Time to catch up!

Ok, so the last two weekends were a little crazy, what with two birthday parties for Zander and Halloween in between. The birthday party with my Mom, step-dad and brother's family was fun. Everyone came to our house around 3pm on the Sunday before Zander's birthday and of course I was still getting stuff ready! I went to church that morning with Grace and when I got home I had to feed her, and Zander, put him down for a nap and start cooking. Stephen ran out to the grocery store and picked up some ingredients that I needed and also a cake. I would have loved to make a birthday cake, but my decorating skills are way limited (I suck at it! LOL) and I didn't have a lot of time. I decided that I was going to make chicken pot pie for the adults and chicken nuggets and fries for the kids. My niece is allergic to milk so I also made cherry J.ello and got Stephen to pick up some fruity sorbet just in case. I had the guts of the pie made in no time, and whipped up a batch of dough to cover it with, all I had to do was the salad. I ended up recruiting my Mom to make the salad because Grace decided she was hungry just as I pulled out all the ingredients. She has impecable timing! Dinner was a hit, although Julien (my adorable nephew) wasn't too hungry because the kids had snacked on banana chocolate chip muffins, potato chips and whatever else Stephen brought out when everyone was down stairs hanging out. Zander ate like a champ, which is no surprise as he is in constant motion and seems to burn off food as soon as he's done chewing it! The cake was pretty good for store bought too, although I forgot to get candles so we did a song without. The kid is two, so I am sure it's alright... He can have two wishes next year I suppose. :) He got great gifts as well, a sturdy truck from Nanny and Poppy and a Halloween costume from Uncle Jack and Aunt Amnath. I was so thrilled! It was the cutest costume from Old Navy... a rat! I am sure it wasn't meant to be a Ratatouille costume but in my mind that is what it was, so that is what I told everyone he was dressed as when we took him out trick or treating. So fast forward to Halloween night. My husband and I are such great planners, (NOT) that we called our friend/cousin at the last minute to ask if we could join her and the family for the fun. We picked up a pizza on the way over and got the kids dressed there. Grace was a honey bee and Zander was Ratatouille. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Of course, Grace is much too small for trick or treat but it was such a nice night out, we put her in the stroller and she came along for the ride. At first Zander was pretty timid about going up to the doors, so Stephen took him up. After a few houses, Zander was going up without Daddy, and although he never did say Trick or Treat, he did try to go into a few houses! I am sure that next year, he'll be saying it. We didn't go to a lot of houses, I'm guessing we went to less than 20 but it took us a good hour or more, and it wiped out the kids! Now just a quick rant about Halloween night. I know that half the fun is getting dressed up and handing out candies, but who thinks it is a good idea to dress up in a costume that is downright scary to do this? We went to a house where the man was splattered in fake blood and carrying a "blood" covered fake butcher knife... I am not sure if he was wearing a mask or not. Early in the evening, most of the tricker-treaters are going to be very young kids, so maybe saving the costume for later on in the night would be an idea.... Or am I just being a pooner? (buzz kill, party pooper, etc) Anyway, Zander was a little scared by this and one other house, but it didn't seem to affect him at all because he slept through the night! On to the next party! On Saturday, Stephen's family came over for his birthday.... well, some of it did. Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Debbi and Tommy and Micah came. Just a fraction of the family but it made for a quiet day which was ok except that I made way too much food! Oh well, left-overs for the week! The idea was that the kids would go play at the new indoor playground for an hour and a half and I would stay home with the baby and get some stuff done, which worked out just fine. Everyone go to our house around 2:30, we did dinner around 5:30 and by 6:30 cake was served and gifts were opened. Zander got a cool truck from Grandma and Grandpa that was a car carrier, so it came with a bunch of hot wheels cars, and he got a new outfit and toddler paints from Uncle John, Aunt Debbi and the boys. Mommy and Daddy bought him a little people construction set. Grandma and Grandpa stayed for a longer visit after Deb and the boys left, and by the time they left, we were wiped out! Thank goodness this weekend is going to be quiet!