Trick-or-treating around the neighborhood

Mason and his friend Leo went trick-or-treating together again this year.

Leo was a pirate (a bit of an obsession with him).

This picture was taken at the beginning of the night when Mason was still remembering to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you." Later in the evening he was a bit scatterbrained and was running around a bit crazily.

Like last year, the boys tired of walking and were happily pulled by Leo's dad, Jeff.

For some reason, Mason was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and Leo was singing "I'll Be Working on the Railroad" for a good part of the night.

Jeni and her pregnant belly dressed up like The Big Black Engine (which has a vital role in the book "The Little Red Caboose"). They look pretty good together.

Here are a few movies Jeni took at the last house of the night.

Trick-or-treating at the retirement community

Jeni and Mason and their playgroup friends gathered at our house this week for a costume party. Then they walked to a retirement community to show off their costumes and trick or treat.

This is as close to a group picture as you can expect to get when this many two-year-olds are involved.

Halloween preparations

Jeni did a great job for Halloween this year.

She and Mason decorated the house last week.

Mason is a fan of trains and has memorized "The Little Red Caboose" book almost totally. So Jeni found him an engineer's hat and made him a caboose costume. Mason looked great.

Glee club concert

Mason and Jeni went to hear the UI Men's Glee Club over lunch this week. Several friends from their play group went along to enjoy the free show.

To avoid parking hassles, they took the bus.



Mason knows how to share and often does. He'd like to offer you a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.



Jeni is getting very...pregnant, but she still had room for several children on her lap.



After the show the kids jumped on the risers to sing together.



At least Mason was looking towards the camera.

Arthur and the Great Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday, Jeni, Mason, and I took a day trip to the town of Arthur. We had a very nice time because even though Arthur is a very small town:

• It is home to the largest Amish community in Illinois so we got to see horse-drawn buggies on the street. We also went shopping for Amish-made furniture. FYI: The Amish in Arthur are allowed to ride bicycles.


• Arthur is the home of a central Illinois barbecue competition, so we got to sample some tasty food for lunch. Some bluegrass bands were also performing which Mason loved.
  


• The "Great Pumpkin Patch" is just outside Arthur. They grow hundreds of types of pumpkins and squash there and in the fall open the farm up to visitors. Mason got to see all types of farm animals, including goats.
  
  We also had an apple cider slushy and bought some pumpkins (including a black one originally grown in Japan).
  

It was a very nice trip.

My excuse for not blogging

Our big fall project has been to replace all sixteen windows in our house. The old ones were not great to begin with and were getting worse after 25+ years.

Two weekends ago, Jeni's parents and grandparents came down to help us with the windows and Mason. Thanks to their help we got all of the windows installed. Since then our evenings have been taken up by insulating, caulking, and now trimming the new windows.

Since then the weather has been unseasonably warm, so we don't know if they've made a difference yet. They do seem to keep sound out better than the old ones.

Underpants time

As I mentioned in the last post, Mason is potty training now. One of our strategies is to leave him in his underpants (or naked), because he usually won't go in them. If he has underpants and pants on, or a pull-up he will.

So anyway, there are a lot of opportunities to take pictures of Mason in his underpants.

Here Mason is with his cousins, Joe and Corey.

Mason watches Sesame Street a few times a week.

And here Mason is working on his new workbench. My Uncle Jim got it from a yard sale and after a hose down, it is good as new. Mason loves it, especially if he sees me working around the house. So thanks, Uncle Jim!

Life getting in the way

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted any pictures of Mason. I could think up a lot of excuses, but I'll just get on with the blogging.

First, Jeni is doing very well. She is now 31 weeks pregnant (!) and is feeling all kinds of movement. I can push on a lump and our #2 will push back which is a fun little game until Jeni makes me stop. Jeni's due date is still December 18, so we probably won't be traveling much for the holidays. Of course, if Jeni had her way, the baby would come a few weeks early and we could make it home for Christmas.

Second, Mason is also dong very well. He is making good progress on potty training and wears underpants most of the time. He still has accidents, but seems to be figuring out when he needs to go. We are rewarding him for certain milestones with "Thomas the Tank Engine" trains and track pieces. Right now he has two trains, a caboose, and three pieces of track. The trains and caboose together are longer than the three tracks, which is kind of pathetic.

Mason is also talking or singing all of the time now. Sometimes he'll make up his own songs or stories, which is fun for Jeni and I. He has also decided that the new baby's name is "Pea Soup." We don't know where this came from, but it has been consistent for a few weeks now. So I guess "Pea Soup" it is.

On to the pictures!

A few weeks back, we went to the Zoo with Mason's Bubba and Grandpa. Everyone was excited to see the apes.

After the zoo, we went to Lalo's Mexican Restaurant for food and margaritas.

After a few drinks, you want to join the band on stage.

And you end up riding a polar bear before the night is through.

Actually, an older couple did look askance at Jeni when she was sharing some of her (non-alcoholic) margarita with Mason.