Thursday, October 30, 2008

Prepping for Halloween!!

Our pumpkin!
Chris has been fulfilling isaacs latest dream of being 'Wall-E' for halloween--pics to come tommorow...but he has pulled some late nights, many 'fittings'--its awesome!! Isaac is so fun...such a happy little soul...just wants to laugh, and make you laugh.
Here are some shots that totally warm my heart of my two boys as they become eachothers best friends--isaac is the best big brother i could ever hope for elliot.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Lazy October Weekend

Its been so beautiful the last week and i have tried to get the boys out for some backyard adventures...normally its the adventure to play "Where's Daddy?" (not unlike 'Where's Waldo?')When they find him, he normally has something to show them, give them or hear something that Isaac is dying to tell him!Isaac and i on our maiden voyage to make cookies together in the camp kitchen....our friend and master of many trades (Arleigh) said that cookies taste the best cooked in a convection oven....and she was right - they were awesome gingersnaps! Isaacs job was to roll them in the sugar and put them on the tray. He did pretty good, he withheld from licking his fingers after every roll...but he said he found that part hard - self restraint IS hard my little one!Chris played field hockey this morning in victoria and came home with a huge jar of tinkertoys....me being a girl and a mom, just saw a bunch of sticks that i will have to pick up--but he swears that as an inventive little boy, he LOVED this--and isaac, granted, is also in a very inventive and imaginative stage right now. Watching the 3 of them play with these toys this morning was so sweet and exciting for all of them!

Staff Weekend Retreat

It's a week late, but here are some of my favorite shots of some of my favorite 'camp peeps' .
Kari is due in the next few weeks, so i was proud of her sense of adventure for traveling so far from home! Its always so good to see my friends, and to have more than one friend in my home at the same time totally thrills me!! And to have the visit happen during some momentous times for everyone is even cooler: Steph is getting her health back after fighting for over 2 years to get it back, Kari is about to have another baby, Jennie-Lynn just had a beautiful baby (grr, no pics of mommy, but one shot of Andy with Leilani), Court took on the position of Head Cook this weekend for the first time and did amazing...so it was pretty great to have these women back in my house at the same time....loved it!



Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mom in Law Early Birthday Party

Mike and Laura surprised Marg with an early birthday today (3 days early to be exact). Laura took her to get her 'colors' done...turns out marg is a 'summer' and Laura is a 'winter'.......i have no idea what i would be. But they made a nice roast dinner and it gave the kids a chance to run and play together.

This is me as Wren's girl guide cookie customer! (i am not as good a customer as aunt Jenny who bought3 boxes!! This is Wren doing what i often feel like doing at the end of a long day with talkative isaac....this is him consistently asking wren to come play upstairs
Ava posing for Aunty Jenny


Grandma's playroom that they like to destroy when they all come over!
"Mice Potatoes"
Isaac and i were talking on the way home and he was asking if i was the boss, or if daddy was the boss. I told him that we were partners so that we are both the boss, which got him asking about who his partner was. I said Elliot was his best partner until he gets older and then he would probably pick a girl partner.....which lead him quickly to say that he would choose Wren. Umm.....ok, well, we can't choose partners in our family. Then he said he would choose me..i repeated my last statement, which then he replied he would choose Elliot and then Olivia to be his partners.
Here was part of the conversation as well:
I: i would choose a little boy at preschool because i really like him, but sometimes he pushes me.

S: Well honey, that is exactly the partner you DON'T want, you want someone who is fun and sweet to be with.

I:why?
S: Because when you get bigger, it will hurt when he pushes you because he will be bigger.

I: i think its something he will grow out of.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Few Favs......

Couple favorite shots from the last few weeks - our Nerf War with the boys last night - that was awesome fun!! i LOVE that they are getting old enough to play and laugh and run and hide with us.....FINALLY!!!
this is me..........wearing Elliots halloween costume on (i know, i am a total dork, but they love it). It was pretty hilarious that his whole costume that covers his entire body, only fit on my head! I actually scared elliot, but chris and isaac thought it was funny to shoot the lion......
And a few of my new perfect little Nephew Jack (who is coming to visit with his mama in a few weeks! yay!



And just a happy one of my mom that i love.......





Friday, October 17, 2008

Moments....

There are movies that i watch over and over for the 'moment'. Like, in Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman (totally lame movie, btw, don't bother if you haven't seen it)...but there is a moment where Sandra's character gets a spell put on her to find her true love at an exact moment. When that moment comes, she looks up from her gardening where she has been mucking about, all dirty and everything, rubber boots, cut off jean shorts......she just gets up and starts to walk, then run down the street....towards the sweet veggie salesguy who also, looks up from his veggie box, sees her running towards him....and then BOOM - she jumps in his arms and they kiss and its amazing.

Another movie moment off the top of my head that i love love, is from The Mirror has Two Faces with Barbrea Streisand and Jeff Bridges. It's the very last scene (so i have to endure sort of a dumb movie for this specific moment) - but he realizes he loves her very much and wakes up her whole building telling her that he was wrong and doesn't care that she is beautiful, but he wants to be married to her, and she says 'you ARE married to me'....and then....THE DANCE! That beautiful dance in the street where they twirl eachother around and kiss on the hood of cars and bryan adams in playing in the background and i LOVE IT!!

And the reason i am talking about moments is the movie i watched and rewound again a couple times to watch the moment again...was August Rush. This little beautiful boy is trying to find his parents and believes it will be the music that he creates that will bring them back to him. The very last scene, he is conducting the NY Philharmonic in Central Park who is playing his creation. And at the end of this beautiful song, his parents, who are coming from different directions (one being a cellest, the other a rock star) end up at the front of the crowd having found eachother on their way to the front, being drawn by the music of their son. And at that last moment, they are watching him and he suddenly feels it!! He smiles as he turns around to see them staring proudly at him.....it's all so beautiful!! i cry and cry......crying partly for myself because i often don't notice all the beautiful things my sons do.

And i am realizing this about myself in the last few dreary grey days.....i am often lonely and sad during these rainy days, but i need to stay focused that this too will change very soon and i can't miss the moments that get thrown my way, because apparently, i am a woman who LOVES moments.......but they are so easy to miss, aren't they?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Lazy Bear....

So every year around this time, we have bears. It's no secret that they are around......we now walk with bear bangers in our pocket and caleb at our side........and normally they leave our yard alone until the end of the season when they can't find much else to eat. Soooo...they come to scavenge our apple tree.

One year, this big fat bear jumped up onto our fence, did a right rope walk for awhile til he got to the tree, then hopped his huge butt right into our tiny little apple tree...and honestly, that poor tree has never been the same since!

This year, i am assuming this bear got too fat or too lazy to want to jump the fence again....so he put his head down and plowed right through it!!

Hence, Chris in the background cutting down our poor apple tree....sigh! Well.....on a happy note: we had a great dessert last night with the trees last apples to celebrate its life!!

ah-wild life in the sticks!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

My walk with Amanda...

She and i try to walk often, as often as we can.....and today, i walked my dog with the strap from the highchair because i couldn't find his leash.......