Crazy Critters

Ready for the Halloween Party. Corbin was a policeman. Jake was a frog. Fisher was a penguin. Drew was a lion. And Audrey was a gymnast (my old suit and warm-up outfit when I was 11.) If I had followed through on my costume idea, I would have had sponge curlers in my hair, put on a pair of my maternity pants, stuffed them with a pillow, thrown on a robe and gone barefoot. Haha!!! Instead I wore the old stand by witch hat. It's the same idea anyway. That many kids and pregnant again...I'm sure I would be a bit witchy!

Carving Pumpkins

October seems to be flying as fast as the witches will be Sunday night! The kids have been waiting to carve pumpkins since May when we planted pumpkins in our garden. We ended up with 21 pumpkins. Pretty fun!!!

This was the first year Jake joined in the tradition. He was all about using the little carving tools. Drew was a bit indifferent when it came to cleaning the pumpkin, but when he figured out he could draw whatever he wanted and I would carve it, waiting for him to poke out the pieces, he didn't want to stop. Notice his Jack-O-Latern has circle eyes, triangle nose, two cheeks on each side, and a happy mouth with teeth. :) Audrey and Corbin even managed the carving process a bit more independently and each pumpkin turned out great!

Girly Trip to Cali

Audrey, Fisher, and I went to California over the weekend for some girl time and birthday party for Hannah. Fisher got to tag along for nutritional purposes. (He's 2 months today!) Meanwhile, the boys headed to Idaho and played with grandma and the cousins.

After landing in LAX, we headed to the Grove for a little dining and shopping. Cheesecake Factory was the request and Audrey has finally come to the conclusion that any restarant that has a playland does not have very good food. I'm considering this a sign of maturity. :) I wonder if there is any documentation about developmental stages of taste buds? Whatever the case, I'm loving my new dining buddy!


Next we headed to the American GIrl Store. For the next 60 minutes, Audrey took me throughout the store and explained who each doll was, the era they were from, their friends and pets. We peeked inside the cafe and hair salon, and got the run-down on the new dolls that come with an internet code so you can play with your "electronic" doll online. Pretty cool.


And to top off our day, we both got pedicures.



The next day Audrey attended Disneyland with Hannah for her 5th birthday while I visited one of my friends! It was a win-win for both of us. I did not want to take Fisher, depriving him of good naps, interrupted meals, crazy crowds, and no rides for me! Later in the afternoon my cousin Brittany showed up at Disney with her girls and Audrey partied into the night at California Disney.

Saturday we got some shopping done and then headed to Newport for Hannah's Birthday party. We had a great time and loved hanging out with family.

Bobbing for Apples

Halloween IS right around the corner. So, here's Jake's version of the old-time carnival favorite. On the bright side, the apple was too big to be flushed down the tubes. And I got to him while he was digging it out - before he had a chance to take another bite. This all occurred of course while I was nursing. I could hear the commotion from the other room as he was busy washing his fruit.

Recently we installed latches to all the cupboards in the kitchen and the bathroom (thanks to my saintly neighbor, Susan.) After finding the apple in the toilet, Audrey asked, "Can't we put a latch on the toilet?" And then I remembered a T.V. episode of FRIENDS where Rachel did just that in an effort to baby-proof the apartment. My response? Brilliant idea Audrey! EXCEPT that Drew is still at the precarious age where the toilet needs to be accessible at any moment. It's not that he can't hold it, but that he DOES hold it until he can no longer stand it and then risks having an accident because he's dancing at the same time he's undressing and lifting the toilet lid, usually not the seat. Typically the result is I have a wet bottom the next time I dash to the bathroom when I've waited as long as I can and don't check drip or lack-of-aim status. I guess I wouldn't do too well with the latch either if I don't have time to assess. Bladder control is not what it use to be. :)