Monday, October 31, 2011

October Wrap-Up

Like a typical month, October's calendar started out quite empty and quiet, only to finish at full speed. We celebrated friends' children's birthdays early in the month, then celebrated our own little 2-yr-old on the 22nd...


 Red velvet cupcakes for the children and lemon-gingersnap cheesecake for the adults. Delicious as ever!!

 Yes, Camille was anxious to blow out her own two candles, and she succeeded!


 In her words, "Cake. Yummy. Good!"

 The teaset we bought for her. She's loved it ever since:-)


 The next day was Sunday, and once the children had rested in the afternoon, we drove over to Natural Bridges State Beach for some weekend sand time. The monarc butterflies are actually migrating through the area currently as well, but the kiddos didn't have the patience for walking amongst the milkweed. Perhaps next year.




Finally, Halloween! My Captain Hook (minus the eye patch and hook- I don't understand him sometimes!) at the school parade...

 ... and Tinker Bell...

So, another month has come and gone. It will be November tomorrow. Again, the calendar is calm and quiet and I'll just enjoy that for now. American Thanksgiving, here we come!!

Thursday, October 06, 2011

100 days... but who's counting?

Summer came to a crashing halt this past week as the temperatures dropped from a balmy 90F to a wet and windy 58F... a few inches of rain included. It's a little early for rain but in true California form, next week should be sunny and back into the 70F's.

My parents were here in mid-September to visit. A week sped by quickly. With Russell in school, we weren't able to do many adventures but we did get a chance to go apple-picking on the coast. The weather was autumn-perfect and Russell and Camille had a blast...





Our family seems to have finally found a new routine surrounding Russell and his school hours. Camille's nap is a little sooner, Tuesday afternoons are swim lessons for Russell, homework is done after supper, learning-to-read lessons are done after breakfast, and play-dates with friends only on Fridays. A lot of my struggles could be made easier if we had chosen to home-school but when I see Russell interact so positively with his classmates and teacher, I'm assured that we are doing the best for him for now. He was just so bored at home over the summer and it drove both of us crazy.

October promises a handful of friends' children's birthday parties and that includes one for Camille- who personally believes she is really for kindergartan like Russell is. When she eyes the glue sticks, markers, papers and crafts in Russell's class each day, I have to fight her to put her back in the stroller. She is talking in singular words and a few short phrases- enough that for better or worse, we understand most of what she says;-) She loves drawing/coloring and finally has grasped the concept of 'only on paper' instead of my walls, furninture and the wood floors.

... And according to my ticker above, only 100 days left until Little Brother is due! My dry heartburn has shown up a lot sooner but I don't have the carpel tunnel (claw hands) this time like my other pregnancies. Hallelujah. My thyroid meds are being monitored a lot closer, and for this reason, the carpel tunnel has stayed away as of yet. Little Brother gives healthy kicks- mostly at night or when I'm resting, and the newness of it all still has not worn off. Although pregnancy is difficult on a woman's body, I am so overjoyed to experience it once again. With the autumn and winter weeks ahead (April's wedding in San Diego, Halloween, American Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, and New Years), these 100 days will be gone in a blink!

Thanks for checking in despite the rare posts:-) I love reading all your updates!