Pumpkin Patch

The rain has stopped and the sun is shining.
A perfect day for a trip to the pumpkin patch with cousins and friends.

These were the only 2 pictures that I got of Julian actually with the pumpkins and they are definitely not the best...but kind of funny.

This guy is silly.

Racing through the hay maze.

Riding fake ponies...

and real ones.
I wish Ella could have joined us.

around the house

We have rats!!!
Julian and I cut out a bunch of black construction paper rat silhouettes which we thought were kind of funny. Andy didn't think they were funny though, because we actually do have a rat problem in the backyard. Our neighbor has an orange tree that is full of little rat families. The rats love to run along the wall and snoop around our backyard. Luckily we have Yoshi to keep them at bay most of the time. Don't worry, Andy, our fake rats will be gone in less than a week.

Finishing up the skirt I had started for Ella to wear to Kate's party. Have I mentioned I love my sewing corner.

My breakfast...coffee and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
YUM!!!

Craft time with Julian.
He loves anything that involves the use of glue and I love that he loves to do 'crafts'.

weekending

The kids were both a little on the tired side when we headed out to Long Beach to do a little window shopping and sampling of foods on Saturday, so I wasn't sure how long we would last or how the evening would end. Sometimes a change of scenery for the kids is enough to distract them into having a good time. Luckily for all, that is exactly what happened.

I'm getting hungry just looking at these pictures. We enjoyed some tasty pho at Number Nine. The kids figured out that chopsticks make really good drumsticks. Our fellow diners where probably just as relieved as we were that the service is really quick. Next we met up with some good friends and meandered through some fun vintage stores. We dreamed about opening a bookstore/handmade craft store/coffee bar/lounge area/art gallery in 300 sqft. It's fun to dream. That dreaming did leave me thinking. While we were dreaming the kids had fun running around expending every last bit of energy left in them. They were both fast asleep before we even got to the freeway.

This weekend I also:

got some much needed planting done,

organized a few spaces in our house,

visited a couple estate sales,

tried a new recipe,

attended a soccer game,

and relaxed.

I love weekends!

Drops!

(Source for all pics)

I'm loving, yes loving, the rain so much this year.

I feel like I am enjoying it more than I usually do. Maybe it is just perspective...or maybe it is just early in the season, but for whatever reason I want to hang onto this feeling and take it all in. We need the rain and maybe this has changed my attitude about rain. I find myself at the window quite often just observing...how mist makes my eyes feel like there are dots floating around...the splash of big raindrops and how it seems to freeze in time for just a split second...the roar on our back patio when the rain is dumping like Niagara Falls...the birds as they continue to busy themselves at a little quicker of a pace. Maybe I am just getting older and things that used to seem like an inconvenience on my life are now a blessing. I know I am getting older because my neck is still stiff after sneezing yesterday morning and completely throwing it out.

Well, I will take my stiff neck if it also brings an appreciation and contentment with what seems like endless rain.

getting 'greazy'

This little guy loves to get 'greazy', as he says it...not greasy. If Andy is in the garage working on any one of his many projects, Julian can be found somewhere nearby. Most of the time he has a tool in hand and is trying to find something or anything he can use it on.

I love to watch him deep in thought and in his own little world of play.

First he gets his tools ready for the job.He knows there are a lot of exposed bolts and screws on daddy's car that might need a little tweaking.

Sometimes a little reconfiguring of his tool is needed. If that still doesn't work he moves on to another vehicle that can use a little work.

If he is left with a little greaze on his hands after all of his hard work, than his time was well spent.

I love my greazy little guy!

little lady luncheon

Ella attended her first little lady luncheon to celebrate this sweet girl, cousin Kate. Kate's little hat was way too cute, but she would only wear it long enough for a quick picture. At this age, these girls now know what they like and don't like. I started making a little skirt for Ella, but she knew exactly which one of her dress-up dresses she was going to wear. No amount of persuasion that a dress-up dress didn't fall into the category of proper attire for a little lady luncheon was going to change her mind. These girls are getting too big too fast.

A beautiful sit down lunch was followed by

jewelery making.Next it was time for some pretty nail polishing. These girls were in heaven.
Ice cream cone cake.Even this handsome gentleman got to attend, keep cousin Luke company, and eat an ice cream cone cake.

Fun was had by all and I'm pretty sure the birthday girl felt celebrated!

Self Challenge

Love this little collection by Susie Ghahremani . I have been wanting to paint a small collection of pictures for a while and so I am going to set a deadline to force myself to do it. Let's see how well this works. Nov 1st. That's my deadline. Hmmm...to do...6 paintings...5, I like odd numbers. There, that's my own little challenge.

Trays and Displays

I have been having some fun transforming boring walls in my house into happy little spaces. I can't remember where I got the idea, but metal trays make great magnetic boards to display and hang things. This is a wall in Ella's room. The needlepoint picture is from an estate sale. I love the little cage of birds on her head. Thinking about maybe painting the outside part of the frame a turquoise to kind of brighten it up a little. Loved the clipboard idea over on Smile and Wave and knew it would be the perfect way to hang so many lovely creations by Ella. She has really taken a liking to drawing and as her mama I can't help but think she is super talented. All of her drawings make me smile and wish I had more clipboards.

Remember these trays?
My little sewing corner is starting to feel like a little sewing can actually be done here. I still have my eye out for a small corner shelving unit to hold my sewing box and some other necessities.

I have no idea how I managed without my little sewing corner.

It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Julian my little Indian boy

I made a tepee for Ella last year for her birthday and wanted to take some pictures of the kids playing around it for some fallish pictures, but like many of my plans, we never got around to it. Not this year, no sirree. I would have really liked Ella to have been in the pictures, but I realized that if I didn't just do it, I might never get around to it. So we did it. Funny thing is, I didn't really get any pictures I really liked with the tepee in it. I also forgot a leather cord I was going to tie around his head. We had so much fun, we might have to do it again with Ella as the little Indian princess.