Pumpkin Tales

So the family sat down last night to carve pumpkins. Rich handled all the heavy machinery - he literally pulled out his drill and hole saw - and Brynn scooped out the insides of her "perfect" pumpkin. Cannon even participated by throwing some of the "guts" around the kitchen a bit. He wasn't too excited with the texture of the pumpkin guts, but they were fun to throw and squish around. While they were busy cleaning out the insides, I was salvaging the seeds for a yummy roasting recipe. The two large pumpkins yielded a good number of big seeds, and Brynn's "perfect" pumpkin was a jackpot of "perfect" little seeds. Funny how the smaller pumpkins seem to have more seeds, of better quality. As I cleaned, drained and soaked the all of the seeds, I was reminded of another Halloween pumpkin seed situation.
Last Halloween, I had the bright idea to take a HUGE pumpkin from the freebie section of Craigslist. Rich grumbled and groaned about having to go pick it up, and load it into our car, and then unload it into our garage. I had successfully roasted seeds from our normal size pumpkins, and was gun-ho about doing some more. The HUGE, free pumpkin was nothing but a win-win situation for me.
We put it in the garage, commented on it's enormous size, and of course, ran out of time that day to do anything with it. A day turned into two, and then a week. I finally had time to go out and begin carving up the pumpkin for what I thought was going to be a mother load of seeds to roast. Boy, was I wrong. Apparently - as our carving last night demonstrated - the larger the pumpkin, the less quality and amount of seeds there seem to be. We opened up that HUGE pumpkin - with the help of a saw-zaw, and hammer - only to find the insides full of mold, and about 6 rotten-looking seeds. What a waste. I was shocked, disappointed and even a little bit mad. I wasn't the only one who was mad. You can only guess Rich's dismay when he found out he had to cut that enormous pumpkin into trashcan-size pieces so that we could dispose of it slowly. (This being another family issue, since we have the smallest trashcan that the garbage company offers in order to save a bit of money.) It took a weeks to dispose of all that pumpkin, and I didn't even get any seeds. Bummer.
The moral of the story: (true for both gifts and pumpkins) the best things come in small packages...

Cannon enjoying the pumpkin carving.

Brynn adding to the pumpkin seed bowl.



The finished products

Last years HUGE pumpkin - sigh-

Camera Ham

Say "cheese"!

It Goes With His Eyes...

I walked out into the garage the other day and this is what I saw.


Apparently the artwork was tasty and pretty....


I have changed 3 blue poops today...

Pumpkin Patch

Rich had Saturday off, and so we headed to Petaluma to a really great pumpkin patch. There was so much to be seen and done at this place. They had a giant field of pumpkins, cut-your-own flower gardens, castle, jumpy things, pepper garden (a little odd, I know), corn stalk maze, hay bale maze, hay bale climbing structure, haunted houses, craft barns, live animals, cow milking demos, tractor rides, BBQ food, tamales (again, random), old engine demos, and even - for the die hard education seeker - a fun barn filled with tons of facts about farming, pumpkins, and cow milking. We spent hours at the pumpkin patch. We even were able to bring the dog. I highly recommend this place. It was a blast. (Everything cost money, so if one was to do all the activities, it would be pricey, but you could get away with not spending anything and just walking around enjoying it all.)
Of course, for all of our time there, I only got a couple of great pictures of the kids, and no family shots at all. Drat. Maybe next year???
Cannon was loving being outside - he is our little outdoors nature boy, and Brynn was very excited to pick out the "perfect" pumpkin. Here are the best shots of the day.

He tried to push it around for awhile just to show us how strong he was.

Brynn with the "perfect" pumpkin, watching the cow milking demo.

