Halloween Fun :)

Happy Halloween!

Clearly I will have more pics to post from tonights festivities but...here's a sneak peak!

Have a great day and please don't eat as many candy corns as I have...it only makes you sick :) LOL

Downtown Disney

Kimmy and I met up with a friend at downtown Disney today. The weather was amazing and cool, it was a great sunny day and perfect theme park weather :) We ate at the new restaurant T-Rex that was all about dinosaurs...those of you with little boys..this was so cool! It was like the Rainforest Cafe but with dinosaurs, even little Cooper and Grant loved it.

We also as you can see really enjoyed the carousel.

Dada's home

Thanks to Cooper's godfather and family for the great bday presents they sent back down with Rob! The Patriots and Red Sox outfits rock :) We are happy to have Rob home even though now I have gotten myself hooked on Dr Drew's Celebrity Rehab and all Bravo and E's reality TV shows....only 2 full days alone and I turned into a TV junkie!

PS- Godmother Mere's fire truck is also a huge hit with both Cooper and Grant! They "hide" toys in the seat and love the pop up animals!

Below is Cooper's favorite expression: tongue out...eyes closed and a loud "ahhhh, ahhhh", he is now doing it as a greeting to others in the grocery store.

Rainy Zoo Day

Well, it was a cloudy day and we thought we could beat the rain but we didn't. We got around half the zoo and got stuck in the rain. At least we had a nice lunch hiding under a drippy wooden rest area and we did get to spend alot of time with the giraffes! So fun.

Rob is off to NH so the house is quiet and it dawned on me I have never been in this house alone at night since we moved here. If you know me, you know that I slept like a baby last night and stayed up late watching bad reality TV :) I do miss Rob but I so do lurve my time to myself!

Pumpkin Patch and Parade

Tonight we went up to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin before Rob leaves for New Hampshire tomorrow morning for Scott's service. There was such a nice breeze in the air and we had a nice night out, watching the girl scout troop pick out pumpkins and we just really enjoyed being out side in the cool Oct air.

On the way home, we got stuck behind the high school parade. Instead of sitting in traffic, we pulled the car up on the side of the road, jumped out and danced along to the marching band!

"If you can't beat 'em....join 'em" was our motto tonight.

Trick or Treat...is coming soon!

We do have better treats than mulch, Cooper is just saving the candy corn for his mama!

Convertable Weather!

Finally the weather has cooled down enough to open the windows!

I decided to head over and suprise my grandparents with a visit from Cooper (and so I could open their musty house up and let some nice cool air in) and to let Pop take a ride in his convertable. Rob put Cooper's car seat in the back and we took a nice ride over to the port to see the cruise ships and back. Pop and Cooper were in heaven...nothing like having the cool breeze in your hair to lift your spirits and make your day!

With Walker will Travel

If Cooper has his walker, is he is there! He now likes to bring it outside, pick up pieces of grass and keep on moving. I know soon he'll let it go and take off but for now, he is happy to have the security of the walker. Some of our sweet nieghbors came over the other night to read him bedtime stories...I see babysitting in their future!

My bite out of the Big Apple

So I am back! NY was so beautiful this time of year, the weather was cool but you didn't even need a sweater...it was perfect.

I did my usual stops (St Patrick's, Rock Plaza, Times Square) and met with an old catholic school friend Michelle at dinner in the Village. We had a blast talking about old times until we closed the resturant.

I had great food while there (fabulous pad thai with Michelle and this awesome meal you can only find in NYC at a chinese and indian infused resturant).. my taste buds were in heaven!

Even though I always love the food and shopping, I was more than happy to come home. It was a trip squished right in the middle of too much stress in our household and as soon as I got there, I felt like I needed to come right home. Luckily, it was just a few days.

Loss

This week, after an already tough week and while I am still NY, we found out that Rob lost a dear lifelong friend in Afghanistan. Please keep the family and friends in your prayers at this time. If you read the article below, you will know that Rob entered the Marines in 1987 and Scott did not as the article points out to an old football injury. Rob, Scott's brother Lee (Luke ias his mother called him) and Scott played high school football in Franklin, NH and were inseperable. Scott never gave up his dream of defending his country and we thank him for the ultimate sacrifice he gave defending our freedom.

FRANKLIN – A former city police officer and father of four was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan Monday while serving with a New Hampshire National Guard unit whose mission was to train Afghani troops.
Cpl. Scott Dimond, 39, of Franklin, died as a result of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device, according to Maj. Gen. Kenneth Clark, adjutant general of the New Hampshire National Guard.

