Halloween 2016

Instead of writing 500 posts about all the Halloween fun we've had this month, I'm going to use a little self-control for once and just make one long post.

Family Halloween picture: Batman is 5.5 years, DocMcStuffins is 2.5 years.

Batman and Doc McStuffins

Batman is 5.5 and goes to Kindergarten this year.

DocMcStuffins is 2.5 years and goes to Mommy N' Me once a week

On Wednesday, James and his Kindergarten class picked pumpkins.

On Thursday we had Mommy n' Me Party: Mary and Minnie Mouse Cameron, Bre and Paw Patrol Olivia, me and Doc McStuffins, Kristen and baby pumpkin Tyler, and Tigger Thomas.

On Friday Kevin and I went to a Haunted House for date night!

This weekend's Glow-in-the-dark Puppet Theater

Meeting the puppets after the show

Lyla and James at Heritage Center's Halloween Festival

James and his Kindergarten classmates Darin and Caris at Halloween Festival

 

Miranda ran into Cameron and Thomas from Mommy N' Me

 

Picking more pumpkins to decorate at Halloween Festival

James painting a ghost on his!

Helping them make a huge mess

Running to the playground

Batman down the slide!

Monday, I took them trick-or-treating after James came home. We were out for about an hour, until their little hands froze and they couldn't carry the pumpkins anymore. I had to carry Miranda back for a stretch of the walk. After dinner and half of Curious George's Halloween movie, Kevin got home from work and took them to a few bonus houses because he didn't want to miss out on the trick-or-treating. They were basically the only kids out at 8 pm, which James loved and Miranda said was "spooky."

James and Miranda leaving a house victoriously.

Lots of kids in the neighborhood!

Neighbors love Halloween decorations

Trick-or-treating at his best friend John's house- they hang out on the bus!

They got a lot of candy!

Baby Claire 2016!

Josh and Anna had a beautiful baby girl! Congratulation to dad, mom and bi brother Max!

Claire Elizabeth

Michele Visits NYC 2016

Michele visited New York last weekend! Happiness! I met her in Karen in Chinatown where they were already 2/3rds way through a dumpling crawl. We went to Joe's Shanghai for a few soup dumplings.

Karen, Michele, me inside

Karen and Michele outside Joe's Shanghai

Then we decided to get foot massages, but there was a little bit of a wait so we went for a hot chocolate and coffee. There's not a lot of coffee shops in Chinatown so write down the location of this one!

Cheers at Little Canal cafe, 26 Canal Street

Finally, it was foot massage time! It was my first massage and Karen's foot massage. Why have we been waiting? Amazing. I didn't take photos inside but this is what it felt like:

Renew Day Spa, 42 Bowery

Seriously, they'd rub something on my feet and then it would start to feel like a pleasant burning. And then all the sudden I'd feel it on my ear lobe or something. Crazy.

Then it was time to head to Williamsburg to celebrate Karen's birthday! Michele and I got there a little early and had drinks at Sugarburg. Then we were risking being late so we ran to the restaurant. Everything at Mesa Coyocan was delicious and the drinks were amazing. Karen's friends from grad school and home were awesome and fun, and the whole evening was well worth it. 

David, Nate, Hannah, Nada, Sarah, Karen, Michele


We mixed and matched (the hard way)

Birthday desserts!

Happy birthday, Karen! 

Apple shooters!

Sunday, Michele and I met Ash for brunch at The Breslin in Midtown. Brunch was delicious, it was great to all be together, and I forced everyone to take many many photobooth photos which I haven't scanned yet but will update this post to include later. Perfect visit!

 

I saw these pretty pumpkins on the way- so selfie!

Ash and Michele at The Breslin

Michele + lamb burger + amazing fries + tea = happiness

Midtown selfie: me, Ash, Michele

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon - October 2016

On Saturday, I participated in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon where you read as much as you can for 24 hours. In my time zone I was supposed to start around 8 a.m. and finish Sunday at 8 a.m. Sleeping is optional. My friend Michele came to town though, so I tried to read as much as I could before seeing her, and a little bit the next morning while she was sleeping, but I definitely did not spend 24 hours reading this time. I'm excited to try again in April!

In preparation for the readathon, I pulled the smallest books I could find from my dad's books, and a few other books that I had already started working on. I knew my pile was way too ambitious, but everyone else had big exciting piles so I wanted one too.

Too ambitious for one day.

I ended up reading three small books, mostly while riding on the LIRR to get to and from New York. The Doors of Perception and The Dead Lecturer are my dad's old books, so I made a little dent in my project to read all his books. I also read little bit of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Stranger in Strange Land (which is a re-read for me).

My three readathon books.

Kindergarten Class Picture 2016

James, almost 5.5

Back row: Mr. Jackowski, Aidan, Brayden, Caris, Nolan, Michael D., Darin, Mrs. Maloney

Standing: Emma, Dillon, Michael B, Alaina, Arielle

Sitting: Abby, Harper, Hailey, Samantha, Emily, Liliana

Front: Nicholas, James, Vince, Kyle

Nana and Bob Visit- October 2016

Nana and Bob visited and played with the kids. There's a lot of snuggling in this post.

Saturday- Nana showing Miranda the hat she got her.

Bob playing a solitaire-like game with James, except, together

Hugging Nana

Sunday- Early morning puzzle with Bob

Almost done!

Nana is her lipstick pusher

Tickling Miranda

Saying goodbye on Sunday

Saying goodbye on Sunday

See ya soon, Nana

Kiss!

Mom got her cancer scan results back and her tumors all shrunk! Since June, she's been on Lenvatinib (Lenvima- which targets VEGF) combined with everolimus (Afinitor- which targets mTOR). As I explained in an earlier post, VEGF is a protein which helps cancer grow blood vessels, and MTOR is a protein that makes cells divide and grow.

Hopefully, the new drug is extra good! It's only been approved for use in renal cell cancer since May 2016 and Mom started it right away in June. It's the fifth drug combo she's tried, but it has good stats for a new drug and it's approved for Line 2 treatment so I have big expectations for it.