Weekend Update

I realize I've been a bit more sparse than normal around the blog. Alas, real life intervenes. We've done nothing very blog-worthy over the past couple of weeks; I've been madly cleaning the house for a baby shower, hanging curtains, only half of which are so crooked that Juston will have to re-do them (not bad!), cutting back the dead perennials in my front yard, working, etc., etc., etc. Frankie's been his usual self, except that we're batting 2 for 5 on days that he took naps last week, which kind of scares me. He's a beast when he hasn't napped, so I can tell he's not quite ready to give them up. I've also seen a couple of movies, to which I'll reply: "Quantum of Solace" wasn't nearly as good as I hoped it would be (note to Marc Forster: multiple chase scenes do not equal a plot) and "Twilight" wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (and I'm hoping that some of the super cheesy framing (aka the dead-stacking of the owl behind Edward's head in one scene) was director Catherine Hardwicke injecting some personality into what was probably a very restricted filming environment.)

We are going out of town for Thanksgiving, and the road trip involves a stop at Graceland, so I'm hoping for some good photo ops. Until then, I'll leave you with this little gem, and thanks Claire for alerting us to this series of short films:

Pink Eye

As I've already explained, last week Frankie had pink eye and an ear infection, which made for a rather dull week. Then Juston got sick with a cold and poison oak (from the fence he built last week) and slept for the rest of the week, which kept it dull. In other words, I have nothing good to share today, except for a couple of pictures of Frankie's sick face.

Pink eye time is potty time! We're still not even close to being potty-trained yet, but the practice doesn't hurt. We plant the potty in front of the TV and he's happy to sit on it for awhile. Then we give him a beverage so that he can make something to come out. It's worked a few times so far! Any tips?


Check out that goopy face and that scary mommy!


Frankie took this one of 'Digiboo' (that's what he calls Bridget.)


Things are now somewhat to normal around here - I've been back at work and Juston is also back at work after sleeping most of the weekend. Our next focus is getting things ready for the baby shower we're having at the house this Saturday. Just ignore the boards that are still over the windows....I am not gifted with a drill and haven't managed to seal the deal on hanging the blinds yet!

Traveling with a Toddler

This is going to be a very boring post, but I am looking for a bit of advice. We're taking a road trip in two weeks for Thanksgiving, and it's been almost a year since we've done any significant driving with Frankieman. The problem is that now he is in want of more entertainment and may have trouble with the whole 'being strapped down' for several hours at a time thing. (We'll probably drive about 6 hours in a row four times.) What do you do with your kids when you travel? How do you keep them entertained without going crazy from listening to the same CD over and over and over again? (This is already my driving pattern.) Is buying a portable DVD player worth it? Thanks!

Whatcha Gonna Do?

This lovely number is one of Frankie's favorite videos. (We spend a lot of time on YouTube.) Anyway, one morning (back when I was sick a few weeks ago - you can tell by my voice), while watching both this video and tv at the same time, he started singing along to it and wanted to watch it over and over. I'm going to spare you on trying to sound witty or coherent today; I'm starting to come down with whatever Frankie has - the doctor deemed it an ear infection yesterday, which explained the fever all weekend, along with the pink eye. Fantastic! So enjoy the vid.



He's also doing the sweet holding the feet dance. When he watches the above video, he'll start it up.

Puddin'

Frankie loves him some puddin' snack.

On an unrelated note, we're at home with pink eye today. Poor Frankie keeps complaining about his eye. The good news, though, is that since we're stuck at home, we're having a potty-training marathon. It means Frankie gets to run around with no pants and that the tiny potty is planted in front of the TV. I'm sure I'll get back to you with plenty of potentially embarrassing photos.

Tonight I had a flashback...

...to something delicious. I think it's been two years since I made one of these....



If someone wants to make me one now, that would be great! Otherwise, I know what we're having next weekend for dessert. :)

Candy!

Yeah, I'm just over a week late. There are already a lot of Halloween-related photos on my blog, but things wouldn't feel complete without pictures of the big night! Frankie started the day with a good puke all over the floor, but by the evening he was feeling better, well-rested, and ready to stuff himself with massive amounts of sugar.

Just chillin' with the pumpkin that Mom carved earlier the same day. Nothing like the last minute!



Trick-or-treating, on foot, house-to-house, old skool style. None of this 'car trunks' or 'store to store at the mall' stuff. We love our inner-city neighborhood.



The stash. He wasn't too keen on getting a picture with it, for some reason. He could've reaped a lot more, but we took a tiny bag so that we could limit the amount of candy. Needless to say, our kind neighbors were trying to cram several pieces of candy in at a time until it was overflowing. Don't worry, we helped him with this problem (mostly with the chocolate.)



This is what it's all about, yo.

Traffic Feed

Okay, so I caved in and added one of those 'live traffic feed' widgets to my blog after vowing that I never would. (Wow that was a badly constructed sentence.) I'm not trying to get all 'big-brothery' on my blog, I'm just trying to get a sense of the amount of traffic my blog generates and if it's something worth doing. (To blog or not to blog? I think Grandmas would kill me if I stopped altogether.) I don't plan on leaving it up for more than a week or so, and after that you can go back to browsing in anonymity. But it will be fun to see what kind of crazy Google searches lead people to my little corner of the internet....

And stay tuned. I've got a small backlog that will make it live within the next few days.

Politics.

I've tried to stay away from politics on my blog as a general rule. I don't like politics and I don't trust ANY politician. (Although it's no secret who I voted for - see sidebar - I chose to go 3rd party because I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I languish in the 'two parties is too few and too divisive' camp. Plus I'm against corporate bailouts.) However, I do enjoy political satire and this is funny stuff. (Overzealous political supporters of any campaign verge on scary.) Be sure to read the captions at the bottom of the screen during the video. Courtesy of 'The Onion.'


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Schpeed Raceahhhhh.....

So about a month or so ago (can you tell I'm not on top of things right now?), Juston and Frankie were left at home by themselves one night. I can't remember what I was off doing, let's hope it was something glamorous, even though it was more likely some sort of neighborhood meeting or a trip to the gym. Anyway, Juston set up his camera on the tripod and took some photos of peanut riding his truck all over the house. Huzzah for 2000 sq. feet of hardwood floors!

This is Frankie's mugshot. (You can tell these pictures are old because his hair isn't as surfer dude punk as it is now.)

Frankie in motion.

Stopping for a refreshing drink (as Frankie calls it, Thomas Juice.)

Go, Speed, Go!

All in a day's work. Good fun!

Other free stuff for voting....

How to Eat for Free on Election Day

FREE CONE DAY!

Free Election Day cone at Ben & Jerry's from 5-8 PM! Go get your vote on and then get some free ice cream! (Vote libertarian! Vote for freedom and vote for 3rd party viability - and vote against corporate bailout.)