Help Wanted--Little Elves Needed

Those who know me, know that if anything will bring a blog post out of me, it's Halloween. Nothing unexpected there. What is surprising is that the kids actually got costumes out of me! Craft faires to prepare for, the holiday sewing rush coming up, Halloween parties to plan, coordinate and attend--is it any wonder she doesn't post for a month!?! I am hiring for little elves for the season!

Here is the best picture we got this year of the kids in costume. If anyone has a better picture...email me!

The absolutely best best part of these costumes is they are ALL FROM STASH!! Not a piece of fabric or trim purchased this year. Esme is wearing a princess sash that we got at a thrift store earlier this year, though. And she's missing her way cool crown!

Finn's pumpkin is on the top step, and Mim's is the lower one. They both drew out the faces they wanted on paper, and after they had gutted the squash, Bri carved the paper likeness. Good times.

Country Roads, Take me Home

These pictures have been a long while in posting, sometimes Blogger just frustrates me into abstention. But check this out!

This was part of the kid's Big Weekend and Grandpa Charles and Nonie's house. It was a Big Weekend for Meg and Bri too, in a leetle different sense (and here). Sigh, it seems so long ago. But I digress...

The kids partook in making donuts (and eating them too!), a big backyard campout complete with roasted weenies, marshmallows and sleeping bags, and of course, the Mr Gump adventure. Mr. Gump's adventure took them right by the neighbors, Bill and Katie, who were ready to give the kids a ride on Junior.

We can't decide what the highlight of the weekend was. We're all still talking about it...

Dark Entering

Well, today was it. The official first day of Kindergarten. Here is the boy, with his bag of Rubber Boots and Inside Shoes, proud to be off learning. When asked what he learned at his first day--a whole two hour stint accompanied by his dad--he grinned and said "Whatever it was, I know it now."

Well, I know what it is now too. I just now figured out the Waldorf School is a front for a highly advanced technological immersion school. Just hours after his return from Kindergarten, Finn and I were chatting on the phone. He was on his old flip style Motorola (my old cell), and I was on a TV remote. A little later he came out to the studio and asked me to remove the antenna from his phone. Ever curious, I ask why. Turns out he wants to use it as a stylus on his touchscreen, "...like you do with your Blackberry." WHAT?!?

Strange Goings On.

If I were the superstitious type (ya right Meg, IF...), this picture would send a chill up my spine. But I'm not, so I pretend it's one of those picture games in Finn's Ladybug magazine, the kind where you point out all sorts of silly things hidden in an erstwhile normal scene. Let's see what we find.

At first look, it's just the kids playing in the yard. Then you see one of them is wearing underwear. Only underwear. Okay, that's a little weird, but um, you live in Eugene after all. Next you might notice that it's dark. Two kids playing outside in the dark? Not so weird, I guess, if you know the kids. Well, what about that tree? It looks like it is harnessed to something. Is it tied up? What are they doing to it? Drawing on it? Hmmm... With chalk, maybe...

Wait!--No!! It can't be! They are both *gasp*--using their LEFT HANDS!

Gotta Be There. Ahem.

The kids had so much fun at the Lane County Fair this year. Mim was big enough to go on all the rides, and she did. The swings taught her a valuable lesson as well. There are some places it's okay to scream at the top of your lungs for fun.











And what is a Fair without the obligatory "riding lessons?" Finn was quite happy to go around on Scooter, while Esme was astonished that Grace is also a name for a pony. A very lazy pony.

The Birds and the Bees

Our lavendar out front is entirely covered with bumble bees, honey bees, and the cutest little orange butterflies (Don't tell me it's a lowly moth whose larva, when hatched, will consume the bulk of our lovely garden. I don't want to know). What's more, we saw a woodpecker perched on the huge yellow flower (mullen?) out front as well today, chomping away at bugs. Sigh. Lovely, lovely.


The kids meanwhile, decided to have a fashion show. Finn is sporting what he calls his "Pippi" look, and Esme might be Annika. I'm not sure.

Peach Boys

The boys, post party at Grandpa and Nonie's house. Check out the peaches on this tree! I think the kids hung out under the branches for about an hour, sampling the delicious fuzzy fruit. Ahem. With no napkins.

Gardener's Paradise

We spent a perfect summer evening with Toby, Heather and Maddy. Toby's garden is spectacular, with six foot corn, enormous squash plants, and lots and lots to pick! We ate fresh cucumber and tomato salad, and sauteed squash, eggplant and beans. The kids were enchanted to see what they picked end up on their plates! After dinner, Maddy took the kids searching for Bumberberry Fairies in the forest of corn...
Congratulations to Heather and Toby, who are just bursting with happiness, and what a truly lovely evening.

What?!

Two posts in two days?!You must be thinking I suddenly quit my job, or finally finished Harry Potter. But no, I just couldn't not post this gorgeous picture of the babes. Oliver Twist and LaFou (I don't know what that face is about).

Aquaman and His Little Urchin

Bright and early one Tuesday in summer, Jimpa shows up for the day dressed to take the kids to their swimming lessons. What swimsuit, he was Aquaman! Esme totally got in on the superhero action.