DIMOND
Clark said Dimond was traveling in a military convoy that came under enemy attack near Lashkar Gah, the capital of the Helmand province.
This had been Dimond's first overseas deployment, said his mother, Marie Gnerre, who works as a restorative aide at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton.
Dimond had retired as a police officer two years ago.
"He just wanted to protect his country. He wanted to keep his family and everyone safe. He felt it was his duty to his country,"said a hushed, grieving Gnerre. "Scott was the most gentle person. He had a big heart. He was a wonderful person; he was a wonderful son."
Dimond has four children. Two teenagers are from a previous marriage and attend Franklin High School, Gnerre said. He and his wife, Jen, have 4- and 7-year-old daughters.
The little ones don't understand, but the teenagers are having a difficult time, Gnerre said.
"They don't have their daddy anymore,"Gnerre said. "These kids adored their father. He never even yelled at them."
Clark said Dimond's family can take some comfort knowing he was committed to serving others, both as a former police officer and citizen solder.
"His sacrifice for our freedom will never be forgotten,"he said.
Dimond, a soldier with C Company, 3rd of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Regiment, was deployed in January. He served as part of a New Hampshire Army Guard embedded tactical training team, working as mentors to the Afghan National Army and the country's police force.
Dimond was one of four children; his older brother, Luke, died in a drowning accident in 1987, Gnerre said.
Initially, he had planned to enter the Marine Corps in 1987, the year he graduated from high school. But his mother said the Marines wouldn't take him because of a football injury, so he took a job with Franklin police.
He started as a dispatcher, then moved up to special officer, then full-time officer. He retired in 2006, and was taking pre-med courses, his mother said.
He planned to earn a nursing degree and work alongside his mother caring for aged and injured veterans.
"He was a great guy who did a great job as a police officer and was a wonderful family man. This is an absolute tragedy,'' said former Franklin Police Chief Doug Boyd, who hired Dimond in 1988 and saw him mature as a police officer for the next 13 1/2 years.
"I can't say enough about him. I wish I had had five more just like him,'' said Boyd. "He was really close to his family and this is a tough situation for them.''
Fire Chief Scott Clarenbach recalled Dimond as being a dedicated police officer who enjoyed police work and got along well with his colleagues and members of other city departments.
"It's a really sad thing for the whole city,'' said Clarenbach.
Gov. John Lynch said his thoughts are with Dimond's family.
"He served his state and his nation with dignity, courage and honor,"Lynch said in a written statement. "He was a hero who sacrificed protecting all of us. On behalf of the citizens of New Hampshire, our deepest sympathies go out to the entire Dimond family."

Zoo

Today to escape the craziness of the week and to start this new week off right...Rob, Cooper and I headed to the zoo. For Oct it was still so hot but we had a nice time :)

The train ride was our favorite as well as Rob trying to get into the train with Cooper....my favorite and best laugh of the day as the entrance is kinda narrow and it's not easy holding Cooper while manuvering into the train!

Rob's sense of humor this week has kept us somewhat sane and for that I thank him...he even channeled my dad this week a few times and would give me great advice by saying "you know what you dad would say" and then would quote him....word for word...it was a nice reminder to "hear" my dad again blowing off stress like only he could do. Most included bad words so I won't include them here but if you knew my dad, he loved to say about my grandparents "what do you expect....they'd never even been to a gin mill" and other fun comments.

To spare you all the gorey details, caring for my 91 year old grandparents has not been fun this month and on Fri I decided to take their car keys. Oh yes..they could hardly walk without banging into walls but they both were still driving and after all we had been through these few weeks...I finally just stole the keys. If you have met Phina and Pop, you can image how thrilled they are and how well that all went over. We did manage to get social work and home health nurses involved so there may be some relief in site.

If you don't hear from me this week don't be worried that my grandmother really called the police on me since I am a thief and I robbed her of her keys (as she has threatened more than once to do..."I have rights you know" she has reminded me!) but I head off to NYC from Tues-Thurs. for work.

Have a great week :)

Obligations

This load of laudry was the easiest obligation I took care of this week. My Pop has been in the hospital since his nose bleeds won't stop and Rob and I have been on high alert and elderly full time care now for 2 weeks. The whole family is pitching in with Nana here to help care for Cooper while I work, Rob is off to the ER and the hospital now over 10 times in 2 weeks and the doctor and family phone calls in our house has our phone continually off the hook.

So....at this very moment, the house is quiet, the phone isn't ringing, the TV is off, the rain is pouring down and it's just me, Cooper and the laudry. I have an apple spice candle lit in my just cleaned house (thanks honey!) and I've had my pj's on since 5:30pm when I hung up with my last customer of the day.

Here's to at least one quiet evening!

PS- The other highlight of my day was a phone call from Jake (I know...who would have thought a call from Jake would make my day!) But he and Hope sounded great as they were off to go shopping in Orlando after some good follow up drs appointments in Tampa. Keep up the great work guys...I do love you both :)

Walking

My Montage 10/4/08

We caught Cooper taking off with assistance of his new "walker" toy last night! Sorry I am having trouble with posting it, but click on the "my montage" line above and a new screen will open and you can watch it. It was from my cell phone so it's a bit blurry but you can clearly see that he is off!

First haircut!

Cooper got his first haircut today and was so good!

He only napped 20 minutes today so you never know what you are going to get with that but he only got a bit worried for a second and I happen to capture it so you can see that pic with the million I snapped today.

We had such a nice day shopping, going out for lunch, the haircut of course and then Rob and I got to out to the movies.

TGIF

The week went by so fast I didn't know it was Friday already....whew. Cooper has been sick with 104 degree fevers all week and a slight rash which are all reactions to the cocktail of shots he got at the dr at the last visit. I think today we are finally on the other side but it's been alot of Motrin, time in the rocking chair and crazy nights. He also is cutting those 1 year molars since his little gums are all swollen.

To cheer Cooper up the other morning, I put Baxter in bed with him for a few minutes and that did the trick. Tears dried up fast when little Baxter kissed his nose and laid next to him. I am sure I broke all kinds of parenting "rules" with this one but it made them both so happy. Every night Baxter has had to check on Cooper before he goes off to bed, going so far as to scratch the door open just so he can go in and make sure Cooper is sound asleep.

Last weekend was full of ER visits to bring my Pop to get his nose bleeds under control (oh the joys of being 91) so we didn't get much else done. This weekend, we hope to go get Cooper's first haircut, shopping etc. Hopefully everyone will be well enough.