Pumpkin Carving

Brian and I carved our pumpkins with the kids on Tuesday. Really, I think WE carved the pumpkins. They were interested in it a little but mostly just wanted to play outside. My pumpkin had a silly face and Brian did a pirate pumpkin face (off a pattern). His turned out really cool but I didn't take a picture. He finished while I was putting the kids to bed.

Funny - Last week I used Brian's razor and cut my leg really bad. (M brought me a band-aid... how sweet, huh?) Well, now I have a really ugly scab and for some reason, M is very interested in it. So the other day he was looking at it and said, "how come you have that?" I told him it was from my cut so then he said, "my skin grows back!!"

K has been quite a pill lately. When you ask her to do something or usually to stop doing something she simply says, "no." Then follows it with a very mischievous smile. She's not staying on time out anymore either. I wanted to get them each a very small toy at Target yesterday. M chose a Nerf Gun with a laser light that shoots these soft darts that stick to walls and stuff. Actually really fun, and it was cheap! He's played with it since and he thinks it's hilarious to shoot my bottom!! Well, I found the best toy for K. It was a learning toy with all of the alphabet and it played music. She looked at it for a second and said, " I don't want this toy, this is a baby toy. I'm a big girl." Stinker. We ended up getting her a container of about 30 animals that came with fences and trees and she loves it.

Here they are trying to scape out the insides.

My cooperative child with photographs. Unlike K.

Finally a decent one of K and I. Unfortunately I can't help that it's so dark.

Cute, huh?

The ceremonial lighting.

My pumpkin lit up with all it's glory.

More later.

Wild Ocean 3D

M usually asks me in the morning if he has to go to school... and today was no exception. Then he asked me if K had to go. When I told him no, he asked how come she never has to go to school but he doesn't. He nicely told me that he would really like it if she went to school so we could do something fun together. In a nice way, not bratty at all. So, I had been thinking about taking him to see Wild Ocean 3D at the Imax Theatre and decided we should go today. He's never been to a 3D movie before. We dropped K off at Kidspark (which she loved), browsed around at the Halloween Superstore for a few minutes and headed for the Imax. He was excited and I could tell really enjoyed his time alone with me. Little sisters can be a real drag, you know.

The movie was awesome. Made you feel like you were underwater. 3D movies have sure come a long way. I felt myself even getting a little motion-sickness in the beginning. M was nervous at first and had a firm grip on my hand but then got was very into the movie. At times, the sharks, dolphins or whatever would appear to be coming straight towards you and he would jump or move a little. It was a good time. I can't wait for The Polar Express 3D to come out. If you haven't seen that movie, it's definitely one to watch this year. I think that will become another Christmas tradition. Here are a few pictures.

My date.

The Esquire Imax Theatre.

Cool shades. They even have kids sizes.

I was going to write a little more tonight and talk about the kids some more but I am just exhausted. How do single parents do it? The kids have been good and I am drained! Brian has been working 72 hour shifts the last 2 tours in a row and I have been doing a little extra too with Skill's Days, MICN ride-along shifts, etc. I can't wait to have days off together.

PC Magazine recently released the Top 100 Undiscovered Websites. Some of them were very interesting. Here are a few that I liked.

The website called Glassbooth lets you assign points to the different issues that matter to you and then tells you who you should vote for in the upcoming election. I don't agree with mine though. Try it and let me know if you agree with yours.

Tot Lol - is a video website designed specifically for children. It is community moderated. It is constantly growing. It is powered by YouTube.

I also like TripIt. You can e-mail them an itinerary of your trip. They will build you an itinerary with extras like the weather, restaurants... etc.

For those of you counting calories, take a look at Calorie Lab. I can't stay on a diet for more than 48 hours and I hate that about myself. I have zero, nada, zilch will-power. It has the calorie count of just about everything and tons of restaurants too.