Long Time No Blog

I have a million excuses, but none of them really matter. My camera batteries were dead, pregnancy, my house is always dirty, etc. Truth of the matter is, I just haven't made the time to do any blogging lately. But - I am back!
I had a great weekend away with an old friend from high school/college. She lives down in Hermosa Beach, and offered to let me come and visit for a couple of days for some well needed rest and "me" time. Thank you Katie!
My morning/all day sickness has started to wain, but I am still about 3 weeks from feeling good again. I actually feel really old. My hips ache, my back aches, I am tired.....who thought this would be a good idea? Oh yeah, probably my husband.
The kids are doing great. Cannon seems to learn a new word every day, and although we don't understand them all, he is doing better communicating what he wants. He knows a few baby signs, and that certainly helps fill in a few gaps. His proudest smiles come after he says thank you (sounds more like "daint two") and we respond with a "good boy"! Brynn is wanting to be involved with everything that I do. She wants to help cook, she wants to help clean, she wants to push the shopping cart at the grocery store. I often find her trying to keep Cannon on the straight and narrow while they play, and although I am proud of her for trying to help out, I have to remind her gently that she is not mommy. I don't want her to grow up too fast! She is excited to share a room with Cannon, and I am waiting to see what happens.
My birthday is coming up, and Rich has something exciting planned, but I am not sure what at this point. I do love surprises, and he is doing his best to keep it all from me. A few things have slipped, but I can't wait to see what is going on. More to come on that one...
I will do some more catching up tomorrow.

First Photo

8 weeks along

Here is the first official photo of the baby. I had a doctor appt. today, and we found out the due date is May 6th (the day after Cannon's 2nd birthday) instead of May 4th. I will most likely be late, so hopefully there will be some space between the birth dates. I was so happy to see a little heartbeat, and know that I am truly pregnant. This one has been different, and I was worried about it. We are truly blessed.

Good Times

Sorry, haven't had a chance to write much lately. I am a little overwhelmed with stuff (understandably) and the blog just doesn't seem to get done. Here is what is going on. We had an awesome 3 day weekend a bit ago. Got a lot done around the house, and I really enjoyed having Rich home to do all the cooking and dishes...
We finished up working on our hot tub patio (nice timing I know) and it looks pretty great. The hot tub is still out of order, but whose complaining.

We spent some time outside gardening, planting and enjoying the last bits of summer as a family. I probably should have put sunscreen on the white kids, but oh well.


Rich has really enjoyed Cannon, and all the "boy" things that they can do together. I am sure this will only get funnier as time goes on...

A Tale of Two Cleesas

Brynn has two puppies that are near and dear to her heart. She takes these puppies everywhere. She sleeps with them at night. She feeds them at the dinner table. We cannot go on without these two puppies.
When Brynn was about 18 months she named one of the puppies Dwayne. We have no idea where she got that name, but we enjoyed her creativity. About a year ago, the name was changed to Cleesa. (Like Lisa, with a "C" in front) Instead of naming them Dwayne and Cleesa, they were both Cleesa. The two Cleesas.
Well, like every other car trip, one Cleesa came with us. We were zipping down a four lane road with the windows down (can you see where I am going with this???) and I hear a wail from the backseat. "Cleesa!!!!" I looked out my rear view mirror to see a small tan stuffed puppy bouncing down the road behind us. Now, this is not the first time that we have lost things out the window. The well-known rule is that we do not go back for anything. If someone holds something out the window, and it gets dropped, we say 'Goodbye' and drive on. I pulled over into a parking lot, and turned around to talk to Brynn. She had huge tears welled up in her eyes, and with a wavering voice said, " I guess that I have another puppy at home that can be my favorite Cleesa...". It broke my heart. She was trying to be so brave. I told her to pray to God that He would help Mommy figure out a way to go get Cleesa from the middle of a road. She prayed, "Dear God, please help Mommy find Cleesa, and don't let Cleesa be scared." So we turned around and searched the road for the little favorite puppy. We found her, and then watched her get run over by a semi, and a school bus, and numerous cars. Pretty sad sight.
Needless to say, I parked the car, hiked up the road, waited to dodge between lanes of busy traffic, and rescued Cleesa. Brynn held Cleesa close and sniffled the whole way home, whispering "Its OK, Cleesa, you are safe now. You are not lost anymore."
I think that this time, the punishment would have far outweighed the crime. Sometimes you just have to let the rules go....

Left Alone

This is what happens when you leave daddy and Brynn alone with a camera....

