Beauty and the Beast

Preston is getting very into making scary faces for the camera. It is hard to get him to not make a ridiculous face! I cannot even believe I am posting this picture-it's so hideous but he finds it hilarious! Here is my handsome boy:

And here is my little monster:

And he is eagerly awaiting Halloween. For weeks he has been harping on being a spider. Old Navy has a cute costume, I figured I would get it this weekend. Until yesterday he decided he wants to be a dragon. OK. A red one! After scouring the Internet I have not found a red dragon costume that was not for an 8 year old. I broke the news lightly. It went down like this:
Me: Pres there are no red dragon costumes. What about Spider Man?
Pres: I don't want to be Spider Man. I want to be a dragon. Go find a blue one or a gray one.

Mel believed he would forget about it. Yeah, not so much. Today in the car...he remembered that LAST YEAR his friend Javier was a dragon...a freakin red one! In fact I have a picture of it! I think Javier's mother made that costume and we do not need to go into my un-craftiness now do we? I am thinking of buying the costume from his mother. Although Javier is one of the tallest boys in school which would force me to go back to the tailor.

Speaking of the tailor....I have successfully negotiated a price on all pants at $6 a pair. This is a break from the $9 I paid in NY. You had to see me trying to explain to the new tailor that I will be a great customer if she would give me a good price. I told her my son is a little person. She looked at me like, well what the hell else would he be? So each week I am bringing her like 3 to 4 pairs so as not to inundate her with 20 pairs all at once. (20 includes pajamas and sweat pants before everyone starts going 20 pairs WTF is wrong with you)!

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Our Weekend with Tinka

   My sister came down this weekend and we had a great time together.  Saturday after scarfing down lunch we headed to the pumpkin farm.  This year we did some new things at the farm-my mom and Katie shot corn out of air guns (which was hilarious to think that my mom with her Louis Vuitton shot husked corn) and we conquered the corn maze.  To get through said maze you had to correctly answer 24 questions on the agriculture of Virginia.  Now…I may even have trouble answering a quiz on the seasons of Desperate Housewives so can you imagine me doing this-which crop is the largest in VA?  I totally would have guessed tobacco-that was not even a choice.  Apparently the state soil is called pamunkey.  See I learned something amidst the stalks.  Here are some pictures:

 

Last year Preston wanted the big pumpkin.  This year because he realized he could not pick it up and to keep his manliness told me “I don’t like the big pumpkins Mommy.”  So this is the one he picked:

Katie and Preston really enjoyed playing in shelled corn.  I think Katie had more fun.  I was pulling corn out of his underwear, but at least he had a good time. It’s funny that the last pics of Katie you saw she was all dolled up in a wedding gown.  Now she is wearing a t-shirt with a dog farting fire. 

Katie and my mom doing duck races.  My mom totally kicked her rear on this.  Katie’s poor duck did not stand a chance!

The bounce house!  Notice Preston is literally IN FLIGHT!

On Sunday we went to eat at the Boat House on the reservoir.  I thought these pics were really cute:

Fall-What I Like and Don't Like

Here is what I love about the fall:

1) NFL Football

2) Post Season baseball

3) The return of all my favorite shows

4) My hair does not need the flat iron as often

5) My eyeliner does not run onto my top lid (why does that happen anyway-I sit behind a desk! I mean I am not lifting weights and even so, do your eyelids sweat?)

6) Jeans with high heels.

And you totally thought I was going to say pumpkins and cider and the leaves changing colors....well that too of course ;-)

What I hate about Fall:

1) Retiring flip flops eventually (like November)

2) It gets dark earlier making way to the eventual 3:30 pm sunset (O.K. fine! 4:15)

3) Christmas decorations out now. Utterly ridiculous and they take away from the autumnal scenes. Yes I get it Christmas is three months away-I don't need it shoved quite that far down my throat yet. Although on the upside we can all start using the Santa threat!!! Yipee. In fact I already bought two gifts (BUT Preston is a December baby so I have to get double).

4) The realization that everything Preston owns is too long in the arms and legs and I can't sew (remember my status update on Facebook about feeling like a failure amidst the customers in Ben Franklin? I started hyperventilating somewhere between the pipe cleaners and glue guns). So I totally bend over and pay like $100 for hemming of the pants. ARGH! Summer is soooo much easier for this reason. Hopefully the tailor gets it right this time-let's hope she won't sew boobs into Preston's pants.

5) The fact that the Red Sox will probably eek their way into fall baseball.

