have to shop for a new car during the last couple busy weeks.  I haven't, however, had a chance to deal with my camera, so no new pictures.  Thanks to Shannon, I am going to post a couple of pictures of the kids with their pumpkins.

What a Weekend!

So we started out this weekend on a great note.  My parents came down to visit Friday night and stayed the weekend.  They watched Mackenzie and Isaac for us on Saturday while we took our nephews, Gavin and Nathan, to the Notre Dame game against Air Force.  We got some tailgating time in (which consisted of Root Beer, Capri Suns, Diet Coke, summer sausage, cheese and crackers, Funyuns and a couple of Kit Kats) and got to throw a football around and play the bean bag toss game.  We then headed towards campus.  We timed our shuttle drop-off perfectly so that we got to see Coach Kelly and the team walking towards the stadium.  Nathan got quite a few hand slaps from the players!  We then headed to Bond Hall and watched the band play before hiking to the stadium.  We had pretty good seats for the game, in Section 15, above the Air Force band.  Unfortunately my camera decided to stop working in the first quarter, so I can't download any pictures right now, I have to find my memory card reader first.

The weather was fantastic, the B2 Bomber fly by was excellent, and the game was pretty great too.  By half-time Nathan was losing steam, so we made it through the third quarter, at which time the score was 46 - 16 ND, I believe and headed out to get an Elephant Ear and hike back to the car.  Here is what happened somewhere between Howe and Angola:



This picture is from after the car was towed to the shop.  I didn't actually get to see the car until we got there.  As we were driving on the toll road, passing a semi truck, a deer jumped in front of the car out of the median.  The road was really dark and I never saw the deer at all (until it landed on the other side of the road, luckily clear of traffic in the right lane), Brian saw it, and slammed on the brakes, but at 70 MPH there was no way he was going to stop in time.  We were extremely lucky that other drivers were paying attention and no other cars hit us or were involved in the accident at all.  Brian was able to get the car into the median and we waited for the police and the tow truck.  The air bags deployed and everyone's seatbelt worked properly and we are also very fortunate that no one was hurt, although everyone was pretty shaken.

So now we are waiting for the insurance company to take over.  Brian, the guys at the shop and I are pretty confident that the car will be considered totalled, so we are probably going to have to look for a car here soon, but other than that, all is good.

Today we went to the apple orchard and pumpkin farm for some pickin' and some cider and donuts (rice krispy treats for Brian and Isaac, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa).  Everyone had a great time and after quiet time Shannon brought "the cousins" over and we made what appears to be a delicious apple pie while at Grandma and Grandpa's Carson helped them make applesauce.

So life is good and I am especially grateful for that today.

Hugs, Hugs, Hugs

So, when I got home tonight with the kids, Thom was in the driveway eating a sandwich in his car.  Thom is going to do the much-needed tuckpointing on our house.  The kids have seen him once before, when he came over to talk through what he was going to do with Brian.  So I pull up and get out of the car and Mackenzie has already unclicked herself from her seat and is opening her door.  I walk around to get Isaac out of his seat and by the time I have Isaac's door open, Mackenzie is hugging Thom.  Luckily, Thom has kids of his own and is super-friendly.  Isaac on the other hand, will not get out of our car.  I explain to Thom that Mackenzie is a hugger and Isaac is our shy child. 

I don't know whether to have a talk with Mackenzie that not everyone appreciates being hugged or just let her be her friendly self.  She doesn't run up an hug total strangers, but once we introduce you to her, watch out!  We have had plenty of talks about strangers and that she isn't to talk to them, etc.  So I am not concerned with that, and I am sure that she will eventually grow out of it, but I don't want her to make other people uncomfortable and I would hate for her to hug someone that might say something to her that would hurt her feelings, etc. So anyway, Brian and I will have to figure out whether to do something or not, but for now I am just going to enjoy the fact that I have an affectionate daughter.

Meanwhile, our 3 months of Christmas continued last weekend when we went to Midland to visit with my parents and my sister and her 2 boys that travelled from North Carolina, and with my brother and sister-in-law and niece, Lexie.  The kids loved having time with their cousins.  We went to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth on Saturday where the kids enjoyed running around and seeing all of the Christmas ornaments and decorations.