Pumpkin Carvin 2012

Sedea as Michael Jackson at the Boo-Fet.

We had a crowd!

Grandpa Darrell doing his gourd in secret!

Kitt was brave enough to lead others into the haunted garage.

Aunt Laura carved Ernie's vision.

Some very good contenders!

Judges at work.

Jeremy set up a mallow roasting station.

We learned we have a VERY study coop.

Grandma Bonnie's costumes were delivered and enjoyed!

The scary jumping spider and his Mistress Queen Mab spiderweb.

Modeling in the spider-infested garage.

Shelley's Wedding Weekend

We had the honor and pleasure of traveling to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for our dear friend Shelley's wedding. It was a beautiful trip with perfect weather for their gorgeous day.

Ernie was really excited for the plane ride. Both kids were incredible travel troopers. And Ernie got to sit in the cock pit on the way home!

Jeremy "researched" The Pit for our lunch stop upon arriving in Raleigh. Thanks for the rec, Man v. Food!

Here's the happy couple the night before the wedding! We're so glad Shelley has found someone so perfect to lover her as much as she deserves.

Lenora learned she LOVES the beach. Particularly the crashing waves.

Ernie was not a fan of the beach as he imagined he would be, but he did enjoy finding remnants of sea life, like this mermaid's purse.

Len would have spent the whole day having Daddy lift her over waves if she had her choice.

Cape Hatteras Light House, site of the wedding.

Lenora knew she wanted to become Shelley even before she saw her in the white dress getting all the attention. Here she is on Shelley's bike.

She's the bride!

Can you guys who's handsome boy this is? Konen is such a sweetheart. He's as dear as his mom, and her spitting image.

I think the kids had such a great time at the reception. They loved seeing the sunset on the sound.

Aren't I lucky?

Gorgeous day.

Jeremy left the kids alone for a few seconds to get some drinks. He found Ernie fiddling with the camera and Len at the cake table (it was her birthday, how thoughtful that a three-layer cake was provided!). Ernie took a good picture!

Isn't she lovely?

The sweetest father/daughter dance I ever did see.

I think this shows what a good match they are.

After all that fun and new experiences, a 3 a.m. wake up call. 

October Birthdays

 October is filled with the birthdays of the most attractive and illustrious members of our family and inner circle. And I'm not just saying that because it's my birth month. Really.

Jeremy made me a delicious rabbit dinner with some nice wine. No one was awake to take our picture, so we took a picture of the food.

Maisie had her party at a pumpkin patch.

Kittrick had a bouncy house!

Ernie had a blast, despite having to take off his shoes and sustaining a bruise from "some baby's head."

Len had her celebration at Roca Scary Farm.

The boys can finally both reach the pedals!

Each of them is saying their barnyard noise, though Ernie has a bit of a "Here's Johnny!" look.

Lisa and Mom.

Len is still talking about riding a pony. She loved it.

We got her a trunk of princess costumes, because we are exceedingly clever. She really liked it.

Both Maisie and Len got to play with them.

I don't think she wanted to ever take them off.

Science Rules!

 Ernie is a huge fan of Bill Nye, and we regularly rent VHS tapes from the library for him to enjoy. Homestead National Monument brought in The Science Guy himself to talk about sustainable living, and we were not going to miss it!

There was a huge crowd and a lot of waiting, but a couple of fellows clearly inspired by Nye in their tender years did some fun experiments leading up to it. See behind Bill Nye the exploded pumpkins spelling out "Science Rules?" That was Ernie's favorite part. The talk was a bit above his head, but we found it inspiring.

The other favorite part? Riding in a REAL BUS shuttle that took us to and from our parking. Sustainable living at its best!

Princess Party for Hazel

 Lenora's friend Hazel from Pretty School had the first birthday party of the season, and I know it is the one Lenora will use to measure her future parties by. She especially liked that it was a party "just for giwls" and that EVERYONE was a princess.

They decorated crowns with jewels and got their faces painted (Len chose a pink heart). Here she is with her Preschool BF Nora showing off their crown and face work.

Tulle everywhere! Some girls had authentic Disney Princess clothes, though Len just came in a pretty dress. As the youngest one, she kept wanting to participate meaningfully by saying loudly "I'm a princess! I like pink! I'm Cinderella, too!"

Party people in the house!

Harvest fun

Summer ending means some good eating. We went to the Community Crops soup and ice cream feast (marshmallow beet ice cream changed my feelings about beets forever!) and saw the Deanses there. Ernie and Len loved Landon. And Mom learned how good sweet potato greens are sauteed with eggplant!

Ern and Len help Aunt Laura mix her cement base for Tinman, a soon-to-be-added ornament for the Pioneer Park Children's Garden. We're excited to visit him at planting season next year!

On our anniversary we took a little trip to Iowa and got to see this GORGEOUS round stone barn with all different kind of natural cut woods inside. And ate a delicious vegetable feast. I'm now a fan of kale.

And we built our hoop houses and did our fall planting. Maybe the tomatoes will ripen a bit more with the added warmth, and we should have romaine, beets, and rutabagas for fall!