Hot Tubbin'

The saga of the hot tub continues. We got a "great deal" on a hot tub last January, and were totally thrilled with the idea that we could sit in our backyard, enjoying time together in the warmth of a humming hot tub. Rich and a few friends spent 6 hours moving it from a house less than a mile away to our yard, and there the story begins. The hot tub sat, and sat, and sat through the early spring months, and then most of the summer. Every once in awhile we would get inspired and spend a few hours working on it, moving it, putting up siding around it, etc. I even made a list of all the stuff that had to be done in order for us to enjoy it. (I don't think Rich responds that well to my lists...)

Fast forward a few months. It is now late September. We enlisted the help of Marlin, whose expertise in wiring was thoroughly appreciated. They spent two full evenings, while Sara and I watched, cheering them on, trying to wire the tub, and put all the parts in the right spot. When we heard jets and the blower fire up we were ecstatic. Turns out there were some more issues, but we were definitely closer to getting in and enjoying some hot tub time.


Well, Saturday night, it was all working. We got in, and enjoyed the warmth and coziness of the tub. The kids splashed around, jumped from side to side and generally enjoyed themselves.

It was all fine and dandy until the jets kept me up all night long. Each time the tub would go through a filter cycle (every thirty minutes) the jets would blast on, and it sounded like a car motor running right outside of our bedroom window. I finally woke Rich up and asked him to turn it off before I ripped all my hair out. (Who knew that I could be like that in the middle of the night...)

Trying to solve the jet problem, Rich followed the advice of our neighbor, rewired some stuff, and turned it back on. No jets. At all. Not a good sign. He rewired, rewired, rewired, and rewired again. No jets. He couldn't even get it back to what it was doing before. Bummer. Soooooo, as of this point, we are again hot tub-less and so very sad....
Whatever.

Another One???

This should be fun.

Future Sleeping arrangements for our home....
(the title of this sleeping unit picture is actually "3 kids on one wall...")

What the back of our car will look like!

Camping

So even after our last trip, we decided to give camping another try. We packed up 400 pounds of kid gear, food and camping necessities, and headed up to Gualala River Redwoods Campgrounds. We had been there last year, but I forgot how cold it could be. The campground is in the middle of a valley of huge redwoods, about a mile from the coast, and is bordered by the Gualala River. It is amazing, but chilly most of the time. (1 sweatshirt, and some flip-flops just doesn't cut it...)
Our camping group consisted of us and our home team - a group of great friends who we have shared our Wednesday nights with for the last 5 years. The group has grown exponentially since the first trip. People just seem to be having more and more babies, and it gets more fun, and more chaotic each year. The group started with 5 couples, and 2 kids and now consists of 7 couples and 11 kids. (The circle of chairs around the campfire was massive!!) The age range for the kids was 13 - 2 months. Brynn and Cannon are finally at the age where they can play, and we don't have keep such a careful eye on them the entire time. They were dirty, and unsupervised, and fully loving the entire trip. It was great. I can't wait for next year!

Miniature version of the adults sitting around the campfire...

3 of the kids were not in this picture

Hamming it up for the camera

Enjoying some sun by the river

End of the day bath

Brace Face

This was me before.

This is me now.

I took the plunge and got braces. It cost a pretty penny, but my hopes are that I will save the life of my teeth in the long run. I only cried a few tears in the office, and a few when I got home. I expect that that will be all. I am pretty good humor about the full metal mouth, the food that will be stuck in my teeth, the constant drooling, and the extensive cleaning routine that I have committed to for the next two years of my life. The pain is minimal, thanks to the cocktail of Advil and Tylenol that I am on, and I might even loose a couple of pounds from not being able to eat much. (Straight teeth and weight loss - there are just so many perks!)
Brynn is obsessed with touching them (get your fingers out of my mouth, squirt!) and pretending that she has pink, purple and blue braces as well. Cannon doesn't even notice (typical boy).