Melissa

Photography Practice

Brian and I went on a "date" last week and had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack in Old Sacramento. I love their crab cooked with the BBQ flavor. Well, while we were eating outside, we heard a loud sound that sounded like a seal or a sea lion. I looked at Brian and asked him if that was a seal, he laughed at me (like you idiot) and said it was a bird. What? We looked down and saw a Sea Lion relaxing on the dock. I gave Brian the old, "I told you so" and told him if it was a bird it would have been a ventriloquist. I thought it was so funny but Brian didn't laugh.

Here he is. So cute. We really were that close.

The perfect model.

I like this one with the boat in the back.

We took the kids by after we picked them up from school.

The Tower Bridge.

I tried to shoot in Manual Mode for most of the day. I have the most supportive husband that parked the car at the base of the I Street Bridge so we could walk across it and get this shot. He always encourages me to pursue the photography thing. I'm thinking about taking a photography class next year.

I've been wanting a picture of them walking on railroad tracks for sometime now. Here it is. They are just in beat up school clothes though.

Off to bed.

Weekend at Michelle's

Last weekend, the kids and I went on a weekend getaway to my friend Michelle's house in Santa Rosa. We've been friends for about 32 years (off and on)!! Funny thing is that she moved to L.A. when we were in the 8th grade and then we kind of lost track of each other... didn't really communicate for about 12 years. You know how it is when you live so far away. Well one day, our moms were talking (in 2000 I think) and somehow they realized that we had the same area code. They thought we may be living close to each other so my mom gave Debbie (Michelle's Mom) my phone number. One day, Michelle called me and we realized we were living about 5 minutes from each other in Santa Rosa! Small world isn't it? I'm surprised we never ran into each other, we were that close. Shopped at the same grocery store and everything. We reconnected and it's like we were never apart. We don't see each other very often but are working on that. We try to talk on the phone to keep in touch. What I love about Michelle is that I can tell her anything and I do mean anything. She never judges, only gives her opinion when asked and is always there when I need her. She always has great parenting advice too. Here are a few pictures. Thanks, Michelle. We had a great time.

They have a lot of property and a nice long driveway. The kids sure loved it. M had so much fun driving this tractor. He really is a pretty good driver.

Do you see the devilish grin on their faces?

It's because I am teasing them and laying across the road... and they are trying to run me over! Stinkers. They were giggling so hard over it.

K's with P (Michelle's son). I love this picture.

If it seems like I have a lot of pictures of the tractor it's because M was on it constantly.

Coloring. See how beautiful her property is? These girls (her twins are 5 years old) and they were my babysitters for the weekend. They helped me with baths, brushed the kids hair and kept a good watch on K for me. I wanted to take them home but Michelle wouldn't let me. They are absolute angels.

Bedtime stories together. Are they cute or what? Michelle and I each read one. Michelle picked and loooooong one and I laughed at her while she gave me the stink-eye!
I picked a short and sweet one.

All for now... Melissa

M's field trip to Bobby Dazzler's Pumpkin Patch

Thursday morning we went on a field trip to Bobby Dazzler's Pumpkin Patch in Davis with M's school. Luckily, Brian and I were both off so we offered to take 2 more kids with us in our car. (I never would have attempted that if Brian weren't off) They only needed us to drive one other child so M's close friend, Maxi rode with us and M was sure excited about it all week. The weather was beautiful... a little too warm (in the 80's that day) I know everyone is probably sick of pumpkin pictures from my recent post but I couldn't resist these.

A group shot of the kids (only 2 of the classrooms went). Click on the picture to see M's cute smile. Is the sky beautiful or what? No photo editing here.

They giggled and laughed the entire way there and back. They talked about where they lived and played with M's Optimus Prime Transformer. He couldn't wait to show him. Here's a shot just as we're pulling out of the parking lot (I took this without even looking... no I wasn't driving!)
2 Happy Boys

Maxi's pulling him in the wagon and he's cracking up. K followed them everywhere.

Through the "corn" maze. Some of the groups couldn't get out and had to be rescued.

