Happy Halloween!

We had lots of fun dressing up!

A snapshot of what was under Hugo's pirate costume keeping him warm.

Ms Snow White

Hugo was very excited to see his friend Par Par (aka Parker) dressed as an elephant!

Yoda Baby

Ms Kitty Kat

Hugo ran from door to door. Didn't need hardly any coaxing at all.

Poppa was a Mummy even though he felt more like
a gang of teens had toilet papered him!
Hee hee hee, haa haa haa, har har har!

After each and every visit up the front walks,
Hugo and his friends felt I must inspect
the growing pile of sugar loot inside their totes.

Look, look!

Look, look, look!

We practiced saying Trick or Treat all week long.
Hugo could say it, but there was no enthusiasm in his voice.
Tonight, he got it.
Tonight, he hollered Trick or Treat over and over and over!
He just couldn't believe he was getting so many treats at one time!

Boo! The End!

Fall Torture

A part of me is in complete denial that fall is really here. I have a cold. My voice is gone. It has been rainy, damp and dreary outside. I am in denial that summer has truly ended. My state of denial hasn't been helped at all by how beautiful today was. It was warm, almost hot! I walked outdoors wearing a turtleneck, a light jacket and my newly finished knit hat. I was ready. Ready for fall not the gorgeous weather before me! I felt so tricked. Here I was trying to embrace the fall that is knocking upon our doors and windows. Fall, the kid brother of big bad Winter seems to be doubled over with laughter and howling in enjoyment over our torture in the mere thought of the very scary oil bill. But here I was, completley over dressed. I stripped off my layers one by one. I blinked my eyes at the bright sunshine and croaked out a strangled laugh. I felt happily betrayed. It was so wonderful! Sunshine.

Words of Hugo

Hugo Tale #1

Tonight as I set the table for our dinner Hugo helped. He helped me stay busy that is! When I had finished, I bent down to Mr Hugo's eye line and asked him to help me go upstairs to tell Poppa that dinner was ready.

Hugo - Poppa weepin Momma. Honk shooooo! Honk shooooo!


Hugo Tale #2

The other day I spied Hugo with his index finger jammed up his nose and watched as this same finger was then quickly inserted into his mouth and sucked upon.

Me - Yuck Hugo! Yuck, Yuck, Yucky! Do not pick your nose! Do not eat your boogers! (They were not full fledged boogers, more like a snot slick) That is soooo gross!!

Hugo - No Momma. It's gooood! (Imagine a giant smile on his face here.)

Shadow Shot Sunday #3

As dinner was cooking on the stove I hurriedly set the table. This lamp shade caught my eye and Shadow Shot Sunday came to mind. I ran for the camera.

To see more Shadow Shot Sunday entries visit Hey Harriet here.

Beanut Butter

Have I told you yet how much Hugo loves peanut butter & jelly sandwiches? Well, he does. Hugo asks for "beanut butter" all the time. His newest request involves his index finger swirling around in the peanut butter jar. Our friend Sheri was visiting while I was making a pb & j sandwich for him. She saw that I had emptied the jar. She then handed it over to Hugo and taught him all about using his finger to scrape out the last drops of peanut butter yumminess! I didn't really mind. I thought it was pretty cute watching him get his knuckles full of the peanut mess. But now. Now, whenever I make him a sandwich he says, "Mom, fin-ger. Momma finger, please!" How can I resist? Sometimes I stay strong and firm with the N - o spells no, and sometimes, I give in to his request. Today the little stinker hauled the giant Sam's size jar of peanut butter up the stairs to where I was scrubbing out the tub. "Mom fin-ger. Momma beanut butter finger, pleaaaase!"

Happy Birthday Carolina!

Today is my mother-in-law Carolina's birthday!

I have many fine wishes for her like...

Pretty blue skies to brighten her path home today.

Flowers, flowers, flowers!
My Momsha likes her flowers!

A yummy chocolate cake baked by Popsha.

And beijonhos *kisses* beijonhos from Hugo!

I tried to get him to pucker up
for the photo
or pretend
to blow you a kiss but,
it was a no go.
His eyes never wavered from the Pink Panther. Sorry.

Happy, Happy Birthday Momsha! You are in our thoughts today. We three love and miss you very much!

xoxoxo - Cesar, Alissa and Hugo

Sir Hugo Augustus

Look what goodness just came my way... I love it. Love it. It's my sweetie!

