Rusty Shackles and Jack-O-Lanterns

... and everything in between. Here's a bit of a week-in-review from the Rudy household:

Last Sunday Don spent the ENTIRE day underneath the car, replacing the shackles that hold the Explorer's leaf springs in place. A brake line failure landed the car in the shop a few days prior, and of course they found all sorts of other rusty parts in dire need of repair. Over the last year or so Don has been willing to commit lots of time to doing car repairs himself, saving us thousands of dollars. I was quite happy to turn this project over to the pros, but once again Don was willing to take it on, rusty bolts and all. Here's a before:

That's the driver's side - note the crack just below the bolt. Yipes! Don replaced the shackles on both sides. This was what was left of them after removal:

And here's the driver's side again, with a nice shiny new one installed:

Fascinating, yes? Sure...

This week Amy had a small cold, and William was getting into an excellent napping groove, so we spent more than the usual amount of time at home, just playin'...

I caught Amy using the baby monitor like a phone, trying to talk to W as he woke up:

My five-month-old boy got his first taste of rice cereal. He kept making faces like "this was not exactly what I had in mind..." but seemed generally excited about the experience. I had been planning on waiting until he was a full six months to try solids, but since evidence of his allergy has been rapidly disappearing and he's been seeming just plain hungry, Don convinced me to give it a go. So far so good.

This weekend we did our pumpkin carving. We did not go pumpkin picking, like we did last year, but we still had lots of fun with these supermarket beauties. (I know suppose there should be four pumpkins, but those little pie pumpkins are awfully hard to carve, so I stopped with just one). Amy requested "round eyes, a square nose, and a smiley face"... and when I was done I laughed because I think it looks like William. Don did the happy one on the left, and I did the cat face on the right. Amy could not be convinced to touch the pumpkin guts, but she's been delighted with these guys since their completion.

Now I just need to finish her costume (ahh!) and we'll be all set for Halloween!