Scovil Decor 2010

 Double effect courtesy of the granite counter

This is our 11 foot Christmas Tree. We have never had a tree this tall and now that we have the ceiling space for it, we thought "why not?" It was hilarious watching us decorate this thing. Nate had to rig up a broom stick with a hanger on the end of it to get the lights/ribbon strung clear up at the top. 46 trips to Bi-Mart for non-functional lights and after 7hrs we finally had it finished!

The boys were even lucky enough to get a tree for their upstairs play room. They decorated it how they wanted to and didn't do too bad for a 6 and 3yr old. Kept them entertained, so that's a score in my book!

 Part of our annual Christmas Village, courtesy of Mom and George.

Of course you can't see it here, but we have those (somewhat annoying yet fun) lights that are synchronized with the Christmas Music that belts out of the box the lights are plugged into. I'm sure our new neighbors love the seizure-causing flashes coming from next door. They then open their door to see what the chaos is, only to have "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" at 100 decibels staring them in the face. Ahhhh, the joys of the holiday. 'Tis the Season, folks!

Happy 6th Birthday, Bean.

No, I know what you're thinking and that is NOT a pile of dog poop birthday cake. It is, in fact, an active volcano, don't ya know! Can't you see the spew of hot lava flowing down the sides as it explodes from the top? (That is, by the way, melted down Cherry Jolly Rancher for the explosion part and Fruit By the Foot for the lava down the sides). Maysen turned 6 this weekend and it was filled with cheers and thrills all weekend.

My little boy's love for trains continues to this day, mainly encouraged by random YouTube videos of Amtrak and other "bullet train" videos he finds. So, what could have been more appropriate than his first Amtrak ride. We have a train station in town, so Nate's mom dropped us off and drove with Griffin to Albany (45min away) while we boarded the train...just Maysen, Nate, and I.

It was wonderful! It was such a pleasant surprise for all of us. I've been on a train here and there, but never a "mode of travel" train like Amtrak. It was smooth, it was quiet, it was sooo relaxing. In fact, we decided on that 45min train ride that this must be our newly discovered mode of traveling. Maysen fell in love with this train, never diverting his gaze out the window as he rediscovered every day images in a new way.

This foot rest ended up being the coolest thing, for all of us. Within 20min of our ride, we all 3 had them up with our seats reclined and arms behind our head. We were enjoying life .. and our McDonalds apples.

The thrills continued the next day with Science Experiment Birthday party. We did experiments with Dry Ice, Milk Swirls with food coloring & QTips, Alka-Seltzer Lava Lamps, Instant Snow, Glue Gak, Baking Soda volcanoes, and the finale were 4 Mentos Diet Coke Geysers!! It was an absolute blast!

The fun and hilarity of chaos!

Maysen and good pal, Natalie. Doesn't he look handsome here?

Part of the loot

Digging in the piles of instant snow ..

I was so happy that Dad and my step mom Jo made the jaunt from California to be at this party. It was the first one they've been able to attend and it was such a help having them here as I think we underestimated the amount of help we'd need for this caliber of party. As you can see, even the adults were enthralled.

Even though I did a run through before the party, I needed to re-read instructions for the Green Glue Gak (which we deemed "Monster Boogers"). Again ... as you can see the adults were just as intrigued...

During the last few kids, we added food coloring to our vinegar when we did the volcanoes. It was a neat change. I, regrettably don't have pictures of our Diet Coke Mentos geysers. I am trying to get a few from a few of the other parents who had cameras out. If I get some I will post them. We did them in our back yard. Nate had my dad as an assistant and all of us were safely sitting on the porch. Safely, we thought, until Nate pulled the release trigger, dropping the Mentos into the 2L bottle and the top was on crooked. The diet Coke shot out sideways shooting most of the kids. I will admit that a few parents shrieked with surprise too. It was an absolute blast and I'm sure that we will be remembering this party for quite some time. Some of Maysen's friends at school were still talking about it today ... he was so proud!

So, Happy Birthday, My Little Train Conductor. I'll love you forever ...

Go Go Mario Kart - Trick or Treat!

And this is what we wait all year for. Costumes. This year the pair decided to be Mario and Luigi from "Mario Kart". What a hoot they were!

And because they were from "Super Mario Kart", we had to be complete with the Mario Kart vehicle. They drove this hummer door-to-door all night trick-or-treating. It was an ordeal hopping in and out of this thing every 20ft, but they did it! And were excited to!!

Earlier in the day we went to the Community Center for Harvest Festivities complete with ring toss, cotton candy, cake walk, and $1 hot dogs. It was a blast. We met up with some great friends there and that completed the afternoon.

The boys were even asked to join the costume contest. They didn't win but they were sure cute up there strutting their stuff!

The afternoon was rounded off with making a trip to MiddleField Oaks to visit mom. The whole place was so excited to see these two munchkins walk in the door that we could barely leave. We played a few rounds of Go Fish with mom and then headed home to prepare for the real deal !

And it all boils down to this repetative position and phrase "Go Go Mario Kart, TRICK OR TREAT!" They said it over a hundred times last night, I'm sure. Our loot is ridiculous and I'm hoping to accidentally drop some in the trash. Oooo, wait. I'll pass it out as party favors for Maysen's upcoming birthday party. That's our next event. Two words: Science Experiements. Can you imagine the mess? Ugh.