Leaf Fight II: This Time It's Personal

Now that the leaves are starting to fall from Papa's liquid amber tree, it's time for leaf fights! Last year's fights were pretty intense, but now that we're big girls of three and a half, it's ON! Of course, after the fight, Papa comes out with either the leaf blower or vacuum (yes, he has both) and makes his lawn pretty again. As Rachel might say: "Oh brudder!"

Thank You.

In honor of Veterans' Day

CCBR

My dad and I took the girls to the Central California Band Review today. They just love their marching bands, so we had a great time.

I wanted this to be much cooler--you can barely see our reflection, as this kid was on the move. Perhaps next year I'll find an obliging tuba player and make him stand really still while I get my shot!Rachel, enjoying the percussion competition with Papa.

Pittman Percussion. They were awesome.

See Patricia--you could have had someone carry your marimba for you! Those poor guys looked miserable.

Buhach Colony's drum major.

These girls were having fun.

This girl was having fun too.

The hosts of the parade...the always impressive Cardinal Regime. We got to meet Mr. C., their band director and my former band director. The girls thought it was a pretty big deal.

Good times.

Back when he was a good boy with short hair...

After seeing the girls' preschool picture, my mother-in-law sent me a picture of Adrian's preschool graduation.

How the heck...

...did we go from this

to THIS???

The girls had their first day of preschool today. Excuse me while I go cry...

Save Pushing Daisies!

I love this wonderfully original show. It's such a breath of fresh air from the usual fare. It fell victim to the writer's strike last season, and now it's in danger of being canceled. If you love me and want me to be happily entertained, go here to sign the petition!

A witch and a bat!

We had a busy Halloween, but it was a fun one. Grammy spent the morning shuttling the girls here and there in their costumes. They got to trick or treat at Grammy's salon, as well as our workplaces. They were a hit! After some good naptime, it was time to dress up again and make the rounds to friends and family. We topped it off with some light trick or treating in Grammy and Papa's neighborhood, then settled in to celebrate Papa's birthday. Pizza, cake, candy, and Wii Fit (Papa's new gift)! Fun.

Being "scary."

Getting treats at Aunt Vera and Unlce Mo's.


We had a special treat--we finally got to meet our cute cousins, Mallary and Avery (the newest set of twins!). This is Mallary--no it's Avery--or is it Mallary? This is one of the twins and her grandpa. Man, I'm starting to see what all the fuss is about, trying to tell other folks' twins apart is rough! They were flying monkeys. Hehe.

Taking a moment to play with Charlie and Terri's well-behaved dog. Very well-behaved.

Heavy duty candle-blowing.

Rachel helping Papa sort through his gifts.

Ever the lady, Charlotte devours her cake.



I love Halloween. Now will someone please come and pull my head out of the leftover candy bowl? Please?

Tag!

Time to play tag again. Amy tagged me, so look out! I've already done the 100 things, so I'm going to try not to repeat.

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six (6) Random Things about me in no particular order:

1. I hate tomatoes.

2. Jon Stewart is my boyfriend. Okay, he's not...but he is.

3. I never used to cry at movies such as Steel Magnolias, Beaches, etc... Until I had kids. Now even certain commercials make me well up.

4. I am usually attempting to read 4 to 5 books at one time. My nightstand is a mess of books.

5. Green note: I have become very lax in using my re-usable grocery sacks. I'm going to go ahead and blame it on the fact that one of them broke on me and I became discouraged. Time to whip myself back into shape! I have been using my Klean Kanteen, and I'm loving it.

6. I'm trying to re-learn how to eat when I'm hungry, vs. when I'm just bored. I'm tired of dieting. I want to eat what I want!


Okay, time to tag my six: Donavan, Sabrina, Megan, Patricia, Jen, and Kelli. GO!

Pumpkin Patch II--now with more pumpkins and more peril!

We headed up to Sacramento today to help celebrate the birthday of this sweet girl. We couldn't have had more fun if we'd tried!

We got to meet Becca's BFF, Tawny.

What goes up, must come down. You can't argue with physics. Believe me, I've tried.

Oh, for crying out loud--I can't get anything near a decent picture of these two together anymore. I give up.

Adrian was very excited about the funky gourds, so he took a picture while we were on the train ride.

It's true--you really can't make this stuff up.

Rachel (after a long bout with a runny nose): "Mommy, my nose-sucking feels better today!"

Charlotte (getting out of the van at Grammy's this morning): "I'm ready for the presentation!"

The Pumpkin Patch...of PERIL!

A tad dramatic? I think not. Our trip to the pumpkin patch was fraught with danger!

First of all, we had to work our way through a corn maze that stretched clear to the foothills. We weren't sure we were going to make it, but figured we could live on corn until someone came to find us.

Smack in the middle of the maze, we found a corn cob that had fallen on the ground, so we had to stop for an impromptu lesson: "Where Corn Comes From--As Told By Daddy." That's right, we had to learn something...on a SUNDAY!


Two days later (at least it seemed like two days), we emerged, crying and sweaty, from the maze. Okay, maybe that was just me crying and sweating.

But wait! It was also really, really bright! Any fellow fair, blue-eyed folks will back me up--trying to keep your eyes open for outdoor pictures in the midafternoon is TORTURE!

And witness how my poor child was nearly overtaken by a passel of pumpkins! Okay, maybe she was just picking one out--I'm just trying to stick with a theme here.

Whew! We made it out alive and here you see we're ready to take our newly-aquired pumpkins home.
Gah! We had to stop for one last photo. Rachel was having none of it. Even after Dad tried making Donald Duck noises in her ear. And you thought the pumpkin patch was fun.

Friends.

What a nice night. Tonight is the guys' night to play cards/games, so we decided to have a girls' dinner at our house. Sabrina and Donavan brought the kids for a night of food, talk, and lots of playing. We had a nice surprise before dinner- our friends Steve and Carol were up from San Diego, so we got to visit with them for a bit. Their sweet Aiden turned a year old yesterday. It was nice to have the old group back together for a bit before the men went off to play. I finally got to meet Parker, Donavan's brand new baby. I just wanted to hold him all night long!

Parker--the newest member of our Peanuts Gang.
Get used to it kid, they're going to be all over you for a long time.

Carol and Aiden--Mr. Mellow.

Donavan and Maddie. She loves it when I do "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." Maddie, not Donavan.

This character made a beeline for the playroom as soon as she got here. She knows how it's done.


Hey look! One of mine! They were trying to coax Maddie over for a picture.

Thanks for the company dear friends!

Is this where I'm supposed to say, "Bad Blogger!"?

I've been informed by more than one person that the blog needs some TLC. My own mother summed it up beautifully: "The blog is looking pretty sad." Thanks Mom. Ever the dutiful blogger (and daughter), I whipped out my trusty camera this afternoon. That would be my trusty camera...with a dead battery. But don't fret! My mom must have seen this coming, as she took some pictures of the girls just the other day.

They're getting entirely too big. People tell you that they grow too fast, and you think, "Yeah, yeah...I know." But seriously...they grow way too fast!

We're growing out the pageboy cuts and the bangs. We've also got a bit more growing to do to fit into these shirts! I don't know why I say "we," as if we're a collective. Is that a mom thing? Also of note: they've transitioned into cheesy smiles for photos.