Hi, my name is Marie...

...and I'm a superhero enabler.

Yes. I have no one to blame but myself.

Allow me to back up. D has been in full time pull-ups since he started potty training. A few weeks in we discovered that the Meijer brand pull-ups had the DC Superfriends on them! (For those of you non-nerdy superhero followers - that's the Batman/Robin/Flash/Green Lantern group of friends).

Needless to say D has been requesting them ever since. He does not like others. (Which was pseudo-upsetting to me for a brief moment since this is not the eco-brand I normally would choose). But I roll with it. It's actually pretty stinking cute when I go to get a new one for him - and D is SUPER excited to see "who's on there" (as they vary).

A few days ago D and I made a trek to our area Meijer for pull-ups. A NATIONAL TRAGEDY was underway. We discovered that Meijer has discontinued the Superfriends design in favor of trucks for boys and something girly for girls. WHAT?!?!? So we found some on clearance on the end rack and scooped them up. One lousy pack.

I was looking at our reserves tonight and decided to go online to see if MAYBE Meijer had their brand on-line for sale.
Yes. They. Do.
AND on clearance - SUPER cheap. So I immediately ordered 6 large packs and am having them shipped to the house.

Is this an enabler move? Maybe. But I could've ordered 20 packs - or whatever - but I didn't. I'm simply making a money-saving decision that just so happens to make my cutie pie nearly-3-year-old giddy with delight.

So, enable I will.

(Yeah it's a sickness, my next post just proves that I may need a group session). :)

A Very Flash Halloween

The Flash has taken over Halloween. I think D honestly thinks that by deciding that he's going to dress up as The Flash for Halloween, he has to make Halloween all about The Flash.

Any time we mention Halloween it comes up...and a few nights ago we carved The Flash into our pumpkin (though it was my fault as I suggested it - but once I did - there was no going back). It's a Flash-O-Lantern!
(this crappy photo is soon to be replaced with the good one from my camera).

Happy Flashoween to All!

Sonny Acres - take 3!

It's become an annual tradition...a trip to Sonny Acres Farm in West Chicago with Evan and Marcy. And, we LOVE it.

This year was a bit more exciting - since D is older and more IN to the whole idea of rides and attractions and Halloween in general. He was excited to look at/ride on/touch & feel EVERYTHING.

We started with some of the farm animals - feeding them from the $0.25 corn vending machine. D loved this - he loves animals and gets such a charge out of letting them eat from his hand. Here's a super short video clip of the laughter that ensued every time his new-best-friend the goat came near him.

After that it was off to the rides. It did cost a lot more this year since D had strong opinions about riding the rides - but it was a one-time excursion so we played along.
He rode a motorcycle in circles

The BIG slide with Aunt Marcy (2 years running)

A flying dragon, a train, and a dragon rollercoaster with me - which was SUPER unsteady and felt like we were going to fall out every time. Ten minutes after we got off - the ride was shut down. Uh...okay? But D loved it of course.

He and Uncle Evan then made their way to the petting zoo. Feeding more animals, making friends with goats, llamas, a pot-bellied pig, a calf, and some chickens. He pet a baby lamb, bunnies and a sheep as well. I don't know who liked this part of the trip more, D or Uncle Evan.

We made the mistake of telling D he could get a little pumpkin - then taking him to the painted pumpkins. When we found the BATMAN painted pumpkin all bets were off. $10.00! But it looks super cute in D's room.
And - we visited Spiderman.

All that and a trip to the sign "How Tall This Fall" - which has become an annual tradition. And in the spirit of tradition - I will post all three years of pics from this sign. I think the sign was not all the way in the ground this year - as D is MUCH taller than last year - but appears to be hitting the same point on the chart. Oh well.




Another year of memories. LOVE.

The Best Book Recently

The Best Pet of All is one of the best children's books we've had in a LONG time from the library. Yes, I say this a lot though...

David LaRochelle wrote the cutest book. And the illustrations by Hanako Wakiyama are perfect. They make the story to me. This author/illustrator combo seems to be a match made in heaven.

Let me start off by saying this book caught my attention because the cover art looks like a book from the 1950s/1960s - which I typically love. Some of my favorites, which we own are the Little Golden Books from that era, The Daddy Book, the Dorrie books, etc - where the illustrations are clean, innocent and reflect the period in the environments of the book (toys, hairdos, clothing, buildings, etc). You can imagine my surprise seeing it was penned in 2009. I love that the little boy in the book has very vintage looking toys, the mom is wearing 60s style clothes, and the house they live in is decorated like something I might love to live in. I believe it's got to be set in that era.

The story however, is the best part. A little boy asks his mother over multiple days if he can have a dog, which she refuses - so he asks for a dragon. She says if he can find one, he can keep it. And of course he does - at a drugstore. Who he gets to come home because "dragons love toys".
The dragon is a terrible houseguest and pet. He doesn't pick up, dances all night (to records no less), eats in the tub, etc.

The little boy tells his mother it's too bad they don't have a dog because dragons are scared of dogs...so the mother caves. They put a sign in there window for a dog wanted. My favorite two pages state "A few minutes later there was a knock at the door" and then "It was a dog". The sentences and illustrations in these few pages are adorable and hilarious, so simple and perfect in the story. The dragon leaves and the mother is happy. The boy is happy because "a dog is the best pet of all". And you see the boy and the dragon giving each other a sly thumbs-up when the mother is warming up to the dog on one of the last pages.

This book is perfect. It's well-written. It's got short, simple sentence pages making it ideal for my little boy to sit and listen to. And it's a feel-good book for all.

As much as I get flustered with my boy and his dog...I realize that there's a bond there. They have a love for each other that I'm not sure any dragon would ever replace. And this book WILL join our library at home.

Mostly because it's that darn cute.

The Sing-Off - take 2

I posted a clip of a group on NBC's "The Sing Off" last season - because I loved it so much - and I feel just as strongly about this performance from last night. This group called Vocal Point (another all-male group that I love, shocking I know) did what appeared to be an effortlessly smooth/cool/amazing performance of The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra - for 60's night. (Helps that I love everything Frank Sinatra, AND 60's).

This show is everything I love about music - and amazing and inspirational. Makes me wish I was a good singer. Makes me want to get back on stage...ASAP. :)