6) JACKETS-I hate wearing jackets (other than like the stylish blazer). I hate gloves and hats too. I don't hate the fall-I just hate the inevitable-January through March. Weatherwise let's be honest-they suck. I get sad that summer goes so fast. I'm not one for sweating at all, but I am still sorry to see it go.

We are getting ready for the arrival of Mrs. Reed, or Katie, to Virginia this weekend. The firepit is ready and we have already tested it out. Preston has made sure to stuff about four marshmallows in his mouth already. He also is getting bitten alive by the bugs down here. So much so that they turn into welts. One started to form a ring so I naturally diagnosed him with Lyme Disease. Even though I am pretty sure Preston has not gotten cozy with a deer lately. but nevertheless. I really (forgive me) so did not want to go to the emergency pediatrician center on a sunny Saturday, so my mother suggested the good ol' CVS pharmacist. Both of the pharmacists have lived here their whole lives. They told me (even after I knew this from vast research of 15 minutes on Web MD) that Lyme Disease forms a bulls eye. I was convincing myself Preston had a bull's eye mark. I was directed to Aisle 9...hydrocortozone.

Well hope everyone has a great weekend!!!! Here is a cute pic of Preston from Sunday after deciding he had had enough football:

And my sister's wedding pictures from the professional were up. I totally LOVE this one of Preston.

Still Nothing Too Exciting

But Mel reminded me in an abrupt e-mail that I have neglected the blog. Basically I have nothing too exciting going on. I am thinking very deep about perhaps installing a DVD player in my car. On the ride up to NYC in my mother's car this was typical Preston:

Did not stop flapping the mouth. Once we hit NYC and I borrowed my father's car-this was Preston:

Much more pleasant. Especially since he loves the earphones I can listen to my 80's on 8 music on satellite without interruption (which totally rocks by the way). The only snag is Preston is really not in the car with me anymore. I drop him off two minutes after the commute starts. (Don't be jealous-coffee and alone time for 30 minutes after drop off-bliss). So this contraption would have been useful...oh about a year ago when we lived in New York.

Other than that, nothing too exciting-coming down from the wedding. Katie is visiting next weekend and I can barely contain my excitement. I think she will be posting my speech on her blog-I'll keep you posted. Usually though when Katie tells you she'll post something it could take awhile-and she's a newlywed-blogging hopefully is not on her list of priorities unlike her uncool, single sister (LOL).

I want to congratulate the Greene and Hedger families on their newest additions! YAY! Cannot wait to see more pictures. Hope everyone is having a great back to school week. Preston started Montessori and his teacher is a doll. She told me after day 1 he was super smart-that's my big brained boy! Have a great week everyone!

Going to the Chapel and We’re Gonna Get Married!!!!

They did it!  Katie and Steve are the new Mr. & Mrs. Reed.  And perhaps I am biased but my sister was the most gorgeous bride ever.  They had a beautiful day!  There was so much food!  The cocktail hour featured a Caribbean station, a pasta station, Asian fusion station, Spanish station, seafood station, sliders station, antipasto table, passed hors de oeuvres and more.  The meal was fabulous and dessert hour featured a fondue station, hot apple cobbler and bread pudding, every pie and cake imaginable, and ice cream bar, fill your own cannoli and cream puffs and cordial bar.  Preston was less than stellar but thankfully slept through the entire mass-even snoring apparently.  Thank you Aunt Melski for watching him.  Some highlights-I was supposed to walk into the room to the part during “Mony Mony” where Billy Idol says “Ride the pony.”  I think I can dance.  I can’t.  My sister knows how to do this move called riding the pony.  I pretend I can do it.  I can’t.  The DJ messed up and did not play the song at that part (perhaps you guys should have gone with the band…) My sister and father danced to “I’m Already There” by Lonestar.  Until the music scratched and stopped and paused….only to start with Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” which my father loves and the two of them busted a move on the dance floor.  No one except Steve knew this.  It was so funny.  My sister’s favorite musician is Billy Joel.  My speech incorporated between 20-25 Billy Joel song titles.  Pretty good-I pat myself on the back.  Here are just some of the amazing photos.  I am sure Katie will put a lot on Facebook and in the photos section, if I am tagged you guys will be able to view them if she beats me to the punch.  Congrats Katie & Steve.  I love you both!!!!

Getting ready!  GORGEOUS!

Oh  Katie had a stress fracture.  Here are the maids Christine and Maeve wrapping her foot!