Rare Peace

Here are Reese and Didi in a Rare moment of quietude. They are easing into the morning with little bit of Kipper cartoons.

We are all excited about the new overpass

On November 19th, there will be a new freeway on/offramp added to I-10 for Twin Peaks Road. This road runs right through our neighborhood, and while that may sound like a bad thing, we are very excited for this to happen. Until now, we have had to go about 4 miles to get to the nearest freeway ramp which is sometimes a real inconvenience. Now, we will have one about a quarter of a mile away. There was a dedication for the ramp held last Saturday and they opened it for people to walk and bike on. So we got all the bikes ready and rode to it. It felt very strange riding down the middle of the road and I had this anxiety the whole time that we were going to get hit by a car. Reese of course, had no anxiety and loved walking the lines in the road like a balance beam. The train track now runs under the Twin Peaks overpass and we have been back since to stand on the bridge and look down over the train as it passes underneath. It's all very exciting!

Isn't Halloween just one day?

Halloween ended up being a weeklong affair at our house this year. First we had our playgroup Halloween party. We made trick-or-treat bags, did a ghost bean bag toss, scooped "eyeballs" out of a pumpkin, and ate cheese pumpkin rollups and bread bones! The kids all looked so cute in their costumes - especially as they came whizing down the slide in our yard!

Next came pumpkin carving and painting. Tate and Heidi got Reese and Noah ceramic pumkins with their names in the teeth for them to paint. And Noah carved an awesome skeleton hand into his pumkin this year using his wood carving knowledge and tools.Then we went to a party at My Gym. A place where Reese goes to play and climb once a week. They had even set up a little "haunted house" for the kids. She had a blast there and was excited to show her dad and brother all the things she can do there.

The next day we went to a party at a friend of Noah's. While Noah ran and ate lots of candy with his buddies, Reese directed Dave and I around - we spent time flapping our arms and "bok"ing like chickens and scratched in the dirt with sticks.
Finally came Halloween and we all dressed up and went trick-or-treating. Nobody knew who Reese, Dave and I were, so we just let people think we were whatever they guessed - "Are you veggietales?" yes, "Are you those birds from that Pixar short film?" yes, etc. Just for the record, we were Peep, Chirp and Quack from the cartoon series Peep and the Big Wide World.Noah was the downtrodden ninja who's mother made him get his picture taken.First we went early with Reese and her friend Ruby and then later I took Noah with his friend Sam. We all had chili and donuts in between rounds of trick-or-treating. Everyone ended up getting tons of candy, of course. I wasn't sure how Reese would do, but she really got into it. She carried her bag herself and knocked on doors herself. And being as social as she is, when the doors opened, she took that as an invitation to come right in.

"Let's just say your child will need a medical waiver..."

This was the message from one of Noah's friend's mom. It came also with "Save the date for a birthday party. More details to come"

What torture (for me and Noah) because everyday after that, all I heard was, "Have you heard anything else about the party?" Finally, the invitation arrived and Noah's friend was having a scuba diving birthday bash!

Here he is all suited up. Next step - the ocean!

Agua Linda Farm

To try to make it feel more like fall (since the weather is no help), we planned a day at the farm with our playgroup. There were 11 children and we had a blast. First we picked pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

Then we checked out the ponies and animals in the petting zoo.

We ran through the hay bale maze. Ringing the bell at he end was the best part.

We spent alot of time climbing the hay bale mountain.

And played in the tire swing after our picnic lunch.

By the time we took the tractor ride around the farm, I think I was beginning to feel like the fall was finally here. It was a very successful trip to the farm!

Island Park adventure

In october, we took a trip to Island Park, Idaho for a family reunion of sorts. My grandmother generously rented a gorgeous cabin in the woods where we met up with several of my aunts, uncles, cousins and their children - 25 in all! We spent one afternoon in Yellowstone where we saw buffalo, moose and elk and the famous geyser. The kids all got along so well and had an awesome time doing crafts and playing together. Reese could have been happy spending the whole weekend outside digging in the dirt and playing with the rocks and sticks. We all had a wonderful time, until my 83 year old grandmother was drove a 4-wheeler into a rut and flipped it over. She ended up with a punctured lung and many, many rib fractures! She's a very tough woman and came home from the hospital and is doing much better, thankfully. Hopefully, she has learned that her days of operating heavy machinery are over, but somehow, knowing her, I doubt it! And of course, I did not take many pictures. And, as usual, you would never know Noah was with us because he won't let any pictures be taken of him!

Reese still remembers seeing the buffalo and how it was rolling around in the dirt.

