let's go . . . mountaineers!

We took Ted to the WVU vs. Louisville game on Saturday in Morgantown. Some friends gave us some tickets last minute and the weather was beautiful. So, we sent Sophie to New Martinsville with Andy & Courtney on Friday afternoon. Saturday morning, Ted woke me up at 6am and said, "Did we miss the band yet?" No, pal. We've got plenty of time.

Our day in pictures:


We arrived in Morgantown around 10:00 am and tailgated. Ted wanted food at everyone else's tailgate!


He did manage to find a cupcake at the tailgate next to ours!


He got his "picture" with Pat White but wouldn't get it with the Mountaineer. Ben said that was ok b/c the current Mountaineer is a girl. That offends him greatly.


It was an absolutely beautiful day for football. Too bad the game kinda stunk. OK, really stunk.


Ted wanted to read a book during the game. That made Ben about crazy!


Watching the bad at halftime. Ted LOVED the band. By far the best part of the day.


Playing with Skylar.


Trees outside the stadium that were burning on our way out.


The fans looking at the fire - way more interesting than the game.


We parked across from this guy - and his pants. I couldn't resist.


Waiting for dinner at Sheetz.


About 5 minutes into our trip across Route 7 to get Sophie.

All in all, it was a really fun day!

barf!

Ben came home at 1:00 pm on Tuesday and gave me an afternoon by myself. It was a great afternoon. Shopping, pedicure, Panera, reading . . . being by MYSELF. The plan was to top off the evening with date night.

I got home around 5:45 to Ted in the recliner with his "puke up bowl." He had been throwing up for several hours. Ben had fielded the first major blowup and subsequent smaller ones - while also keeping Sophie out of everything. So, we cancelled date night and settled in to the uproars about every 20-30 minutes. Around 9:30pm I started heading for the toilet. So I gave up my role as assistant to the sick boy and climbed in bed myself. Thankfully, mine was a little more mild than Ted's. More like what Sophie had last week. Ted continued until about 2:00 am.

Ben was (and always is) my hero!

make you smile

Some pictures to make you smile.



ted likes to be a lion and use the dryer as his cave


relaxin'


sophie found the moose hat and loved it - for about 3 seconds


ted wore his halloween costume around for about a week. And we inherited a "leap frog lilly" that ted has adopted. he dressed her in sophie's pj's one evening


ted decided to load up sophie's lap with toys - something to entertain her and keep her out of his hair


ted sharing his ring pop with millie


sophie with her friend elizabeth. they have a graet time together.


talking to doh and pap on skype


ted and his new camera


riding in the new carts at kroger

trick-or-treat

So Thursday was trick-or-treat in Charleston. We went with our friends the Young's.


Sophie was a lady bug. She was so cute but we couldn't get a non-mobile picture of her unless it was in the stroller.


Ted was a frog for trick-or-treat and wore his WVU football uniform for his Halloween party at preschool.


Sydney was Minnie Mouse.


Family pic.


Our attempt to get a picture of Ted & Sophie together. Obviously it wasn't very successful.


Sophie pushed her stroller around a lot. She also fell twice and got a bloody lip each time.


Ted and Sydney ran a lot. Ted fell a lot - each time dropping his pumpkin. Both kids were so clumsy!


We made a pit stop at Sydney's grandparents house to play in the house.


Sophie rode for awhile.


We ended the evening on Carriage Road. And to our surprise, Shawna was there. (Sophie was ingensting a large marshmellow.)

All in all it was a fun evening. Thankfully Ben took all the candy to Campaigners tonight. Thanks for the great hand-me-down costumes!

aunt sara

Aunt Sara came to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen her since the end of April. Way too long. For Ted's birthday, she brought iron on transfers for him to make a shirt for everyone in the family. It was such a fun project.


We had a little practice run before he actually started drawing.


Daddy's shirt - 2 football players and a football.


Sophie's shirt - a butterfly, sunshine and grass.


Ted's shirt - a baseball player and bat. The brown is the street.


Mommy's shirt - Ted (b/c I like him!)


The ironing . . .


The finished product.


Looking at The Tuel's 2008 family photo album.


Pumpkin carving time. Ted was bound and determined to not cry like he did last year. He felt as if he needed the helmet so he wouldn't get the pumpkin cheese (guts) and peanuts (seeds) on his head. I do not lie!


Meanwhile in the living room, Sophie is watching a Baby Einstein. The girl never stops. So when I need her to stop, I strap her in our extra car seat in front of a Baby Einstein. She seriously cannot regulate herself and needs the calmness. I wish I would've invented Baby Einstein. It truly is captivating for her.


Back in the kitchen, Ted with his cheese and peanuts. He did really well after he warmed up to the idea.


Then he let Millie lick off the residue.


The finished products.


Thanks Aunt Sara. We had a great visit. On Monday we went to the Capital Market for some more punkins. Sara found some goat meat for Ahmed - great find! We hit the mall and hung out at home for awhile. It was a great visit. Not so long next time.

ben's travels

Ben's Travels - in reverse order . . .

Sunday, October 18th - Steeler's vs Browns at Heinz Field.


He got tickets in the club level. Nice stuff.


View from somewhere.


He went with Derek - an avid Brown's fan! Thanks for the tickets, Derek! Sorry that the Brown's just can't get it together.

Saturday, October 17th - WVU vs. Marshall in Morgantown

It was a COLD, rainy day. He and Andy drove to Morgantown from the birthday party in New Martinsville.

September 11-13: U2 concert in Chicago with Greg, Rusty, Jay & Amanda
October 1: U2 concert in Charlottesville, VA with Scott, Dirk & Tim

The weird claw thing that is their stage. I'm sure it's pretty impressive in person.


Dirk & Ben


Jay & Amanda


Some other friends of ours (the Hannah's and the Sim's) were also in Chicago. This was their hotel room. Ben found them to watch the Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon.

remember when?

Last night before Ted went to bed, we got out the photo albums and showed him the pictures of when he was born. He was very intrigued by all of it.


He was very intrigued by all the wires. And we said that perhaps the reason he loves to be in just his underwear so much is that he just wore a diaper for the first week or so of his life.


The first time we saw his face when he was 4 days old.


Coming home and being so small in his carseat.


Sleeping in the laundry basket.


His google eyes and wrinkled forehead. That made him look like an old man.


Christmas Day.


The little old man in the swing.


So 4 is already better than 3. Four year olds don't have blankies we decided. So, blankies are done as of yesterday. He watched an entire movie tonight. And went to bed like a champ. I think he's faking me out!