Happy Halloween!
Hopefully your tricks were silly and your treats were delicious!
Argh, matey, excuse my wedge!
Pirate Cheeser!
Trick or Treat, from the Chalupa Clan:
A beastie bear, a pukey pirate and a dazzling devil!
October 2007 Archives
I went to the Y and came home to a light up but silent house. It was kinda strange: usually when I yell hello, I get an answer from someone!
So I wondered to the theater room - empty. So I went to the other extreme, upstairs, and found Carter Kay in bed, reading a Mickey book. Next to her, Daddy was out cold!
Now that's cute!
Baths are totally boring .. unless you spice them up with bubbles, paint and foam!
Our new obsession is foam, or as Carter so fondly yells: FOOOOOOM!
It's Foam-Nose!
Careful .. you're eyes will stay that way!
Cheeser!
Foam - it could be the next new fashion trend!
Peek!
While making lunch Sunday, this cuteness peeked around the corner!
Peek-a-cutie!!
Monday is crazy hair day, a tradition since our first Harvest week two years ago! It's entertaining to see what we can get Crazy Carter's crazy hair to do! 
"Huh ... I'm blue .."
"Ahhh! I'm BLUE!"
Blue and spikey: "it's maddness!"
Rascal Flatts came to town last night for a rowdy, country concert. The concert itself was a little sluggish at times, but the company was stellar!!
Girl's Nite Out!
We caught the last song of the opener, Jason Aldean, which was okay because it was the only song we really knew! Yee haw!!
Rascal Flatts had the most amazing setup ever! They had flat screens and rounded video panels all over, and all this crazy stuff would flash to or with music. During one song, it looked like it was raining! It nearly made me puke, and we were practically in the parking lot!!
It's worth the 45-block hike (JK!), the "expensive" and "fabulous" seats, and the tool behind us to get to spend the evening with my bestest friends!!
Here's a couple snippets of concert (don't call the Fed's on me, please!). Ignore the singing and check out the setup! Wow!
Today: Costume Day!
Argh, matey!
What a cute pirate! Watch out! She'll take yer booty!
Today: hat day!
Yee haw! As much as she loves the over-sized cowgirl hat, it just made for a long and trying day ..
.. so we relied upon the truth: The Princess Crown!
Today was opposites day .. we kinda went with general chaos. Whatever works, right?!
I kinda feel guilty for sending her out of the house looking like such a hot-mess!
Butterflies and flowers on one side, monkies on the other! This was her doing!
After my pictures, she said, "Mommy? Picture?" and handed me my camera. She then proceeded to pose in this irresistible poor-little-me pose! Don't let her fool you: she knows we'd all give the world for her!!!
As of the 2007-2008 Betts Broadway Concert Series, we are season ticket holders to the Civic Center. We have six shows that we get to attend, between now and March, and hopefully we'll hear news of Wicked!
This evening opened the Betts Broadway Series. Camelot, starring Lou Diamond Phillips as King Arthur, began this evening. Rory and Andy babysat while we had our night out. It was a great show and our seats are terrific! It was actually very good, which surprised me. I kinda thought it'd be lame.
I am super-excited for our season and can't wait to go next month!
Super-Sweet!
Today begins the best week (weeks, actually!) in the year of daycare: Harvest Week, complete with themes!
I love this stuff! Too bad it's Carter who has to suffer!
Monday: Backwards Day
Personally, having my sweater on backwards would have driven me crazy! But, it sure was cute!
Center Grove is the best orchard around! Even on a chilly, overcast day, we had a ball in the corn maze!
A smiley Daddy and giggly Carter enjoy the hay-rack ride up to the corn maze
Smile, Chalupa's!
Mommy and Carter search for a way out of the maze!
We found 9 of the 10 items on the scavenger hunt in the corn maze, but we couldn't find #10! We called it quits, and began our search for apple cider and carmel apples!
"Running" on the way back to the orchard general store
My favorite punkins!
A "corny" Carter and Mommy
Punky's Punkin! It's a beast of a punkin, and it stayed at Center Grove! Maybe next year!!
So, I did some searching and found these!
It's amazing what a year can bring! At this time last year, Andy was returning home from his business trip to California, and Carter was just beginning to stand on her own. Her vocabulary consisted of "mama," "daddy," "itty" and "ball."
