the actual halloween and pumpkin carving

beautiful numbers

My good friend, Allison, came to visit. We had a blast going to a math teacher's conference where we learned about beautiful numbers.... and some good tips for teaching better.
Of course, we had Ted Drewes
And we went to the zoo.
Funny thing is... Dennis's absolute favorite thing at the zoo is the train.

It was super nice to see Allison again. Even though we only see each other once a year and for only about 2 hours, it seems as though we see each other often. I love that girl.

carving pumpkins pictures

trunk or treat

When I asked Dennis what he wanted to be for Halloween a couple of months ago, he told me that he wanted to be a Jesus robot. After asking him many times what a Jesus robot was, we found that it was green, had hands and feet, and wheels. Then one day we went to Walgreens and passed some scary Halloween decorations and costumes. Dennis asked what it was and I said that some people liked to dress up scary on Halloween and get scared. From that moment on, whenever asked what he wanted to be for Halloween he would say that he just wanted to be a boy. Boy scout? no. farmer? no. Train driver? no. Pilot? no. Just a boy. Then I asked him what his boy was doing and he said that he was digging holes. So, I asked him if he wanted to be a digger. And he said yes! After a couple of weeks that turned into a front loader... All he had to do was tell Grandma and she was on it!

Didn't it turn out awesome?!






He was a happy little digger boy. Most trunks gave him extra candy because he had such an awesome costume.

visiting daddy

Ryan went to Rochester, Minnesota for an away rotation 3 weeks ago and will be coming home in a week. It sure has been weird not having him around. We sure miss him. One time when Dennis hit his head and was crying pretty hard for a while, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "I need to call daddy." After the first week, Dennis was having a really rough morning and crying about everything that he possibly could. Finally when he calmed down he said, "What makes me really sad is that daddy left me and you and Bruno and Buster." The next morning he said, "Hey, Where is that suitcase? The one that was right here?" Me: "Daddy took it with him to Minnesota." Dennis:"I want to call daddy." On the phone with Ryan Dennis said: "Bring that suitcase back."

We decided that a trip would be good for all of us. So we met in Waterloo, Iowa and had a blast! Dennis was so excited to see his daddy that he didn't even fall asleep in the 6 hour car ride. When we got to the hotel room, Dennis turned the heat on, changed the time on the clock, turned on the lights and called someone on the phone before I even sat down. Then he jumped on his bed until we heard a knock on the door! ...and it was daddy!

We played games, swam in the pool, went to a science observatory and really enjoyed being together.




Dennis didn't like his hair standing on end.

Dennis LOVED the circuit board. He had it all figured out.
It was sure good to see Ryan again, and it was sure hard to leave him again. Luckily, we only have one week left.

This past week Dennis has continued to talk about daddy. We went to the zoo and had a brief encounter with another family and as we were walking away Dennis said, "MY daddy is out of town." And, when Grandma and Grandpa rang the doorbell Dennis ran to the door yelling, "daddy, daddy!" Luckily he was excited to see his grandparents too and it wasn't just the mailman.

bad day

One day I went to pick Dennis up at school and they said he was having a bad day. I asked him why as he hobbled over to me. Dennis said that his toe hurt. I took off his sock and shoe and found a black toenail! He dropped a block while picking up toys and it landed in just the wrong way. After a week, it fell off.

some things he says...

On the way home from school we saw a boat. (before we knew the baby was a girl)

D: Nonnie has a boat.

M: Yes, Nonnie has a boat.

D: We don't have a boat.

M. Someday we will have a boat.

D: When I get bigger we will have a boat... and when my sister gets bigger we will have a boat.

__________

D: mommy has a baby in her tummy. I am going to be a brother and mommy is going to be a mommy and daddy is going to be a daddy!

___________

Bruno enters the same room as Dennis. Dennis doesn't like to get licked.

D: (yelling at the top of his longs) No Thank you. No Thank You. No Thank You. over and over.