"No Place Like Home!"

For trick or treating Declan's third and final costume after Ali G. and the Chicken (sounds like morning zoo radio DJs) was to play Toto to Nellie's Dorothy. -

Declan's buddy James came over to do some trick or treating - they went to two whole houses!

Here they are playing with the slinkies they got at the Lasiters'.

At the Teboe's house - "When I push this button chocolate comes out!"

Signing "more!" outside the Teboe's.

Scary decorations!

Time to head home! And then grownups went to a bonfire block party and then a costume party at Drew Lott's. Shane was an SEC referee and I started out as the Octomom but lost a baby somewhere along the line.

Prize of the Day goes to Nellie for bringing some quiet dignity to her role as Dorothy.

"You call this a rescue?"

Recognize!

Happy Hallowe'en from Deci G. Boo-yakasha!

Respect!

Arkansas' #1 Export

This seemed like a natural choice for Declan's first Hallowe'en costume given his propensity for crossing the road for no reason whatsoever. He has got three time outs this week already for trying to cross the street at the playground unaccompanied.

More importantly chicken is one of Arkansas' biggest exports and Declan is about to be exported for the first time - for Christmas in Canada - yay!

In the interim Declan started off his Hallowe'en celebration with a party at Susan's. Here he is monkeying around with James. Awesomely when he was seated in his costume he wasn't able to get up easily. Next year Declan is going as a mermaid. Give mommy a chance to sit and have a glass of wine already.

Vegas (No) Baby Vegas!

We are just back from a great weekend in Vegas. Shane had got me tickets to U2 for my birthday as I had never had seen them in concert before- partly because of my resistance to large venues and partly because of my since disavowed hipster pretensions. Shane chose the Vegas tour stop as the most fun weekend getaway option - a wise decision. We stayed at the Bellagio which was another first for me.

We didn't realize that the stadium where the show was was so far away from the strip and we heard that it would be impossible to get a cab back. We called the concierge to get a car service to get out there and found out that because of the concert there wasn't a single car or limo for rent in all of Vegas - except one 30 seat party limo complete with stripper pole. We took it! And told the concierge that if anyone else was looking for a ride they could come with us. So we ended up taking 28 strangers from all over the world to the concert with us. It was so much fun! One of our passengers was an Irishman named Declan. He was very excited to hear that we had named our son Declan and now we have a place to stay in Cork.
A bunch of Shane's friends from med school were in Vegas that weekend so we met up with them a few times over the weekend. I've never been out for dinner with so many doctors before. I should have choked on something while I have the chance.

For the first time we left Vegas with more $$ than we came with. We played craps and slots and cards and did some sports betting too and could not lose! It would have been hard to leave if we didn't miss our Declan so much. On our way out of town we got our cabbie to take us through the In'N'Out drive thru! Perfect end to a perfect weekend. Good times!

Busy Day Today

Shane remarked this morning that Declan looked like he was ready for his time share in Boca Raton.

We couldn't be further from the golden years of retirement - we were so busy today! There were many things to try and climb and get hung up on. Here Declan got stuck and couldn't take his hands off to sign for help so he just clung there for awhile.

"Places to go - things to do"

Why the hurry? Declan was heading home to help Daddy with his work.

That's our son trying to place a call on the mouse. We couldn't be more proud.

Night of the Living Zed

Shane and I went out for a rollicking monday night with an aborted dinner at Za-Za's and pub trivia at Zack's then out to see the late showing of "Zombieland". You need to see this movie.

Then we came home and caught some zzz's. Good timez fo' shizzle.

Version 1.5

Declan turned 1.5 today. We celebrated with a trip to Fall Family Fest which was one of the very first things we did when we moved into the SoCan neighbourhood last year. Because they have the same props you can see how much things have changed in the past year:

Look how tiny the spiders are now!

Now he's one pumpkin taller and one heck of a lot less happy to be out of the house right before bedtime.

Night of a Thousand Terrors

We went to the Arkansas State fair tonight and terrified Declan in dozens of different ways. It started when he was shown a baby bunny which scared him witless.

And then a parade of fluffy ducklings made him want to head for the hills.

A robotic fire truck chased him around the Hall of Industry.

Then it was time for the rides. The carousel wasn't too bad. Until it started to move.

The flying elephant was terrifying.

"What have I done to deserve this?"

Declan had the last laugh though by falling in love with an unlicensed clown fish that Shane won for him (by beating some children at a midway sharpshooting-in-the-clown's mouth- game) Dec loves that thing!

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Bridal Shower for Becca

We had a little book club shower for Becca who is getting married this coming weekend. It was a fun surprise with Becca under the the illusion that she was just coming over for yet another episode of Project Runway instead of dinner with all the ladies. In honour of PR we put together our own runway show of slapped together outfits with a highly competive round of Toilet Paper Bride. Ah you can't go wrong with the classics.

.Eve narrating on the runway...

Let me know if you want me to submit this to High Profile Becca.

New Baller on the Scene

Is it just me or can anyone else hear a faint strain of "Sweet Georgia Brown"