Keeping with the theme

My lovely neighbor is loaning (or gave? not sure) us a spiderman and batman costume for JD to wear. He's hilarious with them on, and Batman is a favorite. He has no frame of reference for Batman... he thinks he's a bad guy. I keep insisting he's not, to which JD answers "I'm pretending mommy!" Ok, whatever you think buddy.

Capri takes dress up very seriously. And however she puts it on is right. Yes, that is a headband with a veil, and yes she's wearing it on her forehead. No, I cannot fix it. And yes, that is batman reading in the background. 

Close up... how cute are those freckles?

Mr. Bear is from Capri's class, and he gets to stay with us for a few days. We have to take pictures of him wherever he goes... and we took him to the library. We're taking him a few other places too... and have lots of pictures, because Mommy's competitive side has kicked in. How cute is she?

Every time I turn around this is what I see....

Tella standing up holding onto something. She's already got a bruised forehead from a bonk on the table, but she is not discouraged at all.

This pic I thought might bring back memories for my Mom in law. I often hear stories of my husband in undies and rainboots playing "thunderlips".... JD created this look himself, though not playing thunderlips. I just thought it funny, like father like son!

And this last one, maybe you're wondering why I took at picture of my door. That's my laundry room door. And those are my kids socks neatly placed in front of it. I have taught my kids to put their shoes in the shoe basket, and their socks by the washer when they come in the door. Today I didn't even remind them to do it. They did it all on their own. And I'm so impressed. They are such good listeners (sometimes) and are becoming such responsible little kids! I'm so proud. 

Tomorrow is back to school night for the kids preschool. I'm kind of looking forward to this. For many reasons. Most of all I want to see Capri's work. And, starting soon I'll begin volunteering in her class so that I can be all up in what's going on in there. Doesn't that sound good? I think so.

Update & Halloween Preview

The pictures have piled up, so I thought I'd share a few before they are too old.....

A lovely birthday gift from a friend.... don't you love it?? I ABSOLUTELY DO!

And this is for my dad - documentation of Tella's game called the "sniff 'n toss"

Tella is on the move and pulling herself up....and JD nude in the background? oops!

That brings us up to today... James had off for Columbus Day, so he and JD went for a bike ride. It was so cute, them spending daddy/son time together. 

And the Halloween Preview.... I rushed off to Target first thing this morning because there was some concern as to whether or not we waited too long to get Capri's costume. She desperately wanted to be Fancy Nancy with the "posh party dress". My original plan was to order both costumes online and save myself the hunting (& our Target doesn't usually carry a whole lot). So last night as I went online to order them, Capri's costume came up unavailable for like 2-4 weeks!!! So, as I said, I rushed to Target after I dropped her off at school this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find Capri's costume no problem (there were two of them) AND I was able to snatch up the last one for JD in his size. Whew! Apparently I was really stressed about it, because several times today I started to worry about it only to realize that the costumes had already been bought and tried on for perfect fits. Whew again! 

So without further adieu:

JD as Dash

Capri as Fancy Nancy w/ the posh party dress (accessories to come!)

And, here is a bonus shot of Capri... once she gets the dress up bug it just keeps on going!

Little Tella's gonna be a ladybug, but there's far too much cuteness in this post already.... that'll have to be saved for later. And.... I kind of don't have pics of her in yet... you know how she is with her barfing, I just don't want to ruin it before Halloween. 

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday morning my in-laws called and offered up a great plan : they'd drive down and we'd all go to Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch. It was a perfect suggestion, so off we went!

Here are the kids on the way in... holding hands all on their own...

JD lifting large pumpkins... such a strong boy!

Candy left by the "Great Pumpkin".... It's from Charlie Brown, and JD really liked it!

Tella standing by the big pumpkins.....

Annual ride in the wheelbarrow...




The weather was perfect, with a nice cool breeze..... The kids had tons of fun together. What a great day!

Julian Apple Picking

Today we took our annual trip to Julian for some apple picking. It was hard getting out the door, but thanks to James we made it out. The actual picking what somewhat anti-climactic, the kids were soon over it (which somewhat surprised me!). The weather was perrrrfect... cool and brisk. I really enjoyed it! Here's lots of pictures.... enjoy!

Picking with Daddy's help...

Capri wanted to pick one for her teacher, how cute is that?

Sampling our harvest,

Not as good as he hoped!

Tella's turn!

Here's Capri (with newly trimmed bangs) holding Tella's baby.... look at the smile she managed to put on!

Makeshift weapon...

Not a bad pic... like my new hair? 

After we picked some then chose some more from the stand, we moved on to downtown Julian where we quickly decided to head right back out because of the ridiculously LARGE crowds. So, we hit up the new location of Mom's pie shop for a treat.... apple pie ala mode. We were very confused by the set up at the new shop, and were sorry to see they didn't have some of our favorite stuff (the apple dumplings), but tried a new pie - bumbleberry. It was really good!!! Bet the strawberry rhubarb was good too, but someone stole our slice so we'll never know. No more Julian on the weekends for us, fridays are way less crowded. 

I'm off to PF changs tomorrow night for a late bday dinner... then off to Calvary Chapel Bible College for the Pastor's wives retreat. I LIVE for this retreat each October. I CANNOT WAIT!