new post tomorrow

need sleep.....

asta manana

fell off the blogging wagon - Wednesday

Yah, a few pictures!  Here is Wednesday.....

My maestro took us on a little walk around town.  We went and visited Juarez Park (no pics, I don't want to press my luck!) and these public lavados (where people wash their clothes).  Most people don't use them anymore, because the water is pretty funky.  But there are a few poor who do, like in this picture.  There is a spring that feed the "baths" (cement sinks).  

After I took this picture the lady on the right charged me =).  TIM!

We learned of an interesting Mexican tradition.  It is customary to give the gift of underwear on New Years Eve, to family, co-workers, etc.

Here at the school the teachers and employees drew names (like a secret santa), and all exchanged their "gifts" after class.

It was pretty funny to watch.  I guess different colors have different meanings.  

The girls underwear kept getting smaller and smaller.....

Here I am with some camels.  I'll explain more later.  I'm in bed trying to get a few hours sleep before I have to get up at 3:00am to catch my ride to the airport.  UGH!

Okay, actually I am here with a camel, an elephant, and a horse.  They were guys on stilts representing the 3 Kings.  Apparently Mexicans celebrate another holiday in early January called 3 Kings Day (or something like that).  While they do celebrate Christmas & Christmas Eve, and they do exchange a few gifts, it is this 3 Kings day where they really go crazy with gift giving.  Kind of makes sense, no?

And here we are enjoying New Years Eve at El Jardin (where everything that's anything happens).  There was a band playing for like 45 minutes, with fireworks going off in between songs.  

Genevieve loves these huuuge spaklers.  They were like 3 or 4 feet long metal ones.  It was a fun night although we didn't stay up to midnight to ring in the new year.  It was freezing, we were not dressed-accordingly, and too late for a 6 year old who had school the next day.  

Tuesday ~ more fun in Mexico

Another great day here in San Miguel de Allende.  Getting up this morning was a bear.  Can't seem to get on the right time zone.  Genevieve is still awake again, and it's almost 10pm (but her body thinks it's 8pm).  You would think getting up at 7:30am (5:30am to our bodies) and all the walking we are doing would just make her pooped at night.  I get her in bed earlier and she just can't seem to sleep.  Unfortunately I am having the same problemo, but mine is no surprise since I have sleep "issues" in my normal life.

I'm not picking up the spanish as quickly as I had hoped.  Too many people know enough english around here that I can get by without making too much of an effort en espanol.  Kind of defeats the purpose, huh?  But when you are stumbling through your spanish and they clarify what you are saying in english, it's not very motivating.  It's not the case everywhere and with everyone, but the people here seem to be well-educated and have varying knowledge of the english language.

The coolest part about San Miguel is El Jardin, which I've mentioned before.  It's the town square where everything happens.  I love it.  On one side of the square is La Peroquia - huge gorgeous catholic church.  Today we got to see the festivities of a quincinerra taking place.  It was literally like a mini - wedding.  Heck, there was nothing mini about it.  There was a full on "bridal" party with girls in matching dresses, boys in tux's, and even a "groom",which I guess was her date.  There was no expense spared, let me tell you.  

I really love Main St in Pleasanton.  But it holds nothing to a town square.  I think every town should have one.  With little cafes and outdoor seating, a bank, a church, some restaurants, a little park in the middle. It's charming.

No real TIM moments today if you can believe that.  We've decided to walk most everywhere instead of the bus.  I didn't realize that the bus was only saving us a few blocks each way.  

More to write later.  I can only get one photo to upload.  It's of La Peroquia (not sure on spelling).  It's gorgeous at night when it's all lit up, as is the rest of El Jardin.

Adios for now!

Lunes- a good day

Can't get my photos uploaded tonight for some unknown reason, so this will be a picture-less post for now.

Our B&B hostess keeps asking what we want for breakfast each evening, but when I make suggestions she says "no".  So then I ask her what she makes and she answers eggs.  And huevos rancheros (um...eggs?).  So eggs it is.  One of the reasons I picked this place was because I read reviews what a phenominal cook she was, so I'm puzzled.  But TIM!