Summer Sleuths

The footprint aroused their natural curiosity. Though young, the two super sleuths were keen to investigate rumors of a "wild man" in the area. The boy bent to examine the markings more closely. A twig snapped loudly nearby, followed by a rustling in the undergrowth that suggested a large animal... The boy and girl were instantly on their guard-terrified and ecstatic- that the leaves would part and reveal the mysterious Sasquatch.

The Hunters and the Hunted

The Hunters
Meet the Hunters. Happy only when searching for colored eggs, these two have eyes like hawks, noses like badgers, and attention spans like squirrels. No egg is safe. Check out the beautiful morning sunshine as well...

The Hunted
Our beautiful Easter eggs just had to make the blog. After last year's fiasco of bleeding and running dye, we changed up our dye process for awesome results. This year we went old school and used food coloring! Shocking, I know, but the dye went on like paint. Then we used our lovely eggs from a local farm (Happy Chicken Farm), which were all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors, from dark brown speckled to a pure light green. They look just gorgeous in their new coats, don't they? And sooooooo delicious!

Good Times

Good times, good times. It's been so long since I posted here, and you can chalk it all up to those good times we been havin'. Awesome weather leads to less time indoors brooding over a blog--like the times shown here. Bri and the kids are enacting the Bremerton Musicians, of course! Or is that the Bedlam Musicians? Ah well, no reason to split hairs.

More to come...

What a Good Kitty!

Last month, we finally figured out why we would occasionally have random garbage lying in the middle of the room. Our 10 month old Siamese was caught in the act of dragging some piece of trash from the creek into the house. For your amusement, we are sharing those gifts with you. These were collected over a two week period.

Here they are, from l to r:

cigarette box, chinese take-out box, Peeps, two ziploc bags, assorted vegetation (times ten), bakery bags (one still had tell tale sprinkles), homework, and last but not least, unidentified crumpled paper. Not to mention the "gifts" we had to throw away immediately, like the gooey half-eaten fruit leather or the still warm bag of Jo-Jo's (empty, but just imagine the smell).

It seems obvious to us now that what we thought was the random act of a brainless kitten is actually a sophisticated litter patrol force!

What Lives in the World's Largest Sea Cave?

We took a random--some would say ill-advised--trip to the Oregon Coast yesterday. We left during a squall, drove during a squall, encountered many squalls while there, and finally reached home again in, you guessed it, a squall.

So we adventured to Sea Lion Caves, just 11 miles north of Florence. I haven't been to said caves since I was about six, and my overwhelming memory was of reeking, dank, crowded chaos. With the kids' current fascination I thought it would be a perfect time to share that experience with them.

When asked what he expected to find in the World's Largest Sea Cave, Finn promptly replied a sea monster. Well, when you descend 21 stories below ground in a brightly lit elevator that spits you out into darkness, that's one thing. When the darkness is also filled with a foul stench and a deafening bark, that's right from Jules Verne. We couldn't use flash, so no pictures of the congress of sea lions (sorry!), but here we are braving a squall to get back to the gift shop. See us pushing all the other tourists out of the way?

We left after Mimi perfunctorily waved to the cave and said, "Goodbye sea lions. We are leaving your smelly home." She led us all the way back to the elevator without looking back. At least there won't be crowds in her memories of the place...

Superbowl

Superbowl. A purely American celebration, broadcast in over 50 countries, conjuring up memories of ganja brownies, a television in every room, and being torn between the mud football game outside during half time or the more intellectual pursuit of viewing half time commercials.

Well, those days are gone. Welcome to the Superbowl party where the kids outnumber the adults. Where the brownies are definitely brown, and you madly try to convince your child that a buffalo wing is not really from a buffalo.

Overall, we had a blast, (thank you Brewsters!), who came to spend the weekend and stayed to vacuum obsessively. Here are the boys showing their mad keyboard skills, Riley, Keegan and Finn.

And here is Mimi, who spent the better part of the weekend chasing the boys or being chased by the boys, --or sweet talking Keegan. I can't say what I admire most about this picture. Her bold fashion statement, her stiff upper lip, or the scheming way she is eyeing those potato chips...

We've captured just a few moments of the joy of Superbowl here. And I think there was a football game on too. Somewhere...

Before...

Before the Studio makeover,
before there was twinkle...

After.

Where there was chaos, now there is order.
Where there was fugly, now there is cute.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this project--Eran, Charles, Joe, and the entire family for your contributions and continuing support!! When I walk in this room I feel a deep joy and inspiration. I love every inch of it, and I love that it came together with help from my family!

It was snow fun

We got to enjoy our first snow day in three years. The snow was awesome--powdery and sticky, perfect for snowball fights, snowmen, and snow angels. Here's the family with our new friend Frosty, or as Brian calls him (big surprise), "Snowy."
There was a small scuffle over the carrot nose, and I think in the end it was consumed along with copious amounts of snow by a small woodland creature named Finn.

Bubblicious...

When asked if she wanted her new room blue or pink, Esme answered a definitive PINK. Here she is, enjoying a relaxing story in her reading nook, while carefree bubbles float around her. Not a day goes by she doesn't mention her Auntie Nut quite fondly, "Auntie Nut painted my room PINK!"

The decorating has moved forward a bit as well. The yellow lampshade is replaced, the comforter just awaits its duvet, and Granny is working on some curtains. Still have a bit to do and will post pictures when it's completed. So far, both kids love it. Finn wonders why he doesn't have bubbles though...