Check out the artist Samantha Card here and here for more goodness of all kinds.

Potty Time Part... 3?

*Read at your own Potty Training means yucky stuff is in store risk!

Potty training is messy. Hugo has tinkled in the toilet twice this morning. He is sick of sitting on the toilet every 20 minutes. He could care less that he will get a jelly bean reward. He does want the beans. He just doesn't want to sit on the toilet to get the bean. He is rebelling and yelling at me. I decided to show him a glimpse of what the prize filled pillowcase holds. He thought it was a fun game as I opened up the top of the pillow for him to peek inside. Once his little hand started reaching for the goods I clamped the opening shut. He laughed and laughed and the pillowcase top was opened and shut in our little game many, many times. When I declared the game to be over he threw a monster fit on the floor. He wanted the cars. At this very minute he is telling me, "Mommy, I want toooooys." I am ignoring him. I am especially ignoring him because he, 15 minutes ago or so, just filled the entire leg of his pajamas with you know what. A giant clump of the stuff rolled down said leg and settled beside his foot. He was playing in his room, I was gathering up the laundry. I heard, "Momma, poopies!" I had hoped he meant hurry and help me Momma. But no. The deed was done. Potty training is messy.

Shadow Shot Sunday #2

These lovely bathing beauties are my entry for this weeks Shadow Shot Sunday.

To see more SSS entries visit Hey Harriet.

Golden Leaves + Sunshine = Soul Happiness

I really wanted to take a walk through the woods today. My girlfriend, not so much. I begged and pleaded and bribed the kids and sorta forced her to walk with me. Her reasons could have something to do with the fact that her youngest is just a year old. And slow.

As we walked and walked, very slowly, my visual focus was mainly on the ground and trail before me. I was looking for pretty leaves. I was hollering at Hugo to slow down and that he was too far ahead. I was also worried about the repercussions of traveling so far away from our trusty kitchen timer with no wipes or anything clean and dry to change into. Then, something caused me to look up and out. My feet stopped. The words I had been speaking were no more. I was completely captured in the beauty of the woods before me. The trees were glowing.

Potty Training Update

Yesterday was fun and hard. It was fun racing to the bathroom each time the timer ding a ling linged. I was amazed and somewhat frustrated with how quickly 20 minutes flies by. I remembered the growth spurt days of nursing when instead of feeding Hugo every 3 hours, he was freaking and demanding to nurse every 2 - 2 1/2 hours. I felt like my name should have been changed to Bessie the Guernsey Cow during those random weeks of his physical growth.

Hugo did okay for his first day in big boy underpants. In the end, the day was not a complete loss. The score looked something like ...

Toilet - 5 / Super Hero Pants - 4

Unfortunately for me, his you know whats, all ended up in the pants. The positive part of this uncool situation is that he didn't like it. Hugo would call out to me, "Momma, Momma, Momma!" It was funny to see him standing there with his legs spread as if he'd just hopped off a donkey from a long days journey through the Grand Canyon. The laundry machines are in for a workout I'm afraid.

Another part that made our first Potty Training day tricky was that we had some unplanned errands come up which we had to do for Cesar. Tax stuff. No way around it. Tuesday nights are also my Mutual nights at church. I couldn't face leaving the girls every 20 minutes to track down Hugo and drag him into the bathroom. So, I caved and he wore a diaper from around 4 pm on through waking this morning. Not the same one. I did change him before bed! Today is our Barnes and Noble day but we're not going. Staying home as slaves to the kitchen timer.

Friends just called and might come over to play after story time ends at Barnes & Noble. These friends usually like to go to McDonald's and climb around in the jungle gym to tire the kids out afterward. It is awesome how well the climbing = sleeping children each and every time. Our last visit there found us all completely grossed out at how filthy the play structure was. We all swore we wouldn't go back. It would be nice to have friends join us here in our potty seclusion. I had thought about borrowing one of Hugo's little friends who is already potty trained who might help to encourage Hugo along. She knows the drill and will love all the juice and jelly beans. I wonder if I'd need girly poop prizes? That might be the plan for our Friday.

The weather is beautiful. Perfect even. I want to spend the entire day outside. Maybe Hugo will copy the dogs and learn to potty amongst the trees and leaves.

The End.