Friday update

Alan coughed all day, but was high energy because I hydrated him with juice as a substitute for milk (big mistake! should have stayed with H20). He was into everything...closets, dishwasher, oven, cabinets, under the bed, etc...Then after dinner, we had the usual finale. You get the picture if you know Alan, and if you don't use your imagination...Unfortunately, we'll have to cancel our trip up to see Helen tomorrow, something I am disappointed about. I hope we can make Jace's birthday party on Sunday...It's not even officially winter yet, and already the cold/flu season is here.

I made a big pot of soup to mark the coming of the cold months. It was pretty awesome. I took one of Jamie's enchilada recipes and modified it into a blackbean soup: Saute onions, garlic and red peppers, add corn, black beans, enchilada sauce (green chile flavor is what I had in the house), pinapples, and cilantro. Season with cumin. I was very pleased with myself! (partly because I had all of these ingredients in the house, and that it was so tasty...plus it did NOT include parmesean or any wheat based/dairy product!)

Alan just jumped on my lap, wanting to watch a youtube video (John Denver - Inch by Inch/Garden Song)....so I am cutting this short...but before I do, here is an archived posting about this song I just recovered ....
http://michellerosenbaum.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html#6364638481586720367

bye!

Quick hello

Good morning. Just a quick note to say hello to everyone....Almost two weeks until Thanksgiving. When I was a kid, I used to think that Thanksgiving was a celebration to thank everyone who gave you Halloween candy.

Boy was I in need of chocolate last night waiting the results of the election! We ran out of candy on Halloween night, so we've had no left overs! Except last night, Ricky found a Hershey bar in the playroom. He gave it to me, but later when I was in need of it, I couldn't find it! Reminds me how last month I found plastic Easter eggs under the living room couch.

One other fun Halloween story: Alan told Roger that he's not Mommy, but if he can be Mommy for Halloween! How cute.

Election night: Alan and I took an evening stroll last night with Melanie to vote at the Senior Center. Alan enjoyed being out at night in his stroller looking up at the stars. I need to study up on my constellations - everything looks like a big/little dipper....
Anyway, the result of the DA race was disppointing. After 6 months of campaigning, Jonathan didn't win.

What else: Lots of our friends are under the weather....(Melanie, Ivan, Sophia, Stell, etc) Alan is low energy today and at a playdate yesterday, he told me he wanted to go upstairs to his crib, so I imagine he's coming down with a cold too. We will take it easy today...hope you all feel better soon! And Jace, hope your hand feels better soon!

Ava and Mia

Top Photo: Ava (Princess). Speaking of which, in my car is her birthday present from July!!! It is a pop-up princess castle. Do live in California or just across the river??? We must get together!

Bottom Photo: Mia (A real princess dressed as a pirate maybe?)

Great photos - Thanks for sharing Marie and Jim!

Sat. night

While my favorite venue for live music is the John Street Jam, tonight I ventured out to the Hudson Valley Folk Guild. With Roger staying home to watch Alan, and Portia away in Syracuse, I asked Louis to go with me. First, we met at Starbucks where I treated us to expensive coffee by using a gift card sent in a Halloween card from Bootie. Louis is on a strict diet (he looks great), so I had to eat the entire dessert myself (pumpkin coffee cake). You see, I can’t drink coffee unless I have something to go with it. (it wasn’t chocolate though!) Anyway, we then left for the HV Folk Guild. We enjoyed ourselves, but after a while I started to get really tired, and I could tell Louis was too. So we left about half way through. It was nice to get out of the village for a few hours, and to spend some quality time with Louis. (Portia, we missed you!)

In other news: After watching the video of Alan, Pop-Pop said that it contributed to his decision to come to NY for Thanksgiving. He’s arriving next week. Bootie has to work Thanksgiving, so unfortunately she won’t be able to make the trip.
Cute Alan Quote: “Mommy, can you do me a favor” (yet when I asked him to tell me what it was, he didn’t respond). I also have to report that he is asking me meanings of words in books more often. (“trample”, “squabble”, “flap”, etc)

Have a good night!

Alan and Nick on Firetruck

First day we are all wearing hats and heavy coats. I decided to check the heat at Pop-Pop's house in Greenville today, so I tried to incorporate a playdate with that chore by inviting Nick and family along. After lunch at the condo, we took them to Pop-Pop's park where Alan and Nick enjoyed themselves on a wooden firetruck. Click below for video of Nick's son Ivan dressed up like a Pirate!

Ivan the Pirate

Halloween Video Part 1