Snow! Nieve!

It snowed and stuck. I won’t say “finally” because that would make it seem like I’ve been anxiously awaiting the snow. But, it did take much longer this year for the first real snowfall, for which I’m thankful. Last year it snowed in early October.

Coen really enjoyed playing in the snow after he figured out that he could touch it with his gloves and I didn’t mind too much that he tasted it. When he sticks dirt and leaves in his mouth I take it out, but he got to try the snow a few times.

His first handful of snow.

The corner of our yard and the street we face from the side of our house. The snow still isn’t completely covered, but it’s enough for now.

Yummy snow. After a few tastes it was too cold and he gave up on eating it.

His new cheesy smile that mostly looks like a grimace.

Coen’s first snow man! He enjoyed knocking it down more than anything else.

Our pretty house. To think that just a couple weeks ago Coen was rolling in the leaves in the front yard.

Hat hair : )

Justin’s 27th Birthday

November 23rd was Justin’s 27th birthday. He had class in the morning and worked from 3-11 PM so it wasn’t too celebratory.

We brought Justin dinner while he was working and got to eat in the sweet Target food court. We had chicken & rice and brownies with peanut butter frosting for dessert.

Justin’s birthday “cake”.

Coen decided to eat his brownie by stabbing it with a straw then licking it.

Birthday kisses for Daddy!

Coen hasn’t mastered the self-portrait smile yet.

Birthday guy stare-down

Boston

Boston was great! My company sent me there to the ACTFL (American Conference for Teachers of a Foreign Language or something like that) conference. Gabriel (co-worker from Buenos Aires) and I sat in our booth and talked to Spanish teachers about our programs and our classes. It was very fun and it was nice to finally meet someone who works with me. Now I know that the company is real! : )

Gabriel & me outside of the conference exhibit hall on the last day

We were in conferences all day from about 9 AM until 5:30 or 6:00 PM and then got to do a little sightseeing. Friday night we walked around then went to Chinatown for dinner. It was delicious. I also got to ride a subway for the first time. It was just like in the movies. It was a bit comical that Gabriel, who speaks Spanish and a little English was showing me where to go and how to use the public transportation system. It was his first time in the US.

Saturday evening Paul, Linda, Liz, and Flo met me downtown Boston and we went out for dinner. It was SO nice to meet all of them and they are such lovely people. Paul & Linda are my dad’s cousins and Florence is his aunt. Liz is Linda’s daughter. It was very fun and I’m so glad I had a little time to get to know them.

Paul, me, Liz, & Linda

Florence and me

Sunday the conference ended at noon so Gabriel, his brother Jorge, and I went to see MIT and downtown in the daylight. It was dark when we left the conference the previous days so it was nice to see things with sunlight! It makes quite a difference.

Smarty-Pantalones

Coen’s surprising us more and more with what he knows. The other day he wanted a tattoo bandaid on his hand so I said “only if you hold out your hand” and instantly he stretched his arm forward and held out his hand. It’s things like that where he pleasantly surprises us with what he knows how to do and what he understands.

It is not a pleasant surprise, however, when it’s to do something like take the top off of the milk jug and pour the remaining milk all over the kitchen floor. Luckily I had just bought a new mop that very day so it got its first workout. I thought that I could discipline Coen by making him sit in his high chair and watch me clean, but he cheered me on. When I went to take him out, he wanted to stay in there since he was hungry for dinner.

Lesson learned? Probably not.

Coen also enjoys making sound effects in place of the actual word. Example video below. Please excuse the mess. If you could see Coen in destruct-o mode you’d understand.

Video to come later.

Vick’s Vapor Rub

Yesterday morning Justin went in to get Coen out of bed and found him covered head to toe in juniper-smelling Vick’s Vapor Rub. I think that in my half-sleep stupor I left it on his  crib rail when I put more on him in the middle of the night. He knows how to unscrew tops now, so it was easy work for him. His room still smells very minty and we have no need to use it last night! Imagine that.

BANANA

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween party here with many of our neighbor’s friends and a few of ours, too. Coen dressed as Michael Phelps but had to go to bed before people got here. Here he is!

 

Two of my friends came to visit; Sarah came from Madison, Wisconsin, and Kristin came from Manhattan, Kansas. It was so wonderful to see them and we had a great time!

I was a Christmas tree in human form and Justin was Tobias Funke from the TV show Arrested Development.

 

 

At that point I had taken off my Christmas tree star headband because I kept hitting it on things and getting tangled in the spider web decorations.

The fact that our basement is old and gross only added to the Halloween spirit.

 

Here is a picture of Kristin, Sarah, and me on Halloween. We went out with Kristin’s brother in Mankato, a nearby city. Can you guess what we all were?

left to right… ceiling fan, soccer referee, God’s gift to men. It was fun.

On actual Halloween, Coen was a bumblebee (thank, Grandma Vilski!) and a natural at trick-or-treating. I didn’t show him what to do, but after watching the kids in front of him he knew to hold out his bucket. He said “please” instead of “trick-or-treat”, and he really enjoys suckers. He calls them “ball”.

                         

We went out on State Street in New Ulm. It draws in over 5,000 people each year. It was quite the experience.