Halloween

I always have mixed feelings about Halloween. Not in the "day of the devil...filled with evil...go to the fall harvest instead" way. More of the "you're 15 years old and you're not wearing a costume, you little punk," way.

Every year is the same. You get your super cute kids showing up wearing great costumes. So far, today, we've seen a mummified colonel, a ninja, some character from GI Joe, about 6 Spidermans (Spidermen?), and a Michelle Obama.

Then...you get the brats that show up in their street clothes with a backpack wide open on their front.

Anyway...Desi did his first Trick or Treating, today. It wasn't much. We basically went over to the neighbors to show him off, snapped some pictures and that was it. It was pretty chilly, so he went out in his Northwest Robin costume, complete with ear covering hat. He wouldn't keep the face mask on.














And...for your viewing pleasure. Greg Behrendt on Halloween. Funny stuff...beware, adult language.

Sloppy Guts! OR Pumpkin Sloppy Joes

The internet actually called these "Sloppy Boos," but that's lame, so I changed the name.

We served it at PEPS tonight and the reviews were strong, so I figured I would post. Great for Halloween.

It's low fat and pretty easy. I doubled the recipe and it barely made it through 14 people. I'm not positive if everyone ate.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 medium chopped onions
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt to taste

Directions:

In a large heavy saucepan brown the ground turkey over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions. Cook until the onions are almost soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for additional minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Desi says his first word...and we have it recorded!

Check it out, here.

When you're done...check this out!!!

Always wanted to do that!

Courtesy of Grandpa P

The new Tommy Lee:

Rolling in the dirty sheets

Quincy loves to roll in the dirty sheets. Apparently, so does Desmond.

(Before everyone freaks out...if you don't know Quincy, he's generally loud. This is him being playful)


Rolling in the dirty sheets. from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Happy (Late) Birthday, Grandma Kathy!

I mentioned Grandma Kathy was in town. We figured, while she was here, and since she hasn't been to our new place in Seattle, we would take her out for a belated birthday celebration. We went to the Sky Cafe atop the Space Needle. Very very awesome place to dine.

Clearly...I need to remember to take fewer pictures of the baby and more pictures of our guests, when we're out...

Getting ready to leave:


Desi eating with a view


With his favorite Mommy in the whole world.


With one of his favorite daddies.

Admiring Grandma's birthday dessert...The Lunar Orbitor.

Trip to the Zoo

Grandma Kathy has been here for the week. Today, we all took the day off and went to the zoo. Here's some photos...in no particular order:

That's the size of a hippo print. Desi loved the Hippos.


Hangin' with Daddy. Oh...wait, sorry...that's a gorilla.


Lovin' his leaf. Or Canada.




That's a lioness in the background. Rawr!
















Snow leopard


An exotic Squirrel from the Northwestern Region of Central North America got loose.

The Next Tommy Lee?

Where's Pam?

Tommy Lee? from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Did somebody else figure out how to stack the vote?

Not that I'm stacking the vote or anything...but, really.

What should we do for Desi's birthday?

This is currently the hot topic in our house. Desmond's big Numero Uno is coming up in just over a month. What should we do?

Shaundar wants to have a party at our house. She wants to have our closest friends over to hang out and chill and give Desi presents. Then, Desi gets to make a huge mess in his own little cake.

Me...I want to go out. And, I don't want the cake.

I know, I know...I'm a horrible dad. Kids are supposed to make a big cake mess. Well...Desmond has never had cake before, so he won't know what he's missing. Plus, that leaves a big mess to clean in the kitchen, not to mention a messy and hyperactive baby. Not my idea of a fun party.

I say, let's all go grab pizza with Grandpa P (who will be in town) Brian, Lise, Kelley and (Godfather) Ryan, put a little hat on Des (which will stay on for about 4 seconds), sing happy birthday, take some pictures and be done with it.

Bing Bang Boom. Birthday celebrated. No hyperactivity. No huge mess (any mess at all will be cleaned up by the help...I mean the waitstaff), and, we're done. Time to hit the mall.

Anyway...I put a poll up on the right. I am looking for the opinions of my 5 readers and anyone else who may occasionally peek at the site. What do you think?

So far...100% of the voters agree with me. That's one smart guy that voted. Smart, and good looking.

First of many times Daddy will dress Desi stupidly...OR...School Picture Day

Long story short...I forgot it was picture day. I sent Desi to school wearing a Microsoft T-shirt.


Still...Desi being the poser her is, the photos came out well. The hard copy images look better than the scanned ones. But, if you're interested, here they are.

Talky Talk Talk

Desi has been playing with all of his sounds, recently. He's got quite a few of them. Babycenter says his first word will happen any day now. Whatever...Desi's been talking up a storm, already.

Here are some words that we have heard, plain as day. As his proud father (see last post), I am confident these words have come out of his mouth:

• Mama and Dada (although, I think he gets confused as to who's who)
• kitty
• Baba-Waba...you know, as in Barbra Walters
• milk
• Something closely resembling Quincy...although, it may just be kitty, again.
• Idiot...this was directed at me when I was strappig him into his car seat.
• Darth Vader
• Duchovny...as in David. Kid's an X-Files fan
• and blithel blathel. This is probably his favorite word. Not sure what it means, but he says it a lot.

Shaundar just doesn't understand how to act like a Proud Parent

We've been practicing standing with Desi. Most times, he'll balance by himself for about a second and a half and then fall in a random direction. This weekend, he started to grasp the concept of standing unassisted. On Saturday, we practiced and he lasted about 4 seconds. Then, on Sunday, he went even longer. Shaundar was in the shower when this happened. As soon as she came back downstairs, I said, "Mommy! Guess who stood for a full 15 seconds!"

I was so excited and proud of Desi, at dinner that night at Uncle Brian and Aunt Lise's (a quite good hippie Vegan meal by Aunt Kelley) we wanted to show off. But, Desi wasn't having it. I think he was done with standing drills.

But, I still made sure everyone knew! "Earlier today...he stood by himself for 20 whole seconds!"

From the other end of the room, I hear, "Earlier, you said it was 15." It was Shaundar speaking.

Clearly, she doesn't understand how this works. When you're kid does something, you increase or improve what they did when you tell the story to others. For example...if your kid plays baseball and scores a run...you tell everyone that he hit a home run. If he gets an A in 2nd grade, you say he's reading at a Jr High level. If he comes home from school with a black eye, you say the other kid started it, but [fill in your kid's name here] finished it!

I have since explained this to Shaundar so she understands.

Good thing I didn't tell her Desi really only stood for 10 seconds.

The Heart Walk

The fam participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk, yesterday.

By the way...if you haven't donated, yet, you still can. My page is here and Shaundar's page is here. You can donate right on the site and all the proceeds benefit the American Heart Association and the research they do.

So...we walked with my Uncle Brian and our neighbor Jennifer. Here are some pictures.

Desi prepping for his first ever charitable event.



Over 8000 people turned out.


Des clearly found the whole thing very exciting.


Seattle


Shaundar and Jennifer


Brian and Jennifer



Mmmm...free snacks.



The fam.



Our group...with Desi looking at the big boat.



Washington Pankow men.



Desi walking in the Heart Walk...with a little assistance.



Done walking, now.



At the finish line.