Amazing!
Carter, Daddy, and Mommy, Center Grove Apple Orchard, 2007 (Carter, 26 months)
Carter, Daddy, and Mommy, Center Grove Apple Orchard, 2006 (Carter, 14 months)
Happy belated birthday, Carter! We opened and assembled the trike Andy and Rory gave Carter for her birthday. Saying she loved it is a total underestimation!
Carter and Daddy put on the bell! Ding! Ding!
"Happy!"
Even HAPPIER to be riding outside!
Andy and I donned rollerblades while Carter triked around the development. What a great day to skate and ride!
After our outing, we blew/ate bubbles!
.. yeah .. pretty sure she got more of this in her mouth than in the air! But, whatever makes you happy, I guess!!
YEAH! Rory flew home at 9am, and Andy arrived around noon! Everyone's happy, safe and at home! Thank goodness!
To celebrate (and to acclimate Rory back into society!), we got together for dinner and pumpkin carving. Yum and Fun!
PUNKIN!!
Carter watched intently, then insisted that she "cut it," too!
"The family" carving pumpkins! So happy to have everyone home!!
Carter helps to dig seeds and guts out of my punkin
While daddy carves, Carter plays in the guts
Cheese!
Cheese?!
.. and he said he wasn't good! Rory, the punkin perfectionist!
Our punkin
.. I don't know .. but it makes me laugh!
Booga! Booga! Our finished punkins: Kelly's, Andy's, Rory's and Andy's "Asian" punkin!
The Happy Fam!
Guess who's back from The Big Apple?!!
Andy was selected to go to New York on Principal's behalf to pick up the HRC's award for gay-awareness and friendliness (I'm not sure that was the title of the conference, but you get it!). He got all dolled up and accepted a beast of an award. Very cool! And we're very proud of him!
And we're very happy he's home!
I heart NY, but being home is awesome!
She may be clean, but heaven help us with the brush!
Wild, clean cheeser baby!
For real: we've got Cooties!!
COOTIES!
The left foot goes in the left foot
Don't these cute little feet look like they'll be all sorts of fun to step on in bare feet!
COOTIE!
We all have cooties!
The Chalupa Cootie Clan
Life's good .. if you exclude last night's spooky clown dream (I thought I'd never get back to sleep after that one!!) and the 2am screaming wake up call about being poopie! Some of us have a bit of an attitude: Carter and Andy are awful with Rory being gone! Ahh cha cha .. and we miss Daddy, too!
This evening, we played the animal sort game and did some chores, and then went to Palmer's and Target with Andy. We are so outta luck when Andy goes to New York!
Carter enjoys her Cheese Tortellinis Ring at Palmer's
Boo! This morning, Andy left for Las Vegas. He'll be gone through Friday. And Rory is still in India (through Friday), and Andy 2 will be going to New York Wednesday and Thursday.
So it's totally a Girl's Week! We're gonna drink juice, shop, and stay up late watching cartoons and eating Jellies!
We won't .. and we already miss Daddy!
Helping Daddy pack. Can we both fit in there???
After Daddy left, we ran to Target for supplies for the week (yes, we did get Jellies!) and had a lunch of Queens: applesauce and hot dogs!
Because it was gross and rainy, I took Carter to Recess (aka Ankeny's Chuck E Cheese) and we played and played and played!
The kids soft house made her giggle and giggle, and today was the first time she's ever ridden the airplane ride! Big girl!!
I just about beat this kid (I don't know who he is or where his parents were!) because he wouldn't stop trying to snatch Carter's Skee Balls! (I think I used the term "bastard child" when describing him to Andy!) Right: Carter, mid-butt-jump on the trampoline!
We're also officially tall enough (well, with our big hair!!) to ride the train! Choo choo!
And we also rode the horsey! Cheesers!
And, for dinner, we were so graciously invited to Rookies with Andy, Kris and Marion. Carter put on her most adorable, too-cute show, and they loved her for it! Here, she kept locking elbows with Andy and I. Three ginger pea's in a pod!
Daddy-less Day 1: So far, so good ..
So, we all got hair cuts today, and I wanted to take Carter's after picture, but she went into Model-Baby pose mode!
