Ok, so...um, yes we are still alive *blush*

I would like to blame Peep for my lack of energy which explains my lack of blogs...but I'm a good mama and I'd never dream of blaming one of my kids for my failings. But ya know, read between the lines [Peep is exhausting me!!].

Ok, so, here is what we've been up to lately....it might get long, so you might want to get yourself a snack and a cold drink...I recommend ice water, it is delicious and refreshing....and you can't go wrong with some kind of chocolate....ok, are you back? Yes? Alright, our recent life: set to the tune of Mission Impossible:

Dennis did his 3 weeks of training in Connecticut. We were lucky that he was able to come home on the weekends, but boy that was a hard 3 weeks. Since then we have been adjusting to the new schedule. It took a bit to get used to Dennis not working from home anymore. I think we are back in the rhythm of things now.

Spencer celebrated his birthday on Oct 27th. The big 11th birthday. Here he is blowing out the candle on his birthday pumpkin pie (doesn't everyone want birthday pumpkin pie?)

Gideon is doing well, but he did get pretty sick over the last few weeks. He had a stomach bug/ cold that just knocked him on his butt. He missed just about a full week of school, and he was so tired and run down for almost 2 weeks. Right now he just has a slight cough. He also found out that he is allergic to pumpkin seeds. After we carved our pumpkins, Dennis roasted the seeds. The next day Gideon had some after school for snack (around 4pm). By dinnertime (6pm) he had a hive on his jaw, which the kids do get random hives sometimes so I wasn't worried. Then after dinner the boys like to watch tv in their room. At about 9 he came down and said his ear was itchy, and he stepped into the light and he had hives along his jaw, up and down his arms, all around his stomach and back and covering his thighs! It scared the crap out of me! We gave him some allergy medicine, and sprayed him with a itch/small cut spray. I also kept asking him if his chest hurt or felt tight. Man, it was a scary incident, none of the kids have ever had a reaction like that! Luckily the hives were gone within a couple more hours...not that I didn't keep checking on him every 20 minutes overnight though.

Lincoln also celebrated his birthday, here is the video of him and the birthday cake (notice he wants the whole cake haha):
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=pumpkinsbirthdays112.flv
And here is a slideshow of the party:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=9e6d0aba.pbw

You can see by the last picture that Lincoln has named his lovey blanket "baboo" he came up with the name all by himself.

Halloween was also in there somewhere, here is a slideshow of all the Halloween fun:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=7acbc8db.pbw

Then, lets see...this week we had election day. I usually vote in mid-morning, since we vote at the firehouse which is a 5 minute walk up the road. But, this year I wanted the kids to be part of it, so I waited until the boys got home from school and we all went. The kids went into the booth with me (we have those old huge booths with the levers). And they were the ones that actually pulled the levers. Spencer voted for president (Obama) and after we voted I told the kids "Guys, you just made history" it was kind of emotional for me. After that the workers gave us all 'I voted' stickers, and we went back home to get dinner ready. Right before dinner Bastian and Gideon were wrestling and Bastian smashed his hand against the floor. We gave him ice, but over the next hour it swelled and the ice didn't help. So, I took him off to the emergency room. I was able to watch a bit of the election coverage in the waiting room, then once we were in the exam room Bastian was watching cartoon network (I love how the childrens hospital at strong has tv's in the rooms!) The doctor said she didn't think he broke his thumb, but the base of the thumb, near the palm, was very swollen so she wanted to get X-rays just to be sure. At 11pm I was able to urn on the news in the exam room, just in time to hear them call the election for Obama. Then the doctor said that no bones were broken he just sprained his thumb. So she wrapped it in an ace bandage and we were good to go. I was able to listen to Obama's acceptance speech on the way home. It was wonderful. And I'm not saying that just because my guy won. I'm so hopeful for the direction this country will move in the next 4 years (and that concludes the political section of this blog...stay tuned for more hilarity from the minds of my kids)

And, little miss Moira is doing very well. Her and Lincoln are the best of friends now and they play together so well (at least 80% of the time anyway). A couple weeks ago I had taken the babies to do some errands. I should say that we have a minivan, and Lincoln's carseat is on the middle bench and Moira's carseat is in the back bench. On the way home Lincoln lets out a huge yawn, so I say "Lincoln, are you sleepy baby?" and Moira right away says "No, Mama, he's just really, really bored" haha. She also came up to me today and said this:

Mama, you know how our pumpkins are all yucky? They were regular pumpkins, but then they got all mushy and now they are mushy and broken? That is called irreversible change Mama. Irreversible change.

Um, yeah, wanna know how she knows that? A show on PBS kids called Sid the Science Kid. Or she is a genius...not sure which.

Ok, one last slideshow...this is a Petting Zoo we went to earlier in October:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=07d7d968.pbw