Halloween

So this past week has been absolutely crazy! I worked two overnight shifts (8pm-5am) followed by a 8-12pm shift on Wed. Then, Thursday and Friday Steve had his seminars for the PhD program, and I had class as well. Whew! I am so glad that week is over! Next week looks pretty busy, but hopefully will include more sleep than last! Steve was in his seminar on Friday night, so I took the kiddos trick-or-treating myself (I know- I am pretty proud of myself.) The two busy bees and me headed down to a shopping center called Strawberry village where all the storekeepers open their doors and hand out candy. It was a blast! The best part was it was mostly covered by awnings (it was pouring rain) and I didn't have to worry about the candy being safe or not (not to mention the neighborhood!) Grace got the hang of it very quickly, and soon was running from store to store saying "Trick-or-treat...tanks....trick or treat....tanks..." as she hoarded her treasured candy in her bee "purse." (The only way I could get her to carry a bag.) Also, she is the first bee I know of to insist on wearing pink rainboots with giraffes on them because "mama...du wear rainboots when its raining...not my crocs..." (accompanied by an exasperated sigh and roll of the eyes.) Noah was happy to play with the candy wrappers and smile at people. On an unrelated note he is now standing up and saying "bye" as well as "mama". He says "dada" but still doesn't know what it means...but I tell ya, if he is mad or wants something, he DEFINITLY knows what "mama" means. Also, we had some family pics taken by the amazing Rachel, so make sure and check out rachelblackwellphotography.com/hallam to see them. Let me know if you want me to order any, she is giving us a steal on prices!

In other news...(I know...its been a while since I updated) I have the best husband ever. I have really been wanting this awesome camera lens for some time now, and had truly resigned myself to waiting a year or so to get it. He sold his bike and bought me the lens because he said "I knew you would get much more enjoyment out of the lens than I do out of my bike." It's like the story of the Christmas shoes, except I think he loves me more than I love him because I don't know if I would sell the lens to buy him a surf board! Unfortunately, because my bike was chained to his, after he sold it, two nights later my bike was stolen. :( Not that I rode it that much, but I definitly could have sold it to get him a new bike, or riden it in the future. Mainly it's just creepy that someone was right in front of our apartment (the bike was hanging up) which is not that easy to get to. I think thats all for now, I have to get back to writing papers...hopefully life will slow down a bit soon!