Giving Thanks... for Cousins!

This is what our Thanksgiving looked like this year... with a soundtrack of crazy, happy, wild kids! I didn't get a picture of Shawna's beautiful table complete with her pretty china, silver and crystal, but the only one who was allowed near it was Luke! This crazy crew stayed at the kids' table!

 

 

Bookend Boys

I love these pictures of these "bookend boys." Joey just can't wait until his little cousin Luke is old enough to play catch!

October in Snippets

I love looking back at my stash of "everyday" photos at the end of each month, and seeing the here and now moments that were captured, telling the story of our lives perfectly... and sometimes blurrily, thanks to my phone!

 

 

 

A regular day becomes a lot better when you can run across the street and join your buddy for a playdate!

 

Joey now knows how to play liar's dice. I'm not sure if we should be proud of this or not.

 

Meanwhile, Clara is absolutely obsessed with writing stories on the computer. so far, her creations include short stories entitled "My Best Friend" and "The Candy Witch." Every spare moment she has she is hunting and pecking and typing away.

 

 

This little munchkin is chipping away at the reading lessons in our old faithful, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We're about 2/3 of the way through the book, believe it or not! We usually make time for a lesson or two at the dog park while big kids are at school.

 

 

Molly had her last "Farm Day" at her preschool, and was thrilled to wear those red cowgirl boots of hers!

 

Clara has a "Skout Skate" at a local roller skating rink on a school holiday. Joey was dismayed to find when we got to the rink that he was one of only approximately 5 boys in the whole place... and three of them were toddlers. He tried to hide in the bushes at the entrance, and almost refused to come in. But he ended up loving the skating, and someday he'll appreciate that lopsided ratio at his sister's activities!

 

Clara's school had a Halloween Bingo night, which meant Clara got to break out her costume before the big day. She was pretty jazzed, and her Bingo assistant was, too.

 

A Moraga friend is helping start up a new backpack company, and asked our kids to be in a photo shoot with the bags. We added to the diversity of this shoot by singlehandedly representing the "optically challenged." 

 

 

 

Clara had a chance to be "Star Student of the Week" in her class, and was allowed to invite one guest who would be interviewed by her classmates. She decided to bring her pint-size sister, who was grilled with questions like, "What school do you go to?" "Do you know how to ride a bike?" and "What's your favorite cartoon?"

 

She sat in that chair and swung her legs back and forth and loved every minute of it!

I love that Tim snagged a picture of one of my weekly activities... making sure the kids' nails are trimmed. It's a never-ending job!

And finally, we may be burbs people now, but we still appreciate some urban sights, especially when they're this spectacular! We took this while driving across the Bay Bridge to meet friends for dinner at the end of the month.

Halloween 2014

The days of matching Halloween costumes are officially gone in this house, much to this mommy's chagrin. We almost had our trio sold on being matching minions in blue overalls and yellow shirts, and almost got sign-off on a threesome from Little Red Riding Hood, but in the end, everyone decided to go their own way.

We had an ultra-cool Joe Montana, a delighted Jack-o-Lantern (with a smile to match), and an adorable Little Red Riding Hood. They all had a day jam-packed with Halloween festivities, including three costume parades and three Halloween parties.

To top it off, we had a small 40th birthday celebration for the daddy in our house, who insisted on wearing a gorilla suit for most of the day.

 

 

 

When I agreed to marry this Halloween baby, I had no idea that I was signing up for a doubly crazy October 31st... candy AND cake, trick-or-treating AND birthday fun. Luckily, two grandmas stepped up to the plate to help do the last item on the Halloween checklist: carving pumpkins. They finished with only minutes to spare before the sun went down that evening... phew!

 

 

We ended the night by trick-or-treating with cousins Tommy and Lucy, complete with choruses of "Thank you!" and "Happy Halloween!"

 

 

Pumpkins Without the Parents

What to do when your parents sneak away to Florida for a quick work trip right smack dab in the middle of pumpkin season? Convince your grandma to take you to a favorite haunt that includes pumpkins, tunnels, tractors and more... Farmer John's Pumpkin Patch!

We missed being there in person, but were glad that the kids managed to sneak in this trip during a very busy October! Thanks Grandma!