Today we got up at 7:30 (ouch) and got ready for school.  The school is great.  The people who run it are nice, the teachers are nice, they seem to really have it together.  They are definitely my information source for all my questions.  They take the kids on little field trips to the park, market, and so on.  They include field trips in the afternoon for the adults as well - market, walking tour, cooking lessons, dance lessons (um no) all included in the tuition cost.  

Genevieve is in school from 8:30 to 1:15.  I am in class from 9:00 to 11:00.  So that gives me a couple hours to do all the walking and window-shopping I want without boring Genevieve to death.  

I'm ashamed to say I had Subway for lunch today, but let me explain why.  I a=only had about 45 minutes to catch a bite before I had to go back to get Genevieve.  So I wanted something quick, cheap, and predictable.  I went back to the over-priced La Terazza because it was convenient, and I had seen someone order nachos the day before that looked yummy.  So I ordered the nachos and a drink.  It was 12:30.  However, I am told that they don't have nachos right now, but I can have chips & salsa, chips and guacamole....... so I ask "you have no cheese?", and the waiter answers oh no, they have cheese, but nachos are on the comida (lunch) menu and they are still serving from the desayuno (breakfast) menu, but you can have a quesadilla con queso (which is on the comida menu).  So they have chips.  And they have cheese.  But they can't make me nachos at 12:30pm because they are still serving breakfast.  But I am allowed to order a quesadilla from the lunch menu.  

Again. 

TIM.

So I went and got Subway =).

Genevieve made some friends in her class from Seattle.  The family is staying here for 3 months, taking in the culture and learning the language.  We had a play-date with them this afternoon.  Super nice people.

We came back home for a siesta.  Funny how I really need one here.  I don't sleep, but I do need the rest.  I guess I am doing quite a bit of walking around town.  

Lastly we went to an italiano restaurante for cena.  The food was pretty good, although Genevieve didn't agree (see a pattern here?).  But again she didn't complain, she was just "full" after a few bites.  

We finished the evening with a little shopping and homework.  We got a late start in the evening and it was 10:00 by the time G got to bed - oops.  Need to figure out our schedule a little better.  

Asta!

Sunday - a new day

We slept in until 11:00am.  Well, I did.  Genevieve got up with the alarm at 9:00, got herself dressed, then realized I wasn't going anywhere and she got back in bed with me.

With a full night's sleep, some daylight, San Miguel was looking much better to me.  

This is the inside or courtyard of where we are staying.  The big wall and metal door on the street is deceptive of what's inside.

I got dressed and we were getting ready to leave for the day.  Then the B&B owner used her key and came into our room without knocking.  Nice.  She apparently needed to get some towels from the closet in our room and thought we were gone.  A simple knock at the door would have told her otherwise.  But This Is Mexico - here on out referred to as "TIM".  

We jump on a bus because Genevieve wanted to ride one ever so badly.  I ask someone at the stop where the bus went, and thought I knew where I was going.  But the bus driver told me to get off somewhere else.  Apparently he didn't go where I thought (or was told) he went.  Our main goal for the day was to find Centro Bilingue -the language school we will attending tomorrow.  Just wanted to find it so we could get there on time at 8:30 monday morning.  

But once again we are starving.  We find a place at the Jardin (the town square) called La Terazza.  I have Genevieve excited about pancakes, but by the time the waiter actually comes to TAKE our order, they are done serving desayuno, and have moved on to the comida menu.   Apparently they stop serving breakfast at 1:00pm.  Who knew.  So we order 1 hamburgessa con queso, 1 order of papas fritas and 1 refresca naranja, (which G was pretty happy with), and the bill is $125 pesos!  That's $10 USD.  CrAzY.  It's freaking Mexico for crying out loud. 

Comida was done, it took like an hour and a half.  Service is slooooooooow here.  Especially for a woman and child.

We went and found the school.  It was closed since it's Sunday but at least we know where it's at.

