October Post

Ah, October. The lead up to Halloween. Mom's slowly losing her mind over the election.

Let's review!

We had fun at Eden's birthday party. Funny kids.

We've gotten pretty into Harry Potter! We started our second illustrated version! And, as you'll see later in the blog, Everett decided we needed to do a Harry Potter themed costume for Halloween!

Lydia loves painting. And wearing her dinosaur hoodie.

Rozzy loves playing in mud . . .

And dirt. Get that baby away from the potted plants!

I can usually plan things so I don't have to take multiple (or any) kids shopping with me. So when I have to, it can be a pretty fun adventure. What cute kids!!

It was Open Studios time again! We went to visit. Mom showed the kids her bead making contraption and we all ate acorn goodies (and admired the art, of course).

Weird, wacky fun at our house.

Katie came to visit! She surprised Everett when she helped pick him up from school. She got to see his classroom. And eat In-N-Out, apparently.

Playing a fun game of Monopoly Junior.

Colony Days was a little drizzly, but we still had a great time. We waved at the Hunters on the Atascadero city float!

And we met up with the Thompsons, Peter, and Henry (who walked in the parade for his dad Bruce, who will be competing in Dancing with the Stars!--locally, for ALPS). 

Rozzy's been getting some special days with Phil and Gion and it's wonderful! She loves her alone time with them.

Smart baby has seen Mom and Dad turn the sound machine on with their toes a few (hundred) times. Ha.

Adorable baby opening her Halloween card from Phil and Gion. 

Gretchen and Mark came up to visit! We're always so happy when they make the trek up from La Quinta. Playing Bingo and Roz and Mark watching Baseball.

Lydia asked and asked until I agreed to help her make and decorate cookies. Pay no attention to the countertops. That is what happens when I spend all my extra time (which isn't a whole lot of extra time) making cookie dough, cutting shapes, and whipping icing. But they had fun! Worth it.

Phil and Gion have started taking Roz to gymnastics. Ack!! How cute!

Roz was the first kid to "help" carve a pumpkin. The next day it was Lydia's turn.

Cuties the Friday before Halloween. And the grass that's started spouting in our yard.

Then it was Everett's turn to carve! Ooshy gooshy! 

The Saturday before Halloween (which was on a Monday this year, oof), Brian earned all the husband/dad points by deciding to take the kids to the ocean so I could finish up my costume projects. 

Rozzy's learning to growl like a bear. Grrrr! And here they are making Grandpa George proud as puppeteers! This is the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History. 

And here it is! Our family Harry Potter costume! Everett was Harry, of course. Lydia was the Grey Lady. She didn't want to be Hermione (she doesn't know the characters), and she mentioned a couple times that she wanted to be a ghost, so she was a Hogwarts ghost, the ghost of Ravenclaw House. Rosalind was the golden snitch (the most important ball in the game of Quidditch). I was Professor McGonagall and Brian was Professor Dumbledore.

We had my parents come over Sunday to take pictures and wrangle kids. Our photoshoot got rained out, but we got some good shots on the front porch.

On Halloween, as has become our tradition, we headed over to San Pedro for a yummy dinner and trick or treating in the neighborhood. It's a great little place for the kids to trick or treat. A few people know us and like to see our costumes, most people are home handing out candy, but it's not super busy, so they get good candy (really good candy!).

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! It gets more and more fun as the kids get older. Looking at Lydia beforehand thinking "just you wait."

Facebook quotes:

"Lydia is so sweet I can't handle it. She complimented the bagger at the grocery store for being very fast. Then she said good-bye to our fire engine shopping cart and told it she would miss it."

"Me: in a patriarchy, women are oppressed by,

Everett: Jabba the Hutt?!?"

Best wishes for November y'all! 

September Post

I've been overwhelmed by the length of my recent posts and the time I devote to putting them together, so I said, "that's it! I'm going to break each month into two!" Then almost nothing happened the first half of September. Brian remarked that life is slow the first month of school. And last month we were packing things into the end of summer (thus, the August post was dauntingly long). So . . . I didn't break up September. Here's all of it!

