Witches Fingers

So, we had what I sense will be the first of many grandkid halloween parties at mom's house, complete with games and spooky food. I did take some pictures, and I will get them up, but I have to write this down before I forget.

Last week Mom was having Pearl make the place cards and write up the menu. When she wrote "witches fingers," Pearl was getting a little nervous. When she was about to cry, I said "do you really think Grandma found some witches and cut off all of their fingers?" As Pearl was about to agree that this would be ridiculous, Mom says, "no, of course not. I told you I dug them up from the graveyard." Pearl begins hysterically crying as Annie and I hysterically laugh. My mom sure is a fun Grandma!!!

PS the witches fingers really were yummy. Max highly approved:)

PPS I am really really really getting tired of my husband not being home. I was feeling guilty for not helping more at mom's house tonight, then I realized that I had my hands full keeping tabs on Max and Sam (who barfed early on in the party, after saying he was feeling "guilty," then quickly recovered. Hopefully it was just too much candy this weekend...) and I didn't have a husband to give that job to. Come home, Jared, and please stay for longer than 2 weeks this time!

Pumpkin Carving

So, this is us, carving pumpkins.

Or I should say, me carving pumpkins. The little kids did put their order in, but refused to touch the guts and were most unhelpful with their knives. But, they sure did have fun!


I love how Pearl drew her own face this year and it is so her style. Love it!

Of pumpkins and things

I was feeling nostalgic today. I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the cousins for christmas, and I realized how fast they're growing up, and what a short time this young family thing is. It sometimes feels like forever, but today it felt too fast. So, I took the boys to the pet store, just becuase. Then, when Pearl got home, I ignored the mess in the kitchen and carved pumkins with Pearl, Sam, and Cumorah in the garden. (pictures soon, as soon as I get them processed...). This means I was up until 10:00 working in the kitchen (I think I just sat down for the first time today, except when I was in the car), but it was worth it. How many more years do I get to scoop Sam's guts out while he tries to cut the retaining wall with his pumpkin knife, then stab his poor pumpkin repeatedly so it has tiny little cuts all over? And Pearl, already so big that she wanted a scary face pumpkin.

Love my kids. So glad I get to have this time with them (even though I'm pretty sure my body will be completely worn out by the time I'm done and I won't be good for anything else...).

Funny

Last night after I got Max in his PJ's he toddled off, then fell over once he noticed the monkeys on the feet of his pajamas. He sat and looked at them and pulled on the little monkey ears for a full thirty seconds. I always wondered why they do that, I mean, do they really think kids care? Apparently, they do. It was pretty funny.

Farmer face.

We went to Apple Hill when Auntie Lora was here, and she LOVES to take pictures. She actually puts me to shame. Really. So, we had to sit Sam on the tractor (it's too dangerous for her 1 year old Maya, or I'm sure she would have been up there. Sam, give us a farmer face!

Ok, Sam, a real farmer face!
Sam, why is that a farmer face?

"because he's holding the straw in the corner of his lip"
"like this."
Ok, I guess I AM funny! (as Lora and I burst out laughing...)
Little boy, even though you're a terrible listener and I might not survive you, I sure do think you're adorable!

Max

Max decided to walk across the kitchen floor today! Yeah Max!!!!

San Fran Zoo

We dropped Jared off at the SF airport a few weeks ago and decided to head to the zoo by ourselves. It was quite the adventure and I was feeling VERY brave and my kids really are pretty good - we had a blast! Unfortuantely, not many pictures were taken as I was juggling my three kids, thus, no spare hands for the camera. I wish I had someone take a picture of me at the end of the day, with Pearl and Sam in the stroller and Max on my back trudging up the hill back to the car. Someone even commented... "got enough kids?" Why, yes, I do, at the moment!!!

These pictures were taken towards the beginning of the day, when I still had the energy to get the camera out.
They had these bronze statues of animals all over the zoo that the kids could climb on. They loved it!
They had a childrens zoo, and one of the attractions was the family farm experience. They just walked around with goats and sheep and fed and petted them. It was really cool.

Max liked the goats... I think the goats liked the everpresent stroller crumbs.
Ok, maybe he didn't like the goats. Maybe he knew they were after his crumbs... he likes to save those for later...
We missed you, Dad, but managed to have fun on our own!

Happy Halloween!

We went to Grandma Weir's tonight and did a Halloween photoshoot. It was pure madness. There was NO WAY we were going to get group pictures, not even sibling pictures. There were three moms working like mad to get the kids ready for their pictures, then they would send them to me, and about five seconds after I took the picture the costumes were off. Seriously. I am one grateful photographer that I at least got a good shot of everyone. Phew! That was a lot of fun!

My three spooky kiddos

Annie's bunch

Mara's girls


and Jayson's little girl.
Yes, they're all adorable, and yes, they have so much fun hanging out together and yes it is CRAZY when we get together! I'm kind of surprised that my mom doesn't tell us to just go away... I think she likes her grandkids, though:)

Paci

Paci war has begun. Actually, it's not really a war, it's just sudden and total removal of the paci.

Max is not happy with me. Now he cries to go to sleep and his naps aren't very long. But, look at those teeth. Yup. They were in dire need of intervention.

Can someone run a hip intervention on me, please?

Froggie.

Last night at Grandma Weir's house, Pearl and the grandkids spent a lot of time with a frog they caught. They made a house and a pond with an island and even caught a companion. Pearl is feeling pretty good about this because she's being so nice to the poor frog who had a splinter (bark?) on his poor little leg.

So, this morning, she gets going making a frog house again with random stuff on the porch (I'm embarrassed to say there is a lot to choose from...). She looks through the garden for a frog, but all she sees are lizzards and a snake (she thinks it was a snake, I couldn't find it...). So, I take her under the house to the cold cellar (yes, our house is 110 years old) where the frogs like to hang out. So, she catches one, removing it from it's preferred environment and taking it to her "froggie rescue" shelter. While I appreciate the irony of this, she certianly does not. Of course, it hopps blithely away at first chance, and Pearl is sad. 10 minutes later she comes to me crying because she just realized that she wasn't being nice, she was being MEAN because she's actaully TRAPPING them! I try very hard to choke back my laugh, hug her and tell her yes, they already had a happy home, and convince her to move her habitat under the house. Silly girl.

Her other bit of logic today... "mom, I can be a vet, because even mean animals will be nice to me when they're feeling sick." As I don't think theres a chance she'll actually become a vet, (come one, she's a natural born dietician, and with her aunt and grandma both dieticians, she doesn't stand a chance) so I didn't bother to go into that one...