Saturday the 25th was the Air and Space Museums big Halloween Bash! This is one of our FAVORITE October activities!!
Corbin and Noveigh have been won the costume contest pretty much every year since they were born. My sister Neely is extremely creative and puts together some amazing costumes.
This year they were going as Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein...except they were both going to be half and half...cut right down the middle..very gross.
We considered breifly that Corbin might not handle the gruesome costume that well but we figured if he watched the make up being put on then it wouldn't be a problem....boy were we wrong!
Our day started out pretty hectic with baseball games, missing costumes, trips to the store things like that.
We met at my Mother's house around 2pm, the party started at 4pm. My sister Neely started on Noveigh's makeup first. Once she got the wax on and had it looking like she had a cut down her face Corbin took one look at her and almost passed out.
I had to lay him down for quite a while. Ever so often I would have him check her out again and he would react in the same way. I got him food, orange juice...anything that I thought would help keep his blood sugar up and maybe prevent his fainting. NOTHING was working. His imagination had taken hold of him and he couldn't stand up for more then 2 mins without coming close to fainting.
By 4pm I gave up trying, I ran back to my house and grabbed some clothes for him to go as a Rock star. I explained to him that he would just have to stay away from Noveigh but if he couldn't stop then he'd have to stay home....he managed to just not look at her and he stayed pretty far away from her then entire evening.
It was very frustrating for both Corbin and I....we both were in tears at one point. This was the very first year that they would not be going as a couple. The very first year that Corbin would not be competing in the contest...all because we chose something gruesome...I wish we hadn't.
In the end the party went great!
Noveigh walked alone in her half Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein and a sign that read Just married...together forever! She of course won 1st place!!!
Rainer and Tobey went as Bert and Ernie...they did not place at all but they were sooo darn cute!
Theseus went as a Firedancers...the crowd loved him he danced nonstop. He won 2nd place..even though the crowd thought he should have been 1st.
Ethan went as the Mad Scientist...and for the first time he won 1st place!!
Jack wore a store bought costume and didn't even compete....Corbin walked the contest but of course didn't get pulled.
Landon went as a Newsie...omg he was so freaking cute yelling "Extra Extra". He got pulled as a finalist but in the end didn't place at all. But he got an honorably mention and was asked to say his little thing over the microphone!
Neely went as a peacock and won 3rd place.
So my kids didn't win anything, but our family did great!
Ok for some reason it won't let me upload pictures so i'll try in a different post
I don't think I've posted the story about our Hermit Crab Cody. It's a pretty neat story and the boys love telling it.
Back in July I posted that I let the boys pick out Hermit Crabs down in Va beach. Corbin named his Cody and Landon named his Mark/Max/Shadow...we'll call him Mark.
We bought the little cages, sponges, food, even a childrens book to learn how to care for them. I was pretty excited being that I have never owned one or held one for that matter. So I was just as excited as my boys.
Unfortunately Mark did not make it through the night. I was told that this very well could happen...and that it was pretty common. So we decided that Cody would no longer be "Corbin's" but the family Crab.
I read up on Hermit Crabs, and tried to figure out ways to keep him alive in fear that he would die soon as well. I heard that Crabs don't like to be alone so I was determined to get Cody a playmate.
Back in August or September when we took the boat out to the island and camped out a night I ended up finding 5 Hermit Crabs. 3 little ones and 2 large ones. These suckers were UGLY, nothing like Cody. Clearly they were a different species of Crab. But because I had talked to people who had the beach kind I went ahead and took the home to be playmates for Cody.
I kept the little ones in the cage with Cody and the larger ones in a seperate cage to themselves.
It didn't take long for me to see that Cody wasn't liking his new company. He was literally trying to attack the other little crabs. I felt so bad for them so I had no choice but take the risk of putting Cody in with the big guys. This actually went over great. The big guys left Cody alone and Cody just climbed all over them like they were his own personal jungle gym. Everything was going well.
Until.....................................
I woke up one morning to Corbin saying "Where is Cody?". I got up to check it out. Cody was no where to be found. The top of the cage as a little window that opens.....well it wasn't shut all the way. Cody had escaped =(
We were very upset and searched the kitchen which is where we kept the cages. We figured he couldn't have gone far and he had to be around somewhere. We had NO luck....he was gone. I figured at some point we'd smell something funny and eventually find him but we gave up trying.
In the following week each one of the beach Crabs died off one by one. I felt so guilty bringing them home to those cages just for them to die. Especially the big ones. I read Hermit Crabs can live up to 30yrs. As far as I know those big ones could have been 20yrs old already =( I learned my lesson I will never bring home a beach crab again!
Eventually they were all gone and I cleaned the cages out and put them away. It was an experience and I'm glad we did it.
About 2 or 3 weeks later the boys were playing in the kitchen. I don't remember what they were doing but they were playing on the floor. I was in our TV room...most likely watching TV lol Corbin came running into the room screaming "I found Cody". I was surprised and thrilled at the same time (no dead crab hiding somewhere in my house). I guess he had made his way near the dryer and fell in between a cabinet and the dryer. I took one look at him and he was clearly dead...had dust all over his shell and you could see his claw inside the shell all discolored.
The boys wanted to bury him but it was dark out so I put the shell on the back of the sink to wait until the next day. The boys were sad he was gone but happy we finally found him.
