Voting

I know this is my third post tonight, but I just have to say that this morning as I walked out of my polling place after voting, I felt excited, empowered, pumped up, a little giddy, and even kind of teary-eyed. I'm not huge into politics. I like to know what's going on, but I can't tell you all of the details and I tend to lose interest about half way through presidential debates, but today I had a new sense of thankfulness for our right to vote. Maybe it's the high level of anticipation surrounding this election or the four years of maturity I've gained since the last election. But I now see what a real privilege it is to live in a place where we have a voice and where everyone's opinion is considered significant and equal (at least for this day), no matter their gender, race, socioeconomic status, social position, occupation, or political views. That's pretty amazing.

On the voting note, I am also thankful that God's agenda is not political. While our country's president and politics are important, and God does care about the details of our lives, the president of the United States is not God. It brings me a great deal of peace to know that whoever gets elected, God is still God and His agenda is not Republican or Democrat. His agenda is His kingdom. He appoints kings, rulers, and authorities. Nothing surprises Him or catches Him off guard. Nothing thwarts His plans and purposes. He is the ultimate King and His kingdom is everlasting.

tortas..mmmm

Last night, we went out to eat at a new Mexican restaurant near us. We had tortas, which are a delicious Mexican sandwich that we ate a lot when we taught English in Mexico City. We asked the waiter if we could practice our Spanish. He was relieved and said we could speak Spanish as much as we wanted to. It was so fun to talk with him and we surprisingly remembered a lot. It made us miss Mexico and the people...there's something familiar about anyone from Mexico, even though he was from a city far from where we worked. The food was delicious, too, even though Mr. Mister didn't think so. He mostly played with his rice and beans, which made for a very messy meal. But it was well worth it.

Small World

Today, I participated in a market research study in a different part of town with a group of six other women. We were assigned a partner and had to introduce ourselves. As I talked with the woman next to me, I found out that she:

• lives in the neighborhood across from me
• works in the school I taught at and in the field I worked in.
• has a 17 year old son who happened to be the one who handed me my "I Voted" sticker at the poll this morning.

Crazy, huh?

Halloween

Here are pictures of our little chicken on Halloween. We didn't have any trick-or-treaters come to our house last year, so we went to our friends' house this year. (These are the friends whose house I bring Mr. Mister to on Tuesdays and whose son I watch on Wednesdays, so the boys are good friends. Or at least as good of friends as a 14 month and a 8 month old can be.)

We sat on the driveway with a fire in the fire pit and handed out candy. Then we took the boys to about 5 houses (to get candy that Mr. Mister isn't allowed to eat...is that bad?) It was a lot of fun and Mr. Mister looked very cute in his costume. He didn't seem to notice that he was dressed like a chicken or that everyone else had funny costumes on. It was a very fun evening, topped off by free burritos from Chipotle for dressing up like a burrito.

This is Mr. Mister telling the big ballerina that there is a dog over there. He was so focused on the dog that he wasn't at all interested in her costume!

Still Growing...

Last Saturday morning we woke up to a Mr. Mister who seemed to have grown up overnight. We couldn't really put our fingers on what exactly was different about him, but he seemed like such a big boy. Here are the newest happenings:

• He's 100% walking now and walks around like he's the king.
• He learns new words every day. His new favorite is no. We knew it had to come sometime. The cutest one is when you ask him what a doggie says, he says woof in the cutest voice possible.
• He is starting to climb. He loves to get up on chairs, he tries to climb in the bathtub even when it's not bath time, and he climbs into the drawer under the stove with the pots and pans (and then cries because it's not comfortable and he can't get out.)
• He's getting 3 molars. Maybe now he'll actually chew his food instead of just swallowing it.

Enjoy these pictures of our growing boy!

Showing off his untensil skills!

He knows where the cereal is at Grandma and Nonno's house and helps himself when no one is looking!

Enjoying the Cocoa Puffs that Grandma and Grandpa T sent. Isn't chocolate cereal what grandparents are for?

Sitting in the rocking chair and reading himself a book before bedtime.

Fun Surprises

Yesterday, we got a surprise call from Grandma T who happened to be stuck in the airport just 45 minutes from our house. She was flying through here on her way from Pittsburgh to a business meeting in Texas and missed her connecting flight. So with 5 hours to spend in the airport, she called to see if we were available to visit. I was babysitting my friend's son, but Daddy took Mr. Mister to see her. They went to a park on the river not far from there and enjoyed the fall afternoon. It was such a fun and unexpected treat for them to spend a couple hours with her!

Ironically, a couple hours after they got home, UPS delivered a box to us from Grandma and Grandpa T. It was a Halloween package and was so fun to open. It had some clothes for Mr. Mister (including a Steeler's outfit...the battle continues), an old fashioned Jack-in-the-Box (a great find...musical but not requiring batteries!), small gifts for Daddy and me, and a Jack-O-Lantern bucket with Halloween treats for Mr. Mister. But Grandpa resisted buying candy, knowing I wouldn't want to give Mr. Mister candy yet. Instead, the bucket had boxes of Cocoa Puffs, Teddy Grahams, Animal Crackers, and Goldfish....all perfect treats for him.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Football, Take 2

My mom read my blog post from a couple weeks ago about football and knew that it wasn't right for Mr. Mister to only have a Steeler's jersey. She fixed this undesirable situation by finding a pint size Carson Palmer jersey for him. In my opinion, he looks much better in orange and black.

I will admit, however, that if he chooses to be a Bengals fan, he may be in for a life time of disappointment. This past Sunday was a day that is usually much anticipated around here...the Bengals-Steelers game. With the Bengals still winless this season and feeling very unthreatened, Daddy allowed Mr. Mister to wear his Palmer jersey for the game. Despite our support (as you can see below) they still lost, now 0-7 for the season.

You may notice the difference in Mr. Mister's hair from the first two pictures to the last. He got a much needed haircut in between the time he first got the jersey and this past Sunday when we watched the game. It was starting to hang over his shirt in the back...much too close to a mullet for me!