Babysitting

I recently had the opportunity to watch my cousins little boy Will. He was born on Cannon's first birthday this year. Jennie was telling me that he is exactly one year younger, one pound & one ounce heavier, and one inch longer than Cannon. That is funny. The kids loved having someone around to play with, and it made me think that having three might not be soooo bad. Of course, Will is a dream baby (at least to me Jenn). He falls asleep when he is tired, signals he is hungry by a little pouty lip action, and loved to be outside with us during the day.

Brynn, Will and Cannon

Will and Cannon. Exactly one year apart!

Hiding Out

OK, so I admit. I did it. I had to find a moment for myself, and I used the bathroom. All you moms have done it. Things were calm in the house, and I saw my chance for some "me" time. I quietly crept past the daughter playing out in the yard. I snuck past the dog sleeping by the front door. I tiptoed by the son playing with toys in his sisters room. (I thought I was caught when he looked up with a guilty look, but he saw it was me and not his sister, so he went back to playing.) I made it all the way past the creak in the hallway, and into our bedroom. I was almost there.

I slithered into the bathroom, and quietly shut the door, lifting it slightly so that it wouldn't squeak as it closed on its tight hinges. Finally, some peace. I picked up the book that I have been slowly reading, in the bathroom, of course, and settled in.

I have always wondered why my mom always took so long in the potty. I know know that she didn't have some irritable bowel issue, she just wanted some peace and quiet....

I was almost finished with the chapter, and then I caught my breath. Someone was standing outside the door, listening. Waiting to see if I would give away my position of secrecy. They waited, and waited, and waited. (Boy they are patient when they are hunting aren't they?) It was like they could sense me nearby. I held my breath, quietly turned out the light and prayed that I could have 30 more seconds to finish the last paragraph.

And just like that, it was all over. My heart started to pound as I watched my bookmark slide out of the book, and drop in slow motion. The sound it made as it hit the floor was practically inaudible, but their un-humanlike superpower of hearing picked it up. There was a turn of the doorknob, three sets of eyes peering at me through the dark, a squeal of delight, as if we had just finished a grand game of hide and seek, and I was once again bombarded by two kids and a dog with a million needs that only I could take care of.

"Mom, why are you sitting on the potty in the dark, with your clothes on, drinking coffee, and reading your book?"
Again, it appears that I will have to finish later...

Play Fun

Rich and I took Brynn, and my niece and nephew to a play this afternoon at the Santa Rosa Summer Repertory Theatre. It was a blast. The kids had a great time, and we all really enjoyed the time together. The kids were awed at the big stage and the costumes, songs and dancing. They even got to meet some of the characters after it was over. Afterwards we took them to Micky D's for an ice cream sundae. What a day!

The kids and Rich making silly faces. (They only way we could get my nephew to take a picture with us.)

What kind of auntie would I be if I didn't join in?

The girls.

The boy.

Kiss 'n' Snap

We are facilitating/hosting a young marrieds group that started a few weeks ago. It has gone really well, and we have been joined by 5 other couples. The group format consists of a DVD series every other Sunday night, and a "Date Night" on the in betweens. We had our first date night, and it was the "romantic" date. It was a kiss 'n' snap.


The idea is to get a picture of yourselves kissing at five different places, and really act like you are dating again. As a bonus, you were to put the pics in a mini-album, or journal and write something about each other underneath each picture to save for your 10 year anniversary. Sort of a reminder of what the first years of marriage were like. Rich and I, to be on the same page as the rest of the group, participated as well. We had a lot of fun, although I was really embarrassed to take so many kissing pics of ourselves. I am always looking for the flaws in my appearance rather than just enjoying the funness (I made it up, OK!) of the moment.
Here is our Kiss 'n' Snap Date:

Kissing in the Car before we drop off the kids. (Not so romantic, but oh well...)


Kissing at Dinner. Baja Fresh, mmmnnn!


Kissing in the Dressing Room at the Store. Don't get any crazy ideas. It was innocent. Rich just needs new jeans for work, and this way, no one would see us taking ANOTHER picture of ourselves kissing....


Kissing in the car before we went to pick out our movie.


Kissing before we had to take the kids home. Notice the father in law in the background slurping his soup....


We are such pros. We actually wrote this book:


And hopefully we will be kissing for a long, long time...