Happy Halloween!

and yes, wes changed himself in to his costume before i got to the party

 and no, he does not have any clothes on underneath it.




To My Husband on His 32nd Birthday

Have I ever told you my favorite memory of when we were dating? We went to go see Requiem for a Dream (so romantic, I know) at the Cedar Lee with Beth and Ken on a rainy weekend night, I believe. I was seventeen and you had just turned twenty. I guess we weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but it was pretty clear things were headed in that direction. Ken drove us up to Cleveland and you rode shotgun. Beth and I sat in the back and I was in the seat right behind you. The movie got out late and I knew I wouldn't be home in time for curfew. I called my mom and told her we were stuck in traffic (sorry, mom) and we all drove home in the dark talking and laughing. There was hardly any light in the car and the rain was still falling lightly. You slipped your hand back to me and I took it. There in the dark it went unnoticed by everyone else as we sailed down the highway. Ken's copy of Soul Classics (Volume II) playing over the din of the rain, we rode along silently hand in hand. It was the first time we'd ever held hands, and it was the first time I knew that this was the start of something real. I went and bought that cd after that car ride and it still reminds me of that night every time I see it. That was twelve birthdays ago now, but I still feel the very same way when you take my hand in yours. Some days, I just can't believe how lucky I am.

Happy Birthday, Josh

I love you.

Trick or Treat and a Little Birthday Celebration

What's better than trick or treat? Trick or treat followed by a birthday party with our favorite pizza and a giant chocolate cake. Yes, that is a fact.

Friday night was our neighborhood trick or treat and since a bunch of our family was coming over to see the boys dressed up and with Josh's birthday right around the corner, we decided to combine it in to one fun night.

After months of deliberation, thoughtful research and soul searching Wes finally decided on being a skeleton this year for Halloween. My sweet friend Tracy made Oren a little ghost costume. The costume has a hood which Oren left on for around 7-9 seconds total. After that I just baby powdered his hair and sent him on his way.

(Let me stop right here for a moment and just go ahead and apologize now. I don't really edit photos. I barely have time to download them and keep up this blog and so you kind of just get what you see.  Also, half of my pictures are usually from an iPhone and not always even mine. So yeah, if you're looking for a blog with great photography, this ain't the place. BUT if you're looking for tons and tons and tons of mediocre photos of my kids, I am so your girl. I do not disappoint in that category - you can count on it. One day I'll learn how to use photoshop properly, I promise.)

Here's my little skelly, Weston. And no, we did not ask him to pose this way. That was all him. I think he's been taking tips from his aunt Jessica.

And then it was time to celebrate this guy (and stuff our faces)

My mom made her famous cupcakes with homemade frosting and Abby made this cake. The chocolatiest of chocolate cakes she could find, just for Josh. There is an entire pound of chocolate in just the frosting alone. Yeah, let that one sink in for a minute.

Victor with the obligatory photo bomb ;)

And finally, there was a surprise delivery all the way from chicago...Colin!

(that ellipse was just for you, buddy)

The sleepiest baby who ever tried to eat a piece of cake.

Exhaustion will not keep any Booth from chocolate. We will find a way.

The last guest of the evening came via a little face time session with my brother in Nashville. It was pretty much the perfect ending to a perfect night. Thanks to everyone who came out, especially those of you that came bearing sugar. 

Happy Halloween!

Arrested Development

 

we're famous!

 

 

ps. it's almost here. new season 2013!

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

A Pumpkin Spectacular

 

we carve pumpkins every year with out fail. they're usually mediocre (except marisa's). and it always makes a huge mess and then they get covered in bugs and rot out on the front steps after a few days anyway and are promptly thrown out on november 1st if not before. but it's always so much fun that we suck it up and do it anyway. this was the first year wes actually helped clean his out and carved his own design (abe lincoln if you're wondering - but you'd never know it, sorry kid.) what kind of kid carves abraham lincoln on to their pumpkin anyway? (answer: an awesome one.) anyway, they turned out sub par as usual (especially the spiderman one wes had me make for him) but we had good time and that's all that matters. it just wouldn't be fall with out this little tradition.

 

 

this post is dedicated in memory of ben, colin and adam who could not be with us this year and whose unfinished, unoriginal and plagerized pumpkins (respectively) were greatly missed.

xoxo

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

it's official. we just booked a trip here.

ICELAND!!!

Places I've Found Oren: Part III

I had my wisdom teeth removed Friday. It wasn't too terribly bad and I'm already feeling a lot better after a few days of rest and recovery. That being said, it still made for a pretty boring/uneventful weekend. Instead of pictures of me napping, icing my face and popping vicodin all weekend long I thought I'd share the third installment of "Places I've Found Oren." I know it's hard to believe but I swear on my Minnie Driver jawline that these photos are in no way staged. That's just true life with O'Henry. 

 

this would be oren stuck behind a sofa

 i heard him pull the drum off the stand, went in wes's room and found this.

that's totally normal, right?

 we pull the chairs out so he can't use them to get up on the table.

i think this is worse.

 saw him mount the toy box. removed him. explained why it was not safe.

turned back to finish task.

 1 minute later.

 approximately 5:30am

 at my office. saw him try to mount this table via this chair. I removed him.
explained why it was not safe. turned back to finish task.

 1 minute later.

 why use the door when this way is so much more fun?

mom's house

mom's house again

aaaaaand mom's house

still  mom's house

And you know it's bad when the babysitter gets in on it. She sent this to me the other other day explaining she found him here after he wandered in to her kitchen alone for less than two minutes while she was in the middle of changing another baby's diaper. He apparently mounted a chair, climbed on to the table and helped himself to a fist full of salsa.

She also sent me this one when he figured out how to get himself in to the 6 month old's jumper.

And the winner for best photo not taken...

Lori told me that the other day she ran in to the bathroom to pee while the kids were all playing nicely together on the floor. She's comes out to find that Oren had climbed up on to her piano bench, up on to the keys of the piano and then somehow hoisted himself on to the very top of her upright piano. She found him just sitting up there surveying the kids below.

After she recovered from her mini heart attack, she moved the piano bench to the other side of the room to prevent it from happening again, obviously.

A little later in the day she spotted him pushing the bench back across the room in an attempt to do it again.

The piano bench has now been removed from the room.

Part II

Part I

****

and because I love you all soooo very much and apparently also have no shame or sense of self consciousness here's a special bonus photo of me I found on my phone while downloading all these pictures of Oren. This is me on the drive home Friday after surgery and I have absolutely no recollection of taking it.

awesome.