Now for the fun part.  At the town square (La Jardin. Or El Jardin....I don't know), there was a clown putting on a performance for kids and families.  We sat down to watch.  We didn't understand a thing he was saying but he was apparently quite funny as everyone was laughing.  He had a good audience of about 150 people I would guess.  He then starts asking for volunteers.  4 boys, then 4 girls.  Genevieve (surprised me) and raised her hand and was picked.  As she goes with the clown I call out "no habla espanol!", so he would know.  

The clown lines up 4 pairs by height.  Each pair has a boy and a girl.  He then leads them in a version of "Simon Says". Genevieve doesn't understand his words, but follows her partner and teh ones around her.  He has them put their hand on their partners head.  Then on their partners shoulder.  The he has them go forehead to forehead.  Cheek to cheek.  Everyone is cracking up by now.  Nose to nose.  Chin to chin.  Then he speeds it up and has them do it all over again really fast, and the last thing he says is lips to lips.  Poor Geneveive doesn't even know what he said and gets lips planted on her.  The 2 older pairs balked at the last request, and were dismissed from the game.  The 2 younger pairs were declared the winners and given a prize.  

Genevieve later told me that she had fun, except at the end.  She said it was like they were getting married, but didn't get to pick who she married.  =)

(she's talking in her sleep as I type this).  

After that we did a lot of walking around.  We discovered Starbucks - which is sooo weird.

And finally hopped on another bus (which didn't really take me where I wanted to go), to come "home". The plan was to take a little rest and grab a late dinner, which is customary here.  But I was too tired to go back out, so we had a seriously healthy dinner of granola bars, cheese-its, and popcorn.  

I finished off the evening with ichatting Luke, and blogging =).

It's now midnight (10:00 CA time), and I need to hit the hay because the alarm will ring at 7:00 for the first day of school.  

Adios!

here we go

Okay, yesterday was a rough one.  Let me start at the beginning.  We had a 12:50am flight from San Francisco.  Yes, you read that right - 12:50 in the middle of the night.  So we get on the plane and someone is sitting in our window seat.  Genevieve says "I want to sit by the window", and Seat Stealer who obviously thinks he is sitting in the right seat, says she can sit there for take-off, but then he needs it back because "he needs to get some sleep".  I'm irritated, but don't say anything because he thinks he is being nice.  THEN, a lady comes down the isle and says we are in HER seat.  So I take out our boarding passes and show her that we are in the right row, and Seat Stealer takes his out and realized he in the wrong ROW.  So we get our window seat, although still didn't get much sleep.

3 hours of flight and we get to the Dallas airport where we are supposed to have a 3 hour lay-over.  It's torturous.  I'm exhausted and there's nowhere to rest.  All seats have arms on them so there is no laying down (think they did that on purpose?).  Comfort is not much better than on the plane.  And Genevieve was on an adrenaline high.  Oh, but it gets better.  The 3 hour layover turns into 5.5 hours, as there was a storm in Dallas, and teh plane we were supposed to take was delayed.  Longest 5 hours of my life.  Especially because they kept saying another 15 min.  or 30 min.  or 45 minutes.  Then we got hungry and didn't have enough time to go get food.  LAME.  

We hop on the next plane - which was a teeny tiny 40 seater.  I didn't know this.  I didn't like this. No sleeping on this 2.5 hour leg either. Ugh.  

Finally get to the airport where we see the transportation service holding our name.  Awesome.  But wait.  We can't leave now because we have to wait for another person coming on another plane in another 40 minutes.  So we go to find some crappy over-priced airport food, and use the ATM.  I accidentally took out 200 pesos (instead of dollars - hey I was tired!), and paid a 75 peso transaction fee to do so.  Then I found out that the airport ATM has bad exchange rates anyways and I should wait.  

We go back to meet our transporter, and find out that the extra passenger we waited for, wasn't there.  Great.  We could now start on our 1.5 hour drive to San Miguel.  I ask the driver if he can take me to an ATM (he doesn't undertsand) so I say "bank".  He tells me that they close at 4:00, and it is already 3:45 because we had to wait for imaginary passenger.  

The drive to San Miguel was uneventful.  Genevieve chose to play her Leapster instead of look out the wimdow.  But in all truth there wasn't much to see.  

