October Fun

We attended the St. Joseph's Orphanage Fall Festival and toured the Orphanage. It has a beautiful chapel with lots of stained glass featuring children with the saints and angels. Can just picture the children who lived there from 1908 through the 60's. They told us that some children lived there because their families could not afford to keep them. That's pretty desperate. My Grandmother said, "I'd go to stealing before I'd give up one of my kids". Makes me realize how fortunate we are.

 Owen's favorite part was playing with the hay!

The Little Rock Zoo brought several animals for the kids to look at and even touch. The eagle was most impressive, HUGE!

Here is  some  History about St. Josephs

Dad and Owen enjoyed some warm weather and strolled the neighborhood.

I got to FaceTime from work. Owen was feeling playful and making funny faces.

We celebrated Baby E's First Birthday.This is the first family shot, where big brother was camera-shy and cousin had to be the "stand-in" brother.

Here's the family with the REAL big brother!

These two cousins just seem to abuse each other!

We attended Book Babies again and made some new friends while reading and singing songs

Went to a very swank First Birthday party where they had pony rides and a petting zoo

This is what I thought about kid's parties. But we did have fun!
And we tried on Owen's Halloween costume to attend Octoberfest at The Pantry. Homemade Brats and German Beers were pretty good and we had a good time.

 

 Halloween night we celebrated with homemade chili, caramel fondue, and spiced cider with Calvados

Owen helped greet guests and hand out candy. I think he enjoyed his first Halloween!

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Keepin' Busy

These days we have to branch out a little to keep Owen occupied. Gone are the days when he would lay and bat at the baby einstein octopuss ("Calamari") while we ate a meal or performed our basic hygiene. 

Here are a few activities of the week:

Swimming at the Athletic Club!

He got excited when he got in the water and splashed to his heart's content.

We also went to the Book Babies program at the Library. Clint is working night shift, so he got up and went with us to try to stay awake. He actually was not the only Dad there!

 He checked out the other kids, and after an initial high-speed crawl toward a cute blonde, he hung back and was a little shy.

 And he enjoyed the books. He does love to be read to. His favorites are "Heads", "Where is baby's belly button" and all of the Dr. Seuss Nursery Books. There are a few books he refuses though.

 There's also the occasional Target run but I think that's more for my entertainment than the Boy's

And when all else fails and I need just a minute to cram some food in my mouth - there's Audrey and Gamaliel

They are two Indonesian brother and sister kids that sing and post You Tube videos from their bedroom.

I just press play on the laptop!

 

 

 

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Weekend at the Lake

Weekend at the Lake

Two whole days to enjoy ourselves in Hot Springs! Highlights:

Raising our flag

 Owen has learned to pull himself up since he was here last so there was new exploring to do

 

A trip to Cajun Boilers where they finally gave us 5% off our tab for being loyal customers, Yay!

  Owen sat in a highchair for the first time here

My husband once again indulged my eccentricities and didn't mention that the Hogs were scheduled to start playing while we were eating so I wouldn't feel bad. Wonder if Owen will be so nice when he's older and wants to watch the game? I think there was a rain delay anyway.

And our food was perfect as usual - fried shrimp and catfish and grilled Mahi Mahi with Ponchatrain sauce

Somehow we became hungry again - Clint made a Shipley's run while I cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast.

Morning was cloudy but comfortable. Post-breakfast CBS Sunday Morning watching is so relaxing -

So we had to take a nap

Sun came out! Clint spent a few hours working on gutters and the yard and I raked and bagged 4 bags of leaves (small dent). We had a very nice visit with neighbor friends who told us repeatedly how cute our baby was (Oh it never gets old!)
Simple lunch of grilled sausage and peppers on Hawaiian rolls with Kettle Buffalo Bleu chips

Owen didn't get any but enjoyed himself anyway

Yes, we put a rug and toys down for him to play on but he MUCH preferred the pile of dead leaves. So much fun to crunch in your hands while we try to keep them out of his mouth!