I did a photoshoot of Roz in this adorable dress Gion's friend Rita sent. Goofy Lydia had to get in on it. She did this when I said, "show me your cute face." She's the best.

The kids' new room! I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Everett created a board game. He called it "Don't Wake the Bear." He always won.

He used some birthday money to buy a Frozen Lego set (it has a spiral staircase!) and Battleship. How's this for a well rounded, confident kid?

Speaking of games: Everett's been really into chess lately. He asks us to play almost every day. He's good! I'm impressed with how quickly he's caught on.

Everett's doing well in school. He's still getting in a bit of trouble for being goofy and distracting, but his teacher seems to have a good handle on that. And he's reading so well and doing great in math.

Somehow Rosalind got the idea that we greet each other by sticking out our tongue.

More about Roz:

She's been saying "hi." It's more like "ha" and breathy. But it's her only sound/word that is getting consistent.

She's making more sounds like "ma" for mom, "da" for dad, and "buh" for up, but she's not consistent.

She can (but usually won't--stubborn baby) sign more, all done, and milk.

If you ask for a kiss, she'll kiss her hand and smack you in the face.

She's working on blowing kisses.

She waves hello and good-bye.

She likes to dance with her hands in the air. And she walks sideways, almost looks like she's line dancing. She'll sometimes put up one arm like she's being led around.

She likes to flop around on a bed and on blankets or pillows on the floor.

Lydia likes to help bake and cook whenever she can.

More about Lydia:

She's doing great in preschool. Drop offs are good some days and tearful other days, but it's getting better all the time. Everett never really had separation anxiety, so this is all new to us.

She loves Fridays because they do sharing and they paint.

She is really good at complimenting people! Brian and I freely admit we aren't great in this department, so her natural skills impress us.

Lydia: I love your pretty necklace.

Arlene: Thank you! That's really sweet of you!

Lydia: Did someone buy it for you or did you make it?

Arlene was delighted and explained that she bought it for herself on a special trip.

Who is this little thoughtful person?!

It's cute when a 6-year-old does it, with his kid spelling. We actually did get it washed too. Brian took Lydia and Roz through the carwash.

Grandma Kathie is recovering well from her knee surgery. We were so happy for her to start visiting again. Lydia was missing her rainbow painting.

These two are so sweet together. Grandpa George and Roz.

Yeah, most of the exciting things the kids did this month were with Grandparents. Phil and Gion took the big kids to the beach on separate days. Both got fish and chips and a trip to the candy shop!

A balloon blowing contest with Grandpa Phil. And Lydia advanced to Preschool 2 in gymnastics!

Phil and Gion have started taking Roz one day a week. They took her to the park. She loved it, and she made a little friend.

And they took Lydia to the pumpkin patch! She had a blast. And, of course, Everett wants to go now too. Roz has not expressed a desire to go, but they'll take her too.

Rosalind doesn't seem to mind being decorated by her silly sister.

Sweetie on Phil and Gion's deck.

I tried to get some good pictures of Roz in the bird costume I made for Everett's second Halloween. I think I'll try again on a cooler day. The girls are enjoying the play structure in its new location. As you can see, Brian cut down the holly tree! It died. Yule logs for everyone!!

More pictures of this cutie cooking--and eating the results.

The kids got their flu shots. It hurt way more than Everett expected. Poor guy. His TV shows told him it was just a little pinch, and they're LIARS!!!

Brian and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary at Kochi, yes Atascadero has a Korean restaurant! It was fun. A little confusing, but we tried a new thing! I promised Brian I wouldn't post a picture on the internet. Sorry Brian! It's just the blog.

From facebook:

I'm doing this new exercise program for moms.

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I said to Brian: during Core Camp my knees kept going pop, pop, pop.

Everett: OOOOOHHHHH . . . that's why it's called Corn Camp.

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Unfortunately, I hurt my back and now the only exercises I'm doing are for physical therapy!

Until next month! OOOoo! I love October!