We FINALLY get to the B&B on the edge of town a little after 5:00.  Driver unloads our bags and knocks on the door for us.  No answer.  He calls the number for the B&B.  No answer.  Me, almost in tears asks "but what do I do?".  To which driver shrugs and says "I don't know. Wait?" And I realize he is also saying "hey look lady, I got you from point A to point B,  you're not my problem ".  So we sit on the cobblestone sidewalk of a street lined with walls, doors, and garages.  I use every ounce of strength I have to not completely lose it.  The one tear that escaped was quickly brushed away as I tried to hold it together for Genevieve.  

I call Luke.  He's worried, but also helpless.  So we wait.  About 30 very long minutes pass, and just as panic was beginning to set in, a car pulls up and a man gets out.  I ask if he is staying here.  He says it's his mom's place and he let's me in.  Apparently the B&B owner went to the store.  In all fairness I should have called to say our plane was delayed.  But I never would have guessed that nobody would be there.  So we were in.  But not in our room, because the son didn't know which would be ours.

We were exhausted.  And getting hungry.  After we got settled, it was close to 7pm.  We are assured the town is VERY safe, then told of a restaurant in walking distance.  So we go.  And it's dark.  And creepy.  And I'm doing the exact thing I said I wouldn't do.  Out at night alone in the dark.  Tired, hungry, and waiting for the banditos to jump out of the bushes.  However all was uneventful.  Found the restaurant.  Food was pretty good.  Genevieve didn't agree, but didn't whine and complain at least.  Poor kid is going to starve here.

Get back "home" and settle in for the evening.  And just about cry myself to sleep, thinking what have I gotten us into?

blogging again!

I'm going to be on here a bunch in the next few days. You just wait and see.  

I'm in Mexico.  Just me and Genevieve.  

Details tomorrow.

I'm lonely.  And overwhelmed.  

It's weird not having another adult to rely on.

Trying to get some sleep.

Signing off for now.

Adios!

Putting this one off

This is a hard one.  I've been putting off writing this for 2 weeks.  It was a mommy moment I don't care to ever relive.  Although I'm sure I will in some form or fashion.

Zeke burned his hand.  Like really bad.  

The short and the long of it is that our kitchen was a little out of sorts because we had lost 90% of our power the day before.  The coffee pot was moved, the stool was left down, and Zeke was not in our sight.  On Friday morning (Halloween),  I was hanging with the older 2 kids in the living room trying to wake up, and Luke was walking out the front door when we heard the cry.  All mom's know that the pain cry is different than all other cries.  Luke ran back into the kitchen to see Zeke standing on the stool below the coffee pot.  His hand was red, but did not look horrible.  But I knew by the cry that it was bad.  Luke said I think he's going to be okay (nothing against dad's - Lord knows Luke is a great one, but they don't have mama bear instincts).  I grabbed Zeke, grabbed my keys and raced out the door to the urgent care clinic in town.  My poor baby did the pain cry the whole way there.  I did the mom of a baby in pain cry the whole way there too.  The doctors and nurses were great.  They gave him some Tylenol with Codeine for the pain.  I was hoping they would give me something too.  =)

But it didn't stop.

He cried.  I cried.

He cried more, I cried more.  

He didn't want to be in my arms, he didn't want me to put him down.  He couldn't be consoled.  He hurt.  

It was killing me. 

Finally they decided to give him more meds for the pain.  

While there, the redness of the burn got more intense, and then large white streaks appeared where the burn must have been most intense.  And a couple tiny blisters appeared.  By the way, the burn was on the back of his hand.  We think he grabbed the handle and pulled the coffee pot toward him and burned the back of his hand on the glass.

The nurse cleaned the burn and bandaged it up really well.  We got a prescription and went home.  And slept.

While on the pain meds he actually seemed to be doing quite well.  I had pictured Zeke and I having a quiet evening at home that night, but we decided to go ahead and stick with our plans to go to the Candy Zone at the church.

Here is our little stinker bandaged up.

We were given instructions to clean the burn every day and to redress it with fresh bandages.  I wasn't home the next day when Zeke took off his dressings, so Luke did it solo.  I was secretly glad, because I was really dreading looking at it.  Luke said that it didn't look too bad.

