Super Hero Halloween

You may not have known this.  

But, Captain "Amerin" & Word Girl & are pretty good friends.

this pose was his brilliant idea.  I love it.  He had many others, but I'll spare you.

I love felt.  I used felt for everything for these two costumes.

We invented Bird Girl because I wanted a reason to make this.  

Source: llevoelinvierno.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

Super baby passed out candy at our door with me.  She was super.

Orders from the King

Gillian to Peyton - 
Orders from the king!
I have some questions to ask you.  I will then know if you can marry me or not.
(reading from her catalog in hand) 
What is your favorite color?
Peyton - Blue
Gillian - Okay.  good answer. What is your favorite toy?
Peyton - Peyton
Gillian - What?!  NO! What is your favorite book?
Peyton - Spiderman
Gillian - Mom!  
Me - It's okay, there probably is a spiderman book out there somewhere.
Gillian - okay...What is your favorite letter?
Peyon - No one.
Gillian - MOM!!!
Me - I can't make him have a favorite letter, honey.  
Peyton - the letter B
Gillian - Okay.  Good answer! Who is your favorite guy?
Peyton - Spiderman
Gillian - What about Jacob?
Peyton - Spiderman
Gillian - Okay.  Well, who is your favorite person?
Peyton - Captain America.
Gillian - Okay!  Very good.  You may marry me.
Peyton - No, I want to marry Mo Mo.
Gillian - What?!!  You promised me before!!


exits & come back in with an additional accessory piece.


Gillian - Now will you marry me?  I'm prettier.
Peyton - No.  Put makeup on.


My thoughts - (WHA?!!!!?!?!?!  Where did that come from?!!)


I interject with some instruction here 
about false beauty & the tragedy of glorifying it.

But Rarely

We live in a coastal town.  We are minutes from many lovely beaches.  
We rarely go.
My husband is not fond of going to the beach.
And I am rather a nervous wreck going to the beach with all the kids.
Plus, I don't like them all baking in the sun out there.


Still, October is the perfect time of year for our beaches.
It is perfect.
On a whim, I threw the kids in the car & headed to the beach, at the end of our day.




Gillian thought to pose on these large hunks of driftwood, on our way down.
She oozes happiness.
Peyton is a goof.

Moira keeps cool about it all.

Second shoot on another driftwood hunk.

We watched the sun go down.

.
We were a little under dressed & got chilly.

My kids were SO happy & grateful for the trip.

And that made me pretty happy & grateful!

When a State Park is All Yours

A gorgeous day at Juanita Lake & we are the only people there.  

On a Saturday no less.

So, we feel at liberty to break a few rules.

 Peyton learning peddles.

 Gillian learned her peddle bike really quickly.

What a big girl, no?!

Peaceful.

together.

A mountain lake, all to ourselves, 70 degree weather in October.


Perfect!

Colorful Kids

Energetic, goofy, talkative.

I am grateful for colorful kids.  I love it.  Some of the time…

Sometimes I get a bit grumpy and black & white and very “adult”.

I don’t want to spend time playing.

Sometimes I tell them the joke wasn’t that funny.

I ask them to calm down more often than I need to.

Sometimes I cut them off in their story telling, because it is dragging so slowly.

I know I am the grown-up & they need me to be.

But I don’t want to miss seeing things from their perspective.

I want to be able to get down with them & connect through play.

I am choosing to see the beauty in the color & the energy.

I will play more games, ask more questions, laugh at more jokes.

(that sounds kid of fun & stress relieving!)

*I am a slow reader.  But I am still reading & enjoying Playful Parenting. 

Rush, rush, rush. 

Pack all your stuff. 

Food, clothes, toys, books, school projects, sewing projects, fish, dogs, potted plant…

Clean the house.  Wash every dish.  Wipe up every sticky spot. 

Scrub the bathrooms.  Do the laundry.  Change the linens.

We get out of the house only 20 minutes behind schedule.

Mom & Dad are tired; driving each of our cars in no easy task.

8 hours on the road.  Rain.  Packed freeway.  Multiple car wreck. 

Rain so thick & heavy I can’t see the front of the car in front of me.

Arrive in Butte Valley.

And breath.

We may be here for work.

But after all the rush to get here,

coming into the wide open spaces & fresh, crisp air

feels like maybe we have arrived at our country home.

Room to run & shout & be.

It feels good to all of us.