K carrying a heavy one to the wagon. I love this picture.

M's been really into this bug book that was given to me by a friend but I think maybe we should think about not reading it for a while. The book talks about Bed Bugs and I explained them (without thinking) to him. Well, I told them they only live in dirty sheets. Now, every night before bed, he'll ask me if his sheets are clean. Then he'll say, "are you sure." And then, this morning while driving him to school he asked me if there would be any puddles today. I told him no, that it hasn't been raining but the rain should come soon (assuming he wanted to splash in them). Then he said he didn't want there to be puddles because then there would be "blood sucking bugs" there. I said, "what". Then he said, "leeches, mom." I think we'll lay off the bug book for a while.

K's doing well. We've gotten her to nap again by putting the pack-n-play in the scrapbooking room. I was a little afraid to do it because I didn't want her to not want to sleep in her bed at night but we haven't had any of that. Nap-time only. She is way to big but she absolutely loves it. She walks right up to it and says, "my bed!!" I even had to wake her up today. It's glorious! She (and I) are a lot less crabby in the afternoon and it gives me time to spend alone with M. She's been talking forever but now she speaks perfectly and in complete sentences. She's amazing. Potty training is not going well. I'll sit her on the potty and right away she says, "all done." When I try to get her to stay she gives me the ol', "I don't want too, Mommy." She's not even trying. I missed my window a few months ago when she enjoyed sitting on the potty. I don't even stress about it, frankly I'm a little lazy about working on it. Maybe it's because she's my last one and it doesn't really bother me too badly to change a diaper. I know she won't be 5 years old and still in diapers!

Work is going well. I went on a ride with Consumnes Fire - Station 73 as part of my certification for my MICN. Let me just say, I went into the wrong field! I know Brian secretly wanted us to run our butts off but most of the day was spent chilling out in the recliner, watching movies with the guys and catching up on my reading. It was a lot of fun, the guys were great. The biggest excitement of the day was riding in the back of the ambulance while it was driving Code 3 (lights and sirens) to a car accident. It was a long response time too ... about 15 minutes I'd say and then right when we almost got there, we got cancelled. Man, that was scary! The medic that was driving was going so fast and just burning through intersections (passing on the left). I was white-knuckled and honestly closed my eyes a few times. I also realized that people are just dumb!! When an ambulance comes up behind them, half of them either don't move over and just continue, pull to the left (which is wrong) or just freeze altogether. We only transported one patient but it was still so much fun, I'd like to do it again.

That's all for now.
Melissa

K and her friends

The other day Willy took pictures of all the girls with pig-tails in their hair. See how calm, cooperative and patiently the other 2 girls sat? K kept standing up and boisterously yelling, "cheeseburger" over and over. She really needs to come out of her shell, don't you think?

Aren't they cute?

"Cheeseburger!!!!!!" On a side note... would you look at her tonsils! I'm surprised she can breath with those things! The doctors always comment on them when we take her (and M) in. They both snore but not as much as you would think.

One with M, he was acting crazy too!

M and Daddy go fishing

Brian and M went fishing yesterday to the little man-made pond by our house. I'm surprised there are even fish in it but Brian says there is. M couldn't have been more excited to get out and use his Scooby-Doo fishing pole. After he got home, he came running upstairs to me as quick as he could to have me smell his pink Power Bait. "Mom, look what I have. You wanna smell it?" All the while he acted like it smelled good!! Little stinker. I just played along and took a big sniff. Shoooooooo-weeee I yelled and he cracked up.

The fisherman.

He caught a ........ tennis ball!!
No fish this time but he sure had fun.

I can't believe how well (and far) he can cast it out there. Sometimes, against my better judgment, I let him practice inside with his fake fish on the end. Yep, I've been clobbered in the head once or twice. K's pretty good at casting also.

Off to get in the shower. Brian and I have the day off together (without kids).