But the next day I didn't escape the duties.  

When we took off the dressing, I almost puked and passed out.  It looked awful.  The burn was bright red and the white areas had swollen and filled with what looked like fluid.  It just looked sooooo painful.  

That was the worst of it.  A few days later the swelling went down, and the skin looked melted on top with bits of raw flesh peaking out underneath.

The picture below is at the end of that stage - and not nearly the worst of it.  It was still gross, but looking so much better by then.  Thus the picture.  I couldn't bring myself to take a picture in the earlier stages. 

This last one is nearly 2 weeks later when it was really starting to heal.  You can't tell from the picture, but the new skin was still pretty raw.  It has only been the last 2 days where his skin is actually starting to look good.

Zeke was really a trooper.  After he got those 2 doses of pain meds he was great.  Much better than mommy.  I kept him on those for about 3 days, then he didn't seem to need it anymore.  The dressings hardly bothered him.  He hated that we would tape a plastic bag over his hand while he ate (to keep his bandages clean), but other than that, he acted like his normal self.  He became a "lefty" very quickly, and did just about everything with his left hand with no problem.

I am just so thankful that he is okay, and that the burns weren't worse than they were.  He could have poured scorching coffee all over his body just as easily.  I thank God that he did not.

This is just one more thing that makes me hold him a little tighter, and a little longer each day.

The End.  

Carving Time

The day before the big "H", the kids had fun carving away.  It's actually fun now that the kids can do their own pumpkins for the most part.  

I look at these pictures and I'm so torn.  Halloween is such a fun holiday for the kids.  It holds 3 of the most fun things you can do~

1.  Dressing Up

2.  Collecting candy.  Lot's of candy

3.  Stabbing large squash to create funny faces.  

What's not to love?

And it seems innocent enough.

The problem I have is the history of Halloween, and even what it still means to some today.  

Even though we are not participating in any kind of witch-craft or worshipping of spirits, I know that it is a significant day for people who do.  And just the fact that we are "celebrating" it in any way doesn't set well with me.

This year we went to the Candy Zone at our church.  Kind of a Halloween alternative.  Really a fun time for the kids.  But I still can't escape the fact that we are "celebrating" and partaking in a day laced with evil.  

So why don't we just NOT participate?  Well, part of it is that I don't want to be one of those parents.  And I want my kids to have fun.  And experience the excitement.  And I can't imagine not going to the pumpkin patch every year.

But really, those reasons don't appease my uneasiness.  I know that by even putting this in writing there will be those that think I'm nuts for making such a big deal of this.  And will already think I'm one of those parents.  But I'm just kind of working this out in my head, and using this blog to figure out my thoughts.  Not really sure what I'm going to do with this in the future.  Good thing I have 11 and a half months to figure it out.

Is this me?

I'm too lazy to post a real post, so instead I'm posting this.

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Intuition

You are: You are multilayered and complex. No one can quite understand you. You are very inspired and driven to achieve your goals. Whether you know it or not, you are a visionary with a complete life plan. You are intuitive enough to understand difficult problems, ideas, and people.

What's Your Personality Cluster?

Wondering of those who know me if you agree???? Don't be shy, leave a comment. Enquiring minds want to know....

It was frozen!

If you've been checking this blog, wondering when I was going to update it.  You should know that my blog was frozen in cyber-space.  I accidentally deleted my google account (Bloggers - NEVER do this to yourselves - learn from my mistake), and lost all access to my blogs.  This one stayed up (minus the pictures), but I couldn't access it.  My other blog came down completely.  After much research and agony, I thought they were gone forever.

THANKFULLY some of the Blogger Support Team at Google had mercy on me, and restored my account!  It took a lot of doing, and some persistence on my part, and the help of some friends (& strangers) for my case to get to the right people.  

So here I am.  I'm baaaaack.  And I have a few updates.  But no time right now.  So I will be back soon!

The First Noel, the Angel Did Say.....

Go check out the latest auction over HERE

Some pre-Halloween fun!

Genevieve's school put on a Jack O'Lantