Happy Belated All Soul's Day

Isn't that what the day after Halloween is called.  And I still couldn't make that.  Must get personal assistant...



We bought this costume last October as an incentive for her to stop sucking her thumb. She isn't quite there, but is oh, so, close so we let her have it for this year's Halloween. Lovely isn't she. That fair skin is so authentic!



Neve had a hard time deciding on a character this year. She decided on Emily from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride about a week before Halloween. No pressure for me to come up with a costume.



I think it ended up being fairly accurate and she was in love with it (except that the wig was pretty hot!).



Happy Halloween, even if it is halfway to Thanksgiving.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

For Halloween this year, Maren decided she wanted to be Miss Violet Baudelaire (made famous/infamous by the Lemony Snicket books). The girls is very clever and loves to invent things.  She is sort of a female teen MacGyver.  She and her siblings somehow can't catch a break though and go through a long spell of bad luck.



Clay can relate.  On September 30th, I received a phone call before 7 am.  You know that is never good.



"Baby, I crashed my bike and I need you to pick me up"

End result:  one totaled bike, one cracked helmet, road rash on ear, face, shoulder, elbow, hips, hands, thigh, and knee (as shown), holes in one jacket and one riding jersey and both gloves.  One cracked tooth and one crown being crafted this week.




On October 9th I came down with a brutal case of the Swine Sniffles and felt horrible for at least 10 days.  After being ill for over a week, I was looking forward to the weekend so that I could stay in bed and kick that thing.  Friday October 16th here I come!

On October 16th, I received a wake up call before 6 a.m.  You know that is never good.  "Baby, I am having a kidney stone and I need you to take me to the Emergency Room".  End result:  three days of excruciating pain, but no baby yet.  Side benefit, we now have a supply of narcotics in the house again.  It had been 11 years since the last kidney stone, so our supply was running low.

On October 26th I received a call from Clay in the middle of the afternoon.  Very strange indeed.  "I am getting on the train.  I need you to come pick me and my bike up at the station." (It was the first day back riding to BART after the crash.  Yes, he rebuilt the bike and healed most of the road rash). " I might not make it to the station because I am having a migraine and am mostly blind.  I will call you if I don't think I can make it all the way to my station."

Very unfortunate indeed.

A couple of rounds of imetrex and he is all better now.  I am writing this in the hopes that Clay's run of tough luck is over and I will have nothing further to share.

Just in case, I have asked one Miss Violet Baudelaire to invent a Turn of Bad Luck Crushing Device.  I will keep you posted on her progress.



(p.s.  When Violet invents things she ties her hair up with a black ribbon)

Snap Pea Christmas Cards

Just posted some Christmas card designs over at Snap Pea...

Laguna Beach

After finishing up our perfect day at Knott's, we were lucky enough to be hosted by our dear friends the Yen's in their amazing new home.

We met up with Rick and Marie and posse in San Clemente and boogie boarded for hours.

Maren said that this was the first time she can remember trying to get wet at the beach. (The Southern California beaches are a bit warmer that those round these parts.)

The kids were seriously so adorable.  They would all catch a wave together and then just giggle and laugh with each other all the way in.  Can they just stay this age forever?

We hadn't been able to spend much time with the Yen children for a while and it was fun to see the kids just fall into playing with each other without any drama. 

On Sunday morning we took at walk at one of my all time favorite places:  The Montage.  Heaven.



This place has the best landscaping ever.  I {heart} succulents and this is paradise.

We were having an enjoyable laid back morning watching the kids play on the beach, when along came...

Bill Gates walking right into my frame.

We flipped him the big apple and went on our way. The girls were clueless, until much later when we told them that one of the richest men in the world had just passed us on the beach. I wish I could say they were unaffected, but they were star struck. Of all the "celebrities" we could see in Laguna Beach...

Knott's Berry Farms

I love teacher work days that fall on Conference (read: only legal vacation from official Primary duties) Weekend.



We took advantage of our Friday off school when it isn't a National Holiday to take a much needed trip to Southern California and get us some amusement park time.




We couldn't have had a better day. Seriously. Last time we went, the crowds were horrific and Clay got a sunburn through his pants (He opted to just go ahead and wear shorts and sunscreen so he didn't have to reapply under jeans).



This time, there were no lines, AT ALL. And, Neve just passed the 48 inch mark, so she could ride all but two rides in the park. The weather was perfect and it was fantastic.



We rode ride after ride after ride, most of the time not even getting off in between. Neve was a superstar and rode every ride she was tall enough for. Even showed her sister up by riding Boomerang! Woohoo. This is the way amusement parks days should go. Soundtrack for the day? Three darling little girl's screams. Pure joy.

Fall TV anyone?

We are seriously in a bad way around this house in our DVR.  Even the special summer shows have run out and we are left {egad} with live TV.  Yesterday I had about 5 loads of laundry to fold so I turned on Food Network and got to work.  About an hour into my laundress duties, Kiera disappeared from my side.  Side note, this kid loves TV.  She will watch anything and can't leave the room if a show is on.

I find her later doing the "food show" in the playroom.  She ended up making all kinds of recipes and cooked it up for over an hour.  Who says TV is bad for kids.  When are those shows starting?  C'mon already, people.  We need some new shows, or the family might just have to wear dirty clothes.

A night in the cit-ay!

Saturday night was spent with great friends, great food and great laughs.  Thanks for the good times.

Snap Pea Photography

I finally got a Snap Pea blog up and running so if you are interested point your browser to:

http://snappeaphotography.blogspot.com/

Anyone up for having me taking their family photographs?

Rap a tap tap

Guess what time it is again, folks.



We might be crazy, but both Neve and Maren made it on the dance team at their studio and we are jumping in with both feet!



Wish us luck. Six classes a week between them might just kill me. Anyone know of a good way to do scriptures in the car (audio) that would interest children? Just call me cabbie.

Happy Birthday Mr. C

How lucky are we to be able to wish this guy happy birthday for the very first time.







Too adorable.