Pumpkin time at Apple Hill

I don't have much time to write but since I am so "behind" I am going to post our Apple Hill photos. We went last Thursday. Apple Hill is one of my favorite places. We enjoy the yummy treats (personal fave is the donuts), the chilly weather and beautiful scenery. I'm posting several pictures because I just couldn't narrow it down.

Horrible exposure and very bright sun but we're all in it right?

M being silly at our first stop. Abel's Acres.

"Mom, look at this one!!"

K was our guide through the hay maze and I might say she was a good one. She led us out of there while saying, "come on guys."

M enjoyed running on top of the bales of hay. He's really into climbing lately.

They had these "roller coasters" at Abel's Acres and boy did we have fun.

Huge laughs.

I think I was a little too big so I kept getting stuck.

If it seems like I have a lot more pictures of K, it's because M just wouldn't cooperate. This was the face I got when I asked him to smile!

Happier times. This is the pumpkin he picked out. I couldn't believe how cheap they were. Only 29 cents per pound. We got 2 big ones to carve and the kids each picked out one of their own.

K found hers.

Following daddy with her BIG pumpkin.

Love that face.

K found a pack of kids playing at the last stop so she walked right up and started playing with them after introducing herself. When we left she said, "bye, bye, friends."

It's been a busy weekend. Brian went on his annual fishing/drinking trip so I decided to visit my friend Michelle in Santa Rosa. Now I have tons to catch up on around here. We had a great time despite having 5 kids under the age of 6 to care for. The kids were all excellent and just played together the entire time. I couldn't believe how easy it was. Her 5 year old twin girls are babysitters in training and helped me so much with the kiddos. I'll post some pictures when I get a minute to spare.

Goodnight... off to spend time with Brian.

Miscellaneous Monday

Brian and I went to Spencer and Rachel's wedding on Saturday night. Spencer is a Captain that Brian works with. We had such a great time (I had a little too much fun and regretted it the next day). I've realized once again that wine and I don't get along very well. These two could have honestly been on the cover of a bridal magazine. So beautiful and truly nice people. We used a new babysitter that we've never used at home before. She works in childcare at The Club. The kids loved her and have been asking when she's coming over again. It was as if Mary Poppin's came over. She brought an entire tote bag full of craft stuff and things to do and she brought her own 4 year old over so they had fun playing with him.

We've been hanging out at home a lot for the past few days. M's enjoying riding his bike while K and I follow him with the stroller.

I love this picture of us but I wish I would have put my drink down! Hello.

During dinner, after the champagne toast.

Funny story. They had a photo booth so guests could go in and take pictures. You got 4 good quality black and white pictures. What a great idea, huh? Everyone had a blast with it. As you might guess, by the end of the night people were getting a little crazy in there. Well, for the first one we were pretty serious, having a little fun but mostly arguing (in a fun way) about what pose to do. Second set of pictures, a little crazier and the third time we went in there it was downright R rated (not X). We assumed these pictures would only be seen by us, right? Well, in talking with Spencer later in the evening he said they would be getting copies off all the pictures from the booth !!! What!!?? After I got home, I went to the website on the back of the pictures and ANYONE from the wedding can see them!! It's OK, you can laugh Dyan! How humiliating is that? Oh well, it was fun. Leave it to me, right?

Take One
Once again, I didn't put my drink down! We were arguing over who was going to get what side and what pose and ended up missing it. So fun.

Take Two. We traded sides after the first two pictures.
I'm not posting Take Three!

The other day I was cleaning up the scrapbooking room and found an old picture of me. I can't believe how much K looks like me when I was young. I don't really see it in everyday life. I'm posting them both. Tell me what you think.

I'm guessing I was 4 or 5 years old.

What do you think?

A cute of of K in pigtails.

The kids are loving bubble baths these days. Could it be the Transformers and the Littlest Pet Shop bubbles? Santa Claus made an early entrance. M made a perfect mustache and beard on his own.

She's such a stinker. She's trying to splash me!