Halloween Marathon!

Introducing the fireman...


And the cowboy!

After more than a month of anticipation, our Halloween festivities began with a party at preschool.
Our little cowboy with his best bud, Colton the astronaut, and the handsome fire chief.

Aw. Colton's not sure what to think about the hand holding...



I love the preschool-age version of Halloween. Adorable costumes and nothing scary!

The next party in the lineup was our church social. We were happy it was on Saturday because it meant Ryan was in town!

And to wrap up all the partying, we arranged to go trick-or-treating within our building. Since we manage it, I know all 52 sets of neighbors, so I called all the old ladies and asked if they'd like trick-or-treaters. Additionally, a neighbor put a little pumpkin printout in the mailroom and encouraged people to post it on their door if they had candy to give out. It was so fun going around searching for those little signs! Pictured above is our sweet little friend Clara (her mom and I are great friends) with the boys.

As you can tell, the ladies in the building really went all out! They STUFFED the boys' bags! The two bags on the left were our original bags. The other two were given to us by a lady who bought them just for the boys and filled them to the brim with organic treats! So sweet!

Anyway, I think Halloween sufficiently lived up to Trenton's expectations. Now I just have to figure out how to get him to let me take down the Halloween decorations! (Maybe I'll just have to swap them out directly with Christmas!)

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Every great now and then I can convince Trenton that an official photo shoot would be fun. So today I pushed aside the couch, threw down the blanket, and snapped a dozen pictures before they were ready to move on. Happily, I got a couple of keepers!


I adore them.

Halloween Preview!

Since September our home has been ringing with the singsong words, "I'm so excited for Halloween." Some days I hear it every ten minutes. And every neighbor will attest—this boy is excited. For weeks he has flagged down anyone walking near our condo and made them wait while he ran inside and brought out a Halloween item to show off. (Good thing we know all of our neighbors!)

As we began decorating, T latched on to every decoration I brought out—the glittery trees, the spooky haunted house, our "beware" sign, the spider with a candle inside...

The spidery fabric I bought to place the decorations on—he took it to preschool to show his teachers. :)

We regularly drive around neighborhoods in search of pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and spiderwebs.

The other day, Trenton and Chase took their trick-or-treating bags on a walk to the grocery store nearby. They were "just practicing."

Have I sufficiently convinced you that this child is excited?

In the past, I've never been hugely into Halloween. But experiencing it through Trenton's eyes has been by far and away better than experiencing it myself. Happy Halloween!

Carving a pumpkin! Family photo a la self-timer! Trenton smiling better for the auto function than when a real live person is behind the camera! Chase with pumpkin guts on his forehead!

Our piano, all spookified!

Let's Go Fly a Kite - Take 2

Don't be entirely fooled by the number of fun family outings I post. Exploring is just how we stay sane with two little boys! How they love a good adventure. Our weeks are full of long work hours for Ryan and many a diaper change for me, but getting out on the weekends helps us keep perspective!

The view I see so often of my little Chase. Always on the go! (And an imperfect hairline, as usual, compliments of myself.)

Still in love!

I pulled out the camera and said, "Say—" He cut me off with: "I LOVE CANDY!"

Another lovely Sunday afternoon spent flying kites, this time on the little beach just below Ghiradeli Square. The city was packed, by the way, now that summer has officially arrived in Northern California. (Our seasons are strange!)

TGIF

After a rather intense two years, I have been deeply inhaling the changes that are coming our way as the boys grow. It's amazing how simultaneously terrifying and relieving a child's growth can be to a parent.

This morning the boys and I shared a simple picnic lunch on the steps of the nearby Pulgus Water Temple, pictured below. Neither of the boys got precariously close to diving into the reflection pool. No one started taking off shoes in an effort wade. They toddled around discovering pine cones and spider webs. They ran circles around the pillars and talked about how much exercise they were getting. (Well, the one who can really talk, that is.) It was pristine. Then we meandered back to the car and left each boy's long stick in the pebbled parking space next to ours. Within 20 minutes we were back home, with the boys tucked into bed for naps. (They've recently started going down at the same time, rather than staggered. It is a huge time saver for me!)

When Ryan came home from work at 4pm, we headed to the Stanford Shopping Mall just to wander the grounds, woof-woof-ing at dogs and playing a very basic version of tag. I love this brief moment of stillness:


And to top off a lovely evening, we enjoyed a rare sunset sighting while driving the 280 home. It seems that the hills that block the west often dampen of our sunsets, but not tonight!


You can see why I've been breathing deeply lately, right?

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Treasure Island is a strange little jewel. Incredible views of the city, claimed by dilapidated, former-military housing. That real estate would be so expensive if they redeveloped it! Whatever Treasure Island may be, it is an excellent place to fly a kite on a Sunday afternoon.

Trenton felt so special helping his dad set up their new stunt kite. This thing can really get whipping in the wind! It pulls so hard that I wouldn't dare hold it on my own, for fear of sending it crashing into a building or an innocent bystander or something.

Fantastic sky, huh?

Attempting to get both boys to smile, I made some insanely loud animal sounds (for which I only received weird looks, from the boys...and probably others) and then attempted a game of peekaboo. The only problem was that they wanted to play too! Cute nonetheless. And check out that city skyline in the background.

Hello Teal

I took a bit of a risk and added teal as an accent color. I already had some teal around the house (piano knobs, Anthro vase, family photos above the sofa), and now I've sealed the deal. At least until I'm ready for another change... We also bought that table on craigslist. A 1920s table from a row house in SF for 60 bucks? Sold!


There's always more this closet designer would like to do (mauve carpets?! popcorn ceiling?! new sofa?! sure!), but I'm trying to bloom where I'm planted, be content to rent, etc. Life is good!