Halloween Celebrations

Yeah, I know Halloween was over 2 weeks ago, but I thought you might enjoy some pictures from all of Owen's parties and celebrations...

Pumpkin Patch with Grammy and friends in OP 10/28/09

Owen and I spent an entire week in KC after Emily's wedding shower so Mike could get some uninterrupted work in on his thesis. The morning we left, Grammy and Owen went with a friend and her grandson to the pumpkin patch at the Deanna Rose farmstead. I let them go while I packed up and took a nap (Owen woke up at or before 5 (and usually it was more like 4:20) on 5 of the days we were at my parents. Not that we didn't have a nice time, but let me tell you I was happy to get back home where he usually sleeps until 6ish and then watches Disney in bed with us until 7!) Grammy took tons of pictures with my camera and Owen obviously had a blast despite his massive sleep deprivation ;o)

Everybody Move music class 10/29/09

We've done several sessions of this music class since Owen was a baby, always with Owen's buddy Andrew.

Last year we were out of town for the Halloween class, so we were excited to make it this year. Owen had a great time and loved watching himself dance in the mirror!

"Pumpkin Patch Party" at the Ridgeville Community Center 10/29/09

We have this little Sesame Street book called "Pumpkin Patch Party" and it is all about a Halloween party on Sesame Street. Owen called every Halloween party we wen to a Pumpkin Patch Party. We stopped by this party at the community center a few blocks down. We came from my doctor's appointment, and were running a little late, so Owen just wore his jeans with his dragon jacket.

They had trick-or-treating and even live music and dancing. The boys had a great time!
It was a great, FREE activity, right in our neighborhood.

Isn't he proud of his cute little pumpkin?!

Work Halloween Party 10/30/09

My friend Lisa from work hosted a Halloween party at her new house in Libertyville the morning before Halloween. It was a blast and there were tons of kids. This is my friend's baby Ellie. Isn't she just so cute and tiny! She wasn't quite 2 weeks old at the party! I only took about 8 pictures at the party and they were all of baby Ellie :o)

Good Morning Halloween Party at Eva's 10/31/2009

Owen and Mike went to the party without me because I had worked all night :o( They had a great time. Isn't Owen's artwork nice?

Trick-or-Treating 10/31/09

Owen had a great time Trick-or-Treating with his buddy Andrew!!! After each house, he announced "I got a Halloween treat!" as he came back down the steps.


Also, as he picked his treat at most houses he looked at me and said "Do you need one too, Mommy?" He is such a sweet boy! He loved seeing all of the kids in their costumes and ringing the doorbells. He was not so into the candy, so that was a great thing, too. He did eat his first Cheetos, though. And he loved them, as you can imagine!


After trick-or-treating, we went over to Andrew's house for pizza. It was such a fun night! I was so happy I didn't have to work until 11 so I could be a part of the fun.

November 15th?!

Could it possibly be halfway through November already??? And I haven't even written on this darn blog forever!!! Sorry for my absence. We have been so busy...

The most exciting of our happenings... (drumroll please......) Daddy is a doctor!!! I really don't think he appreciated my taking pictures during his talk, so I only took this one!

"Congratulations Dr. Daddy" is what Owen kept telling Mike after we picked him up when he had finished everything up. My ugly cake does not do Mike's amazing achievement justice, but it was chocolate banana :o)

Mark Hersam, Mike's advisor, saying all kinds of nice things about him. I wish I would have videoed it!

I wish I would have taken this picture so you could see how darn thick Mike's thesis is! Mike, we could not be more proud of you and all of your hard work over the last 5 years. Owen and I hope we were more of a help to you than a burden as you worked to attain your PhD, though I'm sure that wasn't always the case :o) We love you! We are all still kind of in shock that everything is over and are still kind of amazed by the fact that Mike is done. We are definitely enjoying a less stressful lifestyle these days, which has been wonderful. And, seeing Mike again has been wonderful, too!

After Mike's defense, Em and Jim met us at Nevin's to celebrate. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, playing outside, and enjoying a wonderful weekend in which I was off of work. Highlights included breakfast at Walker Brothers(complete with pumpkin pancakes,) the Boom Shaka concert (a percussion and hip hop show for kids at NW, which Owen LOVED.

He was dancing and drumming throughout the show :o) and the Walsh family's return to Church (Owen was really good, too!!! We are excited to go back when we can and then re-start going weekly once I'm on maternity leave! FYI we had only stopped going for awhile and the top two reasons included our church has no cryroom and 2 year old Owen was mostly interested in running around and talking loudly during Mass. The last time we went, he actually ran out of our pew and out of Church- like outside- and our church is on a really busy intersection. Lots of fun...)