My favorite time of the year - fall break. A week off school, wonderful weather and the start of the holiday season. This year we started the break at the Annual Neighborhood schools Fall Hullabaloo. This was Reese's first year and she had a blast playing games and winning prizes and running around checking out all the decorations. This was also the first year that we all volunteered. Usually Dave and I do the work while Noah plays, but this year, he and his friend worked in the food line for a couple of hours.We hadn't planned a trip this year for fall break so Reese, Noah, a friend and I went to spend a few days in Phoenix. The kids had a blast together. We went to the science museum, children's museum, the Imax movies and played in the rain. Grandma also made the kids each their own brownie pumpkin to decorate. Reese spent the time eating hers. They all turned out really cute - and then we forgot to bring them home. I guess that's for the best - I would've been the one eating them!

Evolution continues

As part of my continuous evolution and growth as a parent, I decided to let Reese help paint a small table and chairs that we have had since Noah was little. They needed a fun update and I thought it would be fun to get her involved. It didn't take long for me to regret that decision as she stepped in the paint lid, dipped her brush in two different colors up to her elbow and would not listen to any instructions. All this even with three grown people to help! I guess I'm expecting too much from an 18 month old - do you think?
Needless to say, the experience did not end up being fun for anyone.

Lizards, snakes and turtles - Oh my!

Noah, Reese and I went to the Reptile Expo recently. It all started because we were looking for a hissing cockroach for Noah to get as a class pet for science. We didn't end up with a conckroach, but got to see a ton of interesting things! Reese was not nervous at all of any of the creatures she came eye to eye with. She had to check them all out and wave and sya Hello to each one. She's quite the social butterfly.

Peep! Peep!

Reese absolutely loves the show Peep and the Big Wide World. We've put it in the dvd player for her to watch when we have gone on long car trips, so that now, whenever we say we are going to get in the car and go somewhere, she starts clapping her hands and saying very excitedly, "Peep!Peep!Peep!" It makes her so happy that I have been known to put it on just to go to the grocery store on occassion, so this is what I get to see in the rear view mirror now when we go places.

Watermelon

Isn't there a picture of every child in their diaper, covered from head to toe with watermelon juice?

Here's Reese's.

And Noah's:-)

I'm evolving.

I know that I am a better parent for Reese than I was for Noah, because I am much more willing to let Reese do things for the experience that I never would have considered letting Noah do - mostly because it caused me lots of extra work. Thank goodness that Noah has accepted his lot in life with me for a mother without much protest. Reese, on the other hand, wants to get into it all and is determined that she will. Lately, she has noticed the paper bits sitting in the paper shredder basket. Against my every fiber, I dumped the millions of itty, bitty bits of paper into a box and let Reese play. She had a blast - building a nest using her blankie, throwing it on the dogs like snow and finding things in it that I would hide there. Watching her have so much fun is almost worth the mess that has covered my entire house that is making me crazy! I say almost!

"Is she stacking?"

Reese had her 18 month checkup a few days ago. The doctor was asking all his usual questions to assess her developement: How many words does she say?, How many body parts does she know?, Can she follow directions?, Does she point to things?, etc. His last question was, "Can she stack blocks and how many high?" I felt like a horrible mother! I had to say I didn't know, we have never played with blocks! I worried about it all the way home.
So, as soon as we got home I found Noah's blocks that I had boxed up and put in the garage and brought them into the house. I sat Reese down very seriously and showed her how to stack one on top of another. She looked at me like I was crazy and this is what she did immediately. Well, I guess that answers that question!
I wish that somehow I could get a study guide for the test we are going to have at the dr's when she turns 2!

Faces only a mother could love.

I have to admit that since Reese came along, I do not have the passion for the dogs I once used to have. I get so tired of letting them in and out every 10 minutes while Reese and I are trying to play. I get so tired of waiting for Diamond to sniff out the entire yard before going to the bathroom when Reese and I are trying to leave the house to go somewhere. I get so tired of cleaning up Ginger's accidents because I cannot let her out at the exact second she tells me because I am changing Reese's diaper. I get so tired of the dogs hovering around Reese's chair at every meal because they know she drops things. I get so tired of the dogs waking Reese from her naps because they are barking at the UPS man at the door. I get so tired of getting mad at the dogs for everything they do.

I do understand that all the problems they cause are a direct result of their owners not training them properly, and I get so tired of not having the time to train them properly. However, I took these pictures of them recently for a project Noah had at school, and it reminded me that I need to make time to love them again. Look at those faces - how could I not?

BFFs

Reese and Ruby ("beese" and "bubi" - Rs are hard at this age). The pictures say it all.