Later that night after the boys were in bed I was in the back room reading a magazine...the house was quiet so I could hear pretty much everything.
I heard some noise coming from the kitchen, I went in there to check it out. I didn't notice anything at first until I looked at the sink and there was Cody walking around.
How in the world did this Crab survive being without food for that long, or being in a horrible climate like the side of a cabinet with no water or moisture. He didn't look well and he was moving very slow so I could tell he wasn't going to last very long.
I got out one of the cages and set it up again...put some food and water inside of it. I wasn't holding my breath but I knew the kids would find it amazing that he was still alive when they saw him in the morning.
We lost Mark within the first night, we lost the beach crabs all in one week. And from what I had heard from other people these crabs didn't usually live past 2 weeks in captivity. Cody had all odds against him but this little guy was STILL ALIVE!
We watched him closely after that. Just waiting, waiting for the day that Cody would die.....that day has not come yet.
Our Cody is still alive after 4mos as our pet it's been a rocky for 4mos for him.......losing a dear friend in the first 24hrs, battling with newcomers, escaping, and being trapped in a horrible place for 2 weeks....He is now back to being alone in his own cage which honestly is how I think he likes it. He seems happy =)
Thanks for reading!
I just wanted to post that Baby Connor is now home with his Mom and Dad!!! Thanks everyone for keeping them in their thoughts and prayers!
I love Fall, I really do....I wish we would finally experience the season. I am so sick of 80-90degree weather. I want the cool air to come. I'm ready to wear a sweatshirt. Everyday I check the weather waiting for the day to come where there is a nice crisp chill to the air...but nope still nothin...so bummed.
We are all sick in my house. It started for me about 3 weeks ago with a chest cold, I got a cough and then it eased up. Couple days later it turned into a head cold and i'm still fighting it. David and the boys have it as well. I'm grouchy and tired of being sick.
I haven't felt like doing anything lately. I don't want to clean, I don't want to do anything outside, I don't even want to go out with friends and that's SO not like me. I need outa my funk =(
October is always crazy and stressful...it's halloween time! We are trying to plan our adult party, get costumes ready and made for all the kids and the costume contests we do each year.
It's still baseball season so we are buy with that, having a great time at the local fall festivals though..I just wish it was nice and chilly for them instead of hot @@
I have a show this coming Saturday, it's an hour away at a girl scout camp. We are doing it for free, but only Me, Neely and Hannah are capable of doing the show. This makes it very hard with just 3 people. Girl scouts was a HUGE part of our life growing up so we are more then happy to do a show for them!
Today I have to go grocery shopping, I am so not looking forward to this. I really do hate doing it. It's one of those chores that I could live without. Of course I couldn't live without the food so I have no choice.
I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow and stop being such a grouch...and definetly by saturday for the show!
This past Sunday was Corbin's kid party. He did a rock star theme. We had all the kids come in their best rock star clothing and I provided the crazy colored hair spray....all the kids looked great!
We then used our Hula sound system so the kids could sing Karaoke with microphones. Omg it was a blast. All the kids were singing and dancing the entire time....they all put on a great show and I know they loved being able to use the microphones.
We had a guitar pinata, and we gave out CD's of corbin's favorite songs to all the kids as they left. We had a great turn out and corbin got some really neat gifts.
unfortunatly I don't have a camera anymore but my sister used her video camera to take tons of video clips and a few stills. I'll send when I get those back from her.
Tonight is Corbin's family bday dinner!
In the last couple days a lot has happened! Connor was weaned off of the nitricoxide as well as the oxygen. They removed the breathing tube..he transitioned over to the tube that goes under the nose but is not off that as well! They removed the ivs going into his umbilical cord so Mommy and Daddy got to hold in for the first time since he was born!!
Krista even got to try breastfeeding him. Originally she was told that they only wanted him to be given the colostrum that she had stocked up on but could offer him an empty breast. Well within the first day of him being off everything they told her that she could try to breastfeeding from the breast with her mature milk. They of course are struggling a bit being that he's never sucked on anything since birth and now 3 weeks later he's trying to breastfeed.
Today was big news, he got transported back to a local hospital here! yay! He doesnt need the extensive care anymore and now just has to stay in the hospital until he is feeding well and thriving....so hopefully that won't take long and he will get to FINALLY go home with his parents!!
There were a lot of very scary moments the last few weeks. Moments where there was talk of Ecmo, talks of him possibly NOT getting better. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers baby Connor will get to go home soon!
Connor is still in the hospital in Richmond. They have tried weaning him off the oxygen and nitricoxide that he's on. He got very low and almost off both when he condition flared up again and he was put back on 100% oxygen. It seems to be a roller coaster for him and his parents. I'm so sad for Krista and Ed and I'm so worried about Connor. They started weaning again today, just 3% per hour. We'll have to see if he can handle it again...it's just a waiting game.
I've been asked if they need anything....No they don't. The hospital is letting them stay there for however long the room there is available which I think is wonderful that they get to be in the same building as their baby. There is a webcam set up so when they are not in the room they can sit and watch him all they want. Touching him has to be to a minimum because they don't want him stimulated so I know that's been really hard on Krista...she just wants to hold her baby!
Again please keep them in your thoughts and prayers!! Thanks