Except maybe not Scott. 

He breaths a little bit of relief upon arriving & getting started.

And then more once the work up here is all done.

p.s. all the kids did so well on this car ride.  Whew!

I had Gillian & Kendall as car buddies.

We listened to BBC Alice in Wonderland & through the looking glass.  So fun!

p.p.s.  we forgot so much stuff this time.  Oops.  Oh well.

p.p.p.s.  the double wide got a bit of a makeover since we’ve been here last. 

New flooring.  Hooray!

Interview with a Five Year Old

Gillian turned Five.

She had a princess tea party.
She got her own puppy in the mail.
She named the puppy Picky.
Picky wears a pink ribbon 'round her neck.

She also was so kind as to grant me an interview.


Now, as you are five years old, what is your very favorite food?  Olive Pizza
What game do you like playing the most?  Chutes & Ladders
What is the best t.v. show to watch?  Casper the Friendly Ghost
Who is the coolest person you know?  Peyton
What is the neatest thing you have learned in school?  About Parrots
What is something you are super good at?  Knowing opposites
If you could take a trip anywhere in the whole world, where would you go?  
I would take an airplane to the north where it is icy & snowy.
the North Pole?  No, not that far & not that cold.  
Just north to the mountains where I can build a snowman.
Where is your favorite place to go?  Macdoel
What is your favorite animal?  Butterflies & ladybugs
What is your favorite color?  Purple, pink, golden & sparkly stuff.
What would you like to be when you grow up?  
A nurse & a doctor so I can fix people's owies.  
And also, inside the shop where I work, 
there would be another shop to take care of animals.
What is your favorite song right now?  twinkle, twinkle, little star & Jingle Bells
What is the best book you have read lately?  the Owl & the Pussycat
How would you describe yourself?  Good at art & someone who loves my name.
When you where younger, what did you do?  I crawled & giggled & cried.
What is your favorite snack food?  Snap Pea Crisps
What food is the yuckiest to you?  Beans & Salmon
If you could have one wish, what would it be?  
I would be a princess who sees giant sized flowers & has a mermaid for a friend.
What is you favorite memory?  When we were at the aquarium 
& we went through the spinning door into the room with the waves past the glass 
& then we went on the deck & went in the cave 
where we could see water splashing & crabs & spiders.

dog tired

Can I be honest with you guys?
My dogs are driving me crazy.
I am so, so mad at them, mostly all of the time.
It gives me a head ache
I should mellow out, I know.
Or, take more care to discipline them.
But I have no energy for it.


We need Cesar Millan to come.
Except, not really.  
He would require us to put work into the dogs.
And some of my wishes require pixie dust or some such magic.
Like, how do you get them to stop pooping in your yard?


What I'm really mad about lately, though?
Our "good" dog has turned all rebellious on us.
When I came into this family, I established some strict rules about where he could go.
No bedrooms allowed, no furniture, no area rugs.


He's smart & learned quickly.
He obeyed.
For years.
But lately, he doesn't care.
He started going into the kid bedroom sometimes, 
when he was feeling lonely, I guess.
He began going onto the area rug, every time we left the house.  
It bugged me.  But I tried to keep my cool.




Now?  It has gone beyond.  Way beyond.
It is like he is trying to take over our entire household.
I think he wants to be the master. 


He is now marking my living room furniture.
Not kidding.
Every place where he is not allowed, he is marking as his.
First he peed on the rug.
He then peed on his favorite chair to sit on when we were gone.
So much so, the chair gave me a head ache & made me want to throw up.
I tried & tried to get it clean & finally had to just get rid of it.


We recently discovered two more furniture pieces he has marked.
NO WAY.  He thinks this is his house.
I am terrified that he will come into my bedroom & pee on my bed.


No more dogs in the house anytime we are away or asleep.
NO MORE.


You may wonder how I can be so upset with little doggies, 
when I have 4 tiny kids making messes.
Am I not accustomed to such things?!
Potty training accidents, diaper blow outs & all that jazz, right?


Many reasons can be named.
One- I love my kids.
Another- I have hope of them learning to do better someday.
Plus- baby poop is not as gross as dog poop.
And?  I still do cry over things like spilled milk.
Believe me.  
My patience level with my dear little ones has much room for improvement...


Oh!  And, it is so simple to wash a babe up in the tub.

You'll never see me tossing a dog into my bath tub.
Gross!!