Halloween Hangovers...

I think I am suffering from a Snickers and Skittles hangover... I did so well throughout October, buying great candy only if I could get it for $1 or less a bag. At home, I stashed it in the guest room closet and didn't open a single bag until 30 minutes before the first trick or treater rang the doorbell. On Halloween night, I only had a few pieces as Kim and I watched Shaun of the Dead on the couch. But boy, have I been making up for lost time!

Mistake #1: Not sending all the leftovers in to Mustang.
Mistake #2: Leaving it on the counter.

I may have given myself tennis elbow from repetitive hand to mouth movement. Ugh. Well, the problem has almost resolved itself (wrappers are beginning to outnumber actual candy) although I know I am going to be pushing the stroller all over the neighborhood from sunup till dusk this week. Perhaps I should add a few weights to the basket, since we did such a good job (sorry, Kim did a good job) buying a stroller with so little rolling resistance.

But none of you are here for my rantings. OK, perhaps a few of you are, poor souls with nothing saved on Tivo and nothing from Netflix in the mailbox. For the rest of you, an update on the life and very busy times of Alastair!

As you can see from the lead photo, Mr. Alastair was a ferocious lion for Halloween. Over the course of three weeks, he had a total of 5 costume wearing events, so I believe we got our money's worth out of the costume.Here he is at the MOMS club Fall Food and Fun Party. On this particular day early in the month, it was still in the uppers 80's and low 90's, so I made the wise decision that his insulated fleece costumes might not be met with great enthusiasm. Here is Alastair the farmer "Old MacAlastair," posing in a wagon supplied by Grant and Jackson's mom (in her former life, she was known as Becky). I seized the opportunity for a mini photo shoot with this great prop.


Last Monday, we had the opportunity to visit the Blue Barn Fun Farm with the club and Grammie Lewis. Perhaps the "inappropriate information ghetto farm" might be a more apt description. During the course of our two hour visit, these were a few choice quotes:

"Be careful because it is very snakey out here and they can fall out of the trees on you."
"We had an eight year old alligator, but it got out of its pen and the people across the street shot it."
Standing next to the milking cow, which the kids are allowed to pet: "Do any of you have leather on your shoes? Well, this is where leather comes from." Gesturing to the cow, "And this part is where hamburger comes from, though, of course not from this exact cow. Who would like to pet the cow?"
"Bunnies are really not good presents for Easter. My daugther had a bunny and their teeth are so sharp she had to get 42 internal stitches. Who would like to pet the bunny?"

I really wish I were exaggerating, but I am not. Because Alastair couldn't understand any of this, it was actually quite entertaining and the "horrified mom" factor was a bit lower than it would be if he were older. We all had a great time waiting to see what our looney guide was going to come up with next. Note to self: no visits to the Blue Barn Fun Farm when Alastair is old enough to be traumatized by the idea of snakes falling out of trees or being mauled by a bunny. Although, come to think of it, is there really an age that a snake falling out of a tree on you is not going to be traumatic?

Some highlights of the trip:Alastair riding a very skinny undersized horse. The woman leading him (again, our loopy guide) offered to sell me a fantastic appaloosa. Insert gagging emoticon here.
Alastair smacking at a baby goat. Sort of looks like he is petting him, doesn't it? We're working on this! I think he just gets too excited to remember all of our talks about "gentle."
Alastair playing in the grass at his playgroup "with hubbies" party. It's like a playdate for babies AND Daddys! Except the men get to have beer.

And I will leave you with this final shot of me minus about 8-10 inches of hair. SO glad to have a new coif. And with the reduction in blow drying time, I will have approximately another 5 minutes to get things done. Or perhaps another 5 minutes to fritter away on BabyCenter.com...

The wet spots on my shoulder are Alastair kisses.