Holiday Spirit

We spent Thanksgiving with Mom H today.

She prepared some costumes to help us get in the spirit of things.

We didn't want the fish to feel left out.

Day in the Park

One of the blessings of living in So Cal is that you can enjoy a day in the park even in November.

Joy loves climbing trees . . .

. . . riding the swings . . .

. . . and playing in the sand whilst contemplating the deeper meaning of life.

"Like sands through the toy sieve, so are the days of our lives."

Family Time

The kids have enjoyed lots of fun time with family lately:

Here's Joy reading with Pink Grandma, in front of a picture of her and Daniel . . . reading with Pink Grandma. I'm noticing a pattern here. :)

Daniel's learning early that Red Grandma loves to feed people.

Joy and Papa bonding over firearms as Papa cleans his shotgun.

Aunt Heather doing double duty at the playground.

Aunt Alissa reading a little book to a big girl.

We love you, family!

Little Foodies

My cooking apprentice (Joy) has a set of plastic "food" items, and she's really into playing with her food these days.

She and Daniel are particularly taken with the ice cream cones.

Joy likes to feed them to Elmo (note that he has a bib on to keep him nice and tidy--it reads "I'm A Little Hungry").

Daniel would rather eat my hair.

Yum.

Joy's Heartbroken Over A Few Dates

Joy and I were eating dates this evening, and suddenly Joy said, "Dwah hawtbwoken" ("Joy is heartbroken"). I asked why she was heartbroken, but she just climbed into my lap and kept repeating that she was.

I realized that she had probably picked the word up from a current favorite board book in which Gossie the gosling is "heartbroken" when she can't find her bright red boots. I don't think Joy grasps the full meaning of the term, but she does understand that a heartbroken person needs comfort and is therefore likely to get lots of hugs. I was more than happy to help her with that--I like hugs, too. :)

There's the Rub

In addition to keeping my offspring fed, clothed, and reasonably clean, I aspire to stimulate their motor skills, mental faculties, etc. (I don't actually manage to DO the latter very often, but I do aspire). To that end, I decided to do a Creative Activity with Joy this evening.

Here are the materials: paper, leaves, crayons, and a Trader Joe's sticker (contributed by Joyful). The idea is to put leaves under your paper, then rub a crayon across them to reveal the leaves' outlines.

Joy didn't entirely get the concept (she tended to color wherever the leaf was NOT), but she did have fun which, after all, is far more important. Here she is holding up her masterpiece for all to admire. Of course, when I asked her to hold her drawing "up for the camera" . . .

. . . she promptly held it DOWN for the camera. Maybe she doesn't need her creativity stimulated after all--it's pretty well-developed already.

Baby and Bear 5

The "Baby and Bear" series continues:

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

The title "Baby and Bear" doesn't seem quite accurate anymore, since Daniel doesn't look like a baby to me these days. Maybe I should start calling this the "Boy and Bear Series." Heck, before I know it it will be the "College Student and Bear Series."

Channeling Seuss

Our baby boy seems less like a baby every day.

He's sitting up tall . . .

. . . and trying to crawl . . .

. . . and havin' a ball.

What a doll.

(That's all.)

House Divided

On Homecoming night I'm glad I don't live at this house.

I Heart Halloween

Actor Ben Stiller grew up with a Jewish dad and a Catholic mom, so the family had plenty of holidays to celebrate. He says they were all in favor of any tradition that involved fun and/or food.

While I try to honor the deeper meaning in holidays, to a certain extent I share Stiller's philosophy, too. I suppose that's one reason I love Halloween: an excuse to indulge my inner child with costumes and lots of candy.

And let's face it, the blogger in me loves all the photo ops.

Daniel: "Mom, did you say this thing is edible?"

Daniel practicing the "Spooky Story Stance"

Here we have a flower and a bumblebee trick-or-treating with a bunny rabbit and . . . a mad scientist. Um, yeah. I would vow to coordinate us better next year, except I just know that Daniel will want to be a dinosaur and Joy will choose to be a fairy or something. Try connecting those dots.

The concept of trick-or-treating finally clicked for Joy this year. After the "trunk-or-treat" at church we hit up a few nearby houses then called it a night (after all, how many pounds of candy does a toddler really need?). Little does Joy know that the free candy fest actually continues long into the night. If you won't tell her, I won't tell her.

We were joined for the evening's festivities by our friends Tim and Krystal (who dressed as a nerd and cat lady, respectively). Ah Halloween--a splendid excuse to gather with loved ones, exercise a little creativity, and consume lots of sweets.