... which is way cute anyway!!
Smiley baby Silly baby
Fishy baby Sad baby (but fake-sad baby!)
I'm all for being independent. That is a goal of ours.
But standing in the fridge .. that may be pushing it!
Really? You "need" inside?!?
And what a SPELL it is! Gap-filled, toothy smile, sparkling happy eyes, giggle-chatter and toddler gibberish, and a heart of pure gold with naughty tendencies.
Really, how could you resist her?? And why would you want to???
It's the Accio-Sweet! spell! I think she got it from Harry Potter!
Andy came for dinner this evening (solo, while Rory is in India enjoying the sacred and lazy cows!). We did some laminating, played some Wii, and had the Baby all wound up!!
"Break the Baby" is always a hit! She loves it!
Airplane is a favorite, too!
They got the wild in their eyes!
After a month now, the "house" is starting to feel like "home." We're comfortable and playing goofy and silly!
Carter and Mommy, playing piggy-rides
Carter and Daddy, snuggling on the couch (they really are happy!)
Carter adores this boy! And they are too cute!
Stephanie and Isaac came for an evening visit today. We chatted and walked the doggies, and had some yummy Chinese food!
Isaac may look like a baby-beast, but he was a wonderfully well-behaved gentleman!
BFF's! How sweet is this?!
We rocked and rolled today!
We have a lawn! And end-tables!
Watched another episode of DH, from season 1 (we're way behind, but I love it!!) and found the perfect dining room picture!
And Andy hung the projector and screen, and there will be sound (and hopefully another episode of Desperate Housewives!!) in the very-near future!!
We're now to the point in our vocabulary development that "l'ellow" means yellow, the color, and Jell-o, which isn't yellow!
We made Jell-o this afternoon, thinking we could take it to Andy's for our play-date with Isaac tomorrow. But after some consideration, it would really be Moda and Rinky vs. Isaac and Carter to the death over strawberry Jell-o jigglers!
That could be interesting ...
In all fairness, I did tell her to put in it the cup! I guess I need to be more specific!
After opening the bag and pouring it in the bowl, Carter had to test the powder!
It might not be good, but it sure is messy!
Stirring the Jell-o
"Ohh! Looooky Mama!"
We made a quick trip home Friday and Saturday to see Grammy and Poppy. It would have been great to stay longer, but it was fun to spend time with them, playing and running a cute little muck!
Grammy & Poppy bought special Kleenex just for Carter! She was beyond excited!
Carter with Poppy's hat
After a couple of errands (and one really cool orange chair!!), we stopped at the Bumsted's for lunch (THANKS for cooking for us!!! We owe ya!). While Kelsey cooked and I talked, these three yahoo's were memorized by the Little Einstein DVD! God bless technology!
Collin, Grant and Carter, oblivious to the world!
To ease a fussy-fit, I gave Carter my cell phone. She randomly called Daddy, then fell esleep with it in her hands! Future text'er, I guess!
In 50 years, when we sell this house and move to Cancun, the add will read:
House for Sale - includes couch in theater room!
Cause we ain't brining it back outta there!
Rory, Andy and Andy brining in the beast
Initially, it did seem fairly easy ..
But they got it down the stairs and couldn't get around the corner ..
So they backed back out to the kitchen, flipped the beast over, and tried again. They literally pushed and shoved the thing around the corner!
Crayola Little Squirts markers: $2.99
Coloring book: $1.47
Tiny table and chairs: $35.00
Carter having her own space to play and be independent: Priceless
Carter invited me to come and "colo-wing" with her. How do you resist??
We "markied" and "colo-wing" all over the book, the table, and ourselves!
Happy 10/4, Good Buddy day to all! Hopefully it is as full of silliness and fun as it's title is!
Does she look tired to you???
She might not have been tired, but she did not get out of bed to play!
After a new diap, Andy assisted Carter in getting dressed/giving her the mega-wedge of a lifetime!
Thanks, Dad! 
THE MEGA-WEDGE!
Ooo-Eee-Vay!
Better!
The best thing about "Sketty" is:
A. It's tasty-tasty!
B. It's also a toy
C. It's like eating worms
D. All of the above!
Such intense concentration!
Kinda like Lady and the Tramp, minus the dogs!
