Happy Halloween!

First Halloween in the new house!  James found a pumpkin to claim.

 Iron Man

 Snow Queen

Spider Man/Boy. Patrick originally asked to be Spider Man for Halloween, but I bought a size too small for him.  As soon as that costume came off his body, William claimed it for himself and tried to say that there could be 2: Spider Man AND Spider Boy.  We finally convinced Patrick to choose another costume, and he is so sweet and gentle he was more than happy to choose another superhero.  As you can see on the mask, Spider Man's got some runs around the nose holes.  Those came within the first day, while the boys were trying it on numerous times.  There was no way to return that anyways.

 
 Mickey Mouse has a double ear infection and wasn't quite in the mood to get away from Mommy's side.

James didn't get much candy for Mommy, but he enjoyed the ride.  He finally slep better last night since we started his antibiotics.  Poor little man.

October and November Birthdays

 We had a Reynolds celebration at our new home.  We had a little birthdays,

 A little football,

 More birthdays,

 A LOT of Just Dance 4,

And cakes!  This is a Christine cake, to go along with the sleepover the boys had with a campout. 
The best part of the whole day?  The Wii.  Just Dance 4.  So.much.fun.  My videos won't load, and it's killing me!  They are hilarious!

 

Our first party in the new home!

 We had some cousins come over and we celebrated a birthday.  It made my heart so happy to have so many kids here, to play and enjoy our space with us!

 James loves this window to watch all the kids outside.

 Papa and Mani came over too.  Papa said, "I'm looking for some missing grandchildren!"  And as soon as James heard him, he came running over and hugged him soo tightly.  He could not get enough hugs or playtime with Papa and it was so sweet!  I am so glad those two formed a special bond.

 I wish I could tell you who else was at the party, but I am still thinking we picked up some strangers that joined us.

 This is a view of our "catwalk" that overlooks the 2 level sunroom (I promise I'll do a tour as soon as I get the rooms tidier and less box-ier!)  This makes my mom nervous. 

 I like that we can still keep track of the kids and hear what's going on upstairs.  It *kind* of reduces the yelling so we can be heard.

 Rachel was the big birthday girl!  I think when we were in our townhouse, we celebrated her birthday in our home as one of the first parties too.  9 years ago!  I didn't plan it, but I am so happy that it worked out that way.

We can't wait to have more celebrations here! 

Sweet James

My sweet James is just so happy in the house!  He loves that he can walk anywhere and everywhere (we just need to conquer the stairs). 

A funny thing happened on the way home the other day

The day before closing on our new home, I was sent to get the cashier's check from the bank.  Sitting at a red light, I was hit from behind.  I look in my mirror and see it's a little blue Smart car.  I was in my van, alone (thankfully!) and was getting ready to exchange information with the driver, when I look back and see that she is driving away.  I thought maybe she is pulling to the side so we are out of the way of traffic or something, but I start watching her and realize she is speeding up.  Freaking out a little, I decide to follow her (cutting off a big truck who flicked me off) and am 1 car back from her.  We are stopping at the next light, when I hear "screeeeech" and a big crash and see the chards of glass flying everywhere.  This lady hit another car!  Unbelievable.  I get out and run up to the accident as all the other cars are driving away and I tell the man she just ran into that she had just hit me.  We approached the lady, and we started talking.  First thing you notice is that she is slurring her words and not really making sense.  She mentioned that she was coming from the doctor, and I was worried that she was on some heavy meds, or even had a stroke or something.  I am standing near her car trying to call Tommy and this lady starts to try to drive away again!!  I was completely floored and started freaking out on her and yelled at her that she HAD TO STAY HERE.  Ma'am, you NEED to turn off your car right NOW.  You CAN NOT LEAVE!  I was so afraid she was going to hit someone else.

Seriously?  What a crazy experience.  I had never been in an accident before, and it was very frustrating to get rear-ended.  I was very proud that I did not cry (except a bit of anger when she left me the first time) and I was sure to get the name of the police officer who helped (there were 3, but only one got assigned to the case).  My dad is a lawyer in the county, and is always happy to help out. 

The lady did a number on my bumper and I need to have it repaired, so we were trying to figure out which insurance company to use.  When I call her company, it turns out she never reported the first acccident: me!  I had to report it for her.  You could just hear the insurance guy shaking his head at the story I told.