Pumpkin Time Again!

It is that time of year again... time to get the perfect pumpkins. The difference this year is that Edison actually is excited about it.

Both Edison & Charlotte have been learning a lot about autumn in school this year so they were primed and ready for the pumpkin trip.
Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. You can't tell that well from these photos, but it had been raining for the past few days. I just didn't have the energy to take the kids to an actual pumpkin patch, so we opted for the mounds of pumpkins at Central Market, instead.
I can't imagine a worse picture of the kids....but it was the only one we got, so what can you do?!
Central Market has a pumpkin contest each fall - this beauty claimed fourth place and weighed in at nearly 1200 pounds!
Saturday night we celebrated Eben's birthday. We had a few friends over for a nice meal, cake, and cards. When we get together now, the kids get to have a slumber party - way easier than arranging babysitters! Here is Charlotte with her buddy Jake.
Charlotte ended up being the life of the party for the half hour before bedtime. She loved eating birthday cake with daddy.
On Sunday morning Edison was very enthusiastic about "putting the face on the pumpkin." He picked a giraffe face for one pumpkin and Mickey Mouse for the other. Those were not easy - especially the giraffe. I nearly gave up in frustration, but they turned out okay and Edison was happy.
Tuesday was Eben's actual birthday, so we went to a local restaurant. Charlotte is definitely daddy's little girl at this point. She loves giving him high fives and having him tumble her around.
We let Edison bring his mini DVD player to the restaurant so the kids wouldn't get too fussy. He loved it and when we got home he and Charlotte still wanted to watch it. I think partly he just likes pushing the buttons (better than pushing my buttons).

Play Time at Our House

In the midst of an insane Homecoming week, I was able to stay with the kids on Wednesday and spend quality time together. I love it when Edison and Charlotte are getting along!
Check out Charlotte's pony tail. Her hair is growing so fast!
We also took Edison to the dentist. He was hesitant to open up and had to be chided with potential loss of an evening cartoon in order to cooperate. When the check up was over, he picked a green plastic ring out of the prize box and then we went to Starbucks for a treat - he chose a mini pink donut and a chocolate milk - don't tell the dentist!
Have I mentioned yet how happy I am that tunics are "in" this year? It helps Charlotte get a little more wear out of her dresses. She intently tears apart the kitchen just about every meal...
These balloons from our neighbor were a huge hit with the kids.
Oh so stylish.
Nana came up Friday and stayed through Sunday to help with the kids while I was working tons of overtime (Homecoming assembly set up, assembly, clean up, football game, halftime show, dance set up, dance, dance clean up....). The kids were elated to spend time with Nana again. They even wanted to dress like her on Saturday.
Nana shared her love of the piano with the kids. Edison likes to listen to Nana play and he tries to sing along. Charlotte likes to pound on the keys herself.

OCTOBER - Happy Birthday, Grand Dada!

The craziness of the start up of school subsided last week and the insanity of Homecoming kicks in next week. In the meantime, I got to spend a couple late mornings at home with the kids. Here is Edison in a family heirloom cradle, pretending to be a little baby. Usually it is the home of his stuffed animals.
The kids also like to pretend that the couch is a ship. Edison throws things over the side and shouts, "anchors away!"
Eben's work got him an iPhone so he can check work emails all the time. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. But it definitely has increased the cool quotient in the our household. We already have a MacBook and they are very easy to use together.
We spent Saturday morning exploring Willis Tucker Park near our house. We went there in summer to play in the splash park (in the background), today we went on the walking trails and hung out at the playground. I even ran into my friend Kim, former high school classmate and co-captain of the swim team with me our senior year. That was fantastic and she has a daughter only a couple months older than Charlotte...
Ride the pony!
Charlotte loves the swing. Too bad the outstanding view of Mt. Baker didn't show up very well in this shot.
Yesterday we celebrated by dad's seventieth birthday!
We got all dressed up in our "party clothes." Charlotte liked playing with the ribbons and butterflies on her dress. What a beautiful dress to pass along, thanks, Grace!
The back of the dress was super cute as well. I think Charlotte looks like a little woodland fairy here. All that is missing is the wings.
I wish they were all looking... but what can you do? We went out for an excellent dinner at Outback steakhouse. The kids did amazingly well through a leisurely dinner, though we did have to buy them off with an ice cream sundae at the end to keep them happy.

End of Summer

On a beautiful day at the end of September, we went out to celebrate Lisa's birthday. My mom watched the kids (thank you, mom!) and we went into the city for a fancy dinner...

...at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant on Queen Anne. It was fun and different and definitely memorable! P.S. tofu never stays on the skewer!I still can't get enough pictures of my beautiful baby girl!

The kids are enjoying the yard and have fun exploring different areas and examining all of the plants, like this fuchsia with wonderful, ball-like flowers like Chinese lanterns.
Edison loves to be dad's helper. Last weekend he used his Tonka truck to help dad fill up the wood rack.
The kids are always on the move these days, so getting one picture of the two of them that isn't blurry is quite an achievement. We are so happy with what good playmates they have become. When Charlotte is napping, Edison says, "Where is my Charlotte?"
You know you're entering the rainy season when you start getting more creative with playtime indoors. Edison put on a puppet show for us, after dragging all of this stuffed animals up two flights of stairs - that was good for 30 minutes of focused activity.
Looking awesome in daddy's goofy shades.
We are heading into a crazy Homecoming week. Wish us luck! Eben has to put the kids to bed just about every night this week since I'll be at school for different events and set up times throughout the week. Here's my great team of ASB leaders: