Drat!

I just wrote a long blog that got eaten by the cyberghost. Oh well. I'll try to relive the moment.
October is usually a pretty fun month for the McBryders. This one was no exception. We had our Oktoberfest party the first weekend. Then it was David's 45th birthday. Happy B-day McDood!!

And, of course, preparations for Halloween mark the beginning of the holiday season! The leaves out our bedroom window have turned a deep scarlet hue that adds a glow to the walls. It's an awfully nice time of the year.

We shared Oktoberfest hosting responsibilities with our friend Greg this year. We held it in a local Oddfellow's hall which gave it a different twist. It certainly wasn't the cozy (read: crowded) get together in our house - but boy! did the kids ever love the expansive floorspace! Plus, we had a band!

In celebration of David's birthday, we went to see one of our favorite musicians: Habib Koite. We first learned of Habib at WOMAD a few years back (WOMAD = World of Music and Dance - a fantastic three day event that took place in a nearby park before we had the ever present terrorist threat that caused us to close our borders to any other culture. Anyway...) Habib and a couple of other African musicians are on a CD release tour (Putumayo's Acoustic Africa) and we heartily encourage you to see a show if one comes your way. I know that they are playing in Chicago on 11/4 and Madison on 11/5. What a great show they put on! You can find out more here: http://putumayo.com/acousticafrica/

Some random pictures:

The Photogenic Diva

Look no hands! (check out Grandma's hand-knit suit...)

Jack O'lantern fun

Have a wonderful Halloween everyone!

Octobrrrrr

Hello October!

It appears that I have fallen into the habit of writing once a month (and usually with a nudge from CaliforniaGrammy, at that! Thank you and keep it up!) as it is now October. Contrary to the title, we have been enjoying a brief return of sunny, warm weather. The month of August was filled with fun and outings and the month of September has been much more low-key.
Unfortunately, we have spent far too much time in hospitals this month: my father had been diagnosed with squamous cell cancer of the tongue so he spent about three days in the hospital getting it and some of his lymph nodes removed. And then the next week my father in law was in the hospital for an angiogram and ended up with three stents. He had a few complications so was in for a week or so for additional observation. Thankfully both fathers are back at home, recuperating nicely, cancer free and feeling great. We are so glad they are doing well!

David has been busy with his performance of Evita. It is a wonderful show - this particular theather does a great job with recruiting good actors, singers and musicians, as well as putting together fantastic costumes and sets.
I have been falling back into the rut of hanging out in front of the boob-tube at night watching "What Not to Wear" and re-runs of CSI and all of the Law and Order offerings. So I recently picked my knitting back up: it's slow going, but in a day or two I should complete my second bootie for Sam. Truly, slow going!

Anyway - enough about us. A few of the fun things that Sammy has been doing this last month: speed crawling around the Zoomazium (a kid-centric indoor play area in our zoo - a mere three blocks away!), playing her dad's keyboard, pulling herself up on anything in reach. And showing off her parents' fantastic parental skills by falling into the fountain head-first at the Pacific Science Center. Go, Sammy! :-)

Recent achievements in the sign language department: David and I were trying to count all of the signs she now knows: milk, more, food, grapes, music, book, grandpa, dad, home, cat, bird, dog, sleep, balloon, bed, tree, yes, spider, and various words that she knows that we have yet to figure out!

As of this last week, she has ten teeth - her front four on both the top and bottom, and her first two molars on the top. Crazy. I just felt the second of the two molars today - she doesn't seem to show any symptoms that we can recognize as teething pain.

Here are some photos of our soon-to-be-walking little girl. Enjoy.

I love hand-me-downs!!

A rapt Sammy watches Sesame Street

Yummm...corn on the cob!

It's a blurry picture, but...Sammy's standing!

It's been so much fun watching the two cousins become more aware of each other on our Monday Cousin Night. Here, he would rather hear Sammy read Wacky Wednesday!

October of 2006

October of 2005

My, how they change!