Halloween 2012

Costumes were a little simpler this year, thank goodness. Arran decided he wanted to be a ninja, Bryttain was Hello Kitty and Asia was a flower girl (sigh, one day maybe she'll get to be somebody's flower girl in real life, she would so love that). At school everyone gets to change into their costume and the whole school does a parade so everyone can see all the costumes. It's pretty cute.

Weather was miserable so instead of going door to door to show off costumes (and of course get insane amounts of candy) we headed to Valley Baptist Church, in San Rafael where they had games and still gave out candy, while everyone got to stay dry. Worked out pretty well, especially as James had class and I had to do it all solo with the kids.

Pumpkin Carving

Our church has always done a pumpkin carving party, but this year it didn't happen in the traditional way and instead we all went to the Hoffmans' house to carve our pumpkins and play together, yesterday. Fun time with friends.

Bryttain Haircut

So after growing out her fringe (bangs) for almost two years, Bryttain decided she wanted to cut it again. She's beautiful no matter what she does to her hair. Love this sweet, enthusiastic, fun little girl!

Library

Big kids at school, we headed to the library. She loves to browse the movies and I force her to pick out some books as well!

All School Read

Once a month the kids' school has an all school read, where parents and siblings all can come and read together at the start of the day. We normally take turns on whose classroom we go to and the the child whose classroom we are not visiting that day, joins us too. Just a little thing, but they appreciate it.

First Day of School 2012

Today was back to school day, for my oldest two. In theory, it would have also been Asia's first day, but the powers-that-be changed the cut off date by a month and so now she will have another year home with me. I think she's fine with that, and actually so am I!

We all made the effort to get up and ready early so we could walk to school instead of driving. So glad that James didn't have class this day, this year and was able to organize his work to go in later and join us for the walk to school and meeting teachers.

As has become our little tradition, Asia and I went on a little date and had hot chocolate together at Starbucks. Makes her feel pretty special.

She was anxious for school to be over though and couldn't wait to see her brother and sister again.

First day of school tradition, all the kids get ice cream, not bad! Nice way to end the day and we even got a shot with the principle, doesn't everyone look delighted?

This was SO much better than last year's fiasco and I am incredibly grateful :)

Jenness

Last weekend we went for a little family trip to Jenness Park. I love spending time with my little clan and we had such a great time. I enjoyed the fact that even though our cabin had a kitchenette we opted for their meals, it made it really feel like a break instead of still having to cook and clean. The weather was perfect and last week's kayaking with the cousins meant there was no learning curve for kayaking here. The kids loved fishing too, although James was the only one to catch anything. Looking forward to visiting again next year.

It was a bit of a drive, but we made it.

Our cabin and the kids loved being able to serve themselves in the dining room.

Inside our cabin. The kids slept up in the loft and had great fun jumping from the stairs.

We drove to a nearby beach with hopes of better luck catching fish. Didn't quite work  out like that.

Birthday

Today was my birthday. Just like any other day really, all the usual running around, plus James had classes so we weren't able to celebrate or do anything special. I was fine with that, I know we'll go out for dinner at the weekend, but towards the end of the day, I confess, I started feeling a little sorry for myself. After a drive home with bickering kids, I was even irritated and frustrated. Then I got out of the car and caught a reflection in the window of the car I had parked next to.

I have never seen anything like it, it was a rainbow in the sunset. It literally took my breath away and my heart started to beat a little faster and I knew it was a special birthday present from God to me. I have always loved rainbows, they bring me such hope and joy and each one feels like a gift to me and this one, for my birthday was extra special! Sure everybody got to enjoy it, but it was for ME, I have no doubts about it. My mood was lifted instantly, as I ran for my camera, which of course was woefully inadequate to capture such an amazing sight, but I will never forget it! Best birthday present ever!

Fun at Stinson

We had a fun weekend. Our brother and sister-in-law had their ten year wedding anniversary and her parents invited us out to Stinson, to the house they rent most summers, to spend the day with them.Cousins AND water, it doesn't get much better than that as far as our kids are concerned.

She's such a great Aunty - Asia could not be happier!

All they need in life is Lego and each other!

The boys finally made it out too.

A little crafty gift for their anniversary.

Then we rode bikes to the beach before heading home. Fun, fun times!

Cousins

The kids absolutely adore their cousins, I feel very blessed for the relationships they have together and how close they are, both emotionally and in terms of proximity. With my brother and sister-in-law both working, the cousins spend a lot of time in camps over the summer but we got to have an all day play date today.

Laughing and lunching

They like to pretend they are twins and do their hair the same and wear similar clothes. Doggy is a bonus cousin!

We started at our house but then headed to the cousins' house. Of course had I been at home I would have had dishes or laundry or who knows what else, to do. But not my home, so I got to put my feet up and read for a bit in the sunshine while the kiddos played.

Happy Place

Just iphone photos again. We went to the beach today. They LOVE the beach, it truly is such a happy place for them. So glad for our summers.

Camping!

We have been camping with the Busches since before we had kids, but we keep the tradition going now. It was harder when we had babies crawling in the dirt, but we've reached the point where now it really is so much fun and keeps getting easier. They love having friends being built into the adventure, we love that we get real down time because they have friends to play with too. We take turns cooking for each other's families so we cook bigger meals but are not cooking all of them, it is such a great arrangement. Love this family and all the memories..Somehow I haven't blogged our camping the last few years.

I decided this year not to take my real camera, but just my point and shoot, well that promptly died on me, so these are all just phone photos, maybe not the best quality but left me with more freedom to just participate and less weight to carry or worry about leaving it in the tent or car. I still was able to capture some memories :)

Our wonderful long time friends, David and Susan enjoying the breakfast we made.

This was the year that we finally got smart and had the kids start doing dishes! They LOVED it, it was a highlight for them and meant one less chore for the grown-ups! So sad the photos of Arran and Mo were on the camera that died.

So much fun; dishes, bike riding, play doh, scavenger hunts, water balloons, hanging with friends, board and card games. They all did so great.

We love Spring Lake. It's a great camp site with all the amenities plus the man-made lagoon.

They were always able to find something to do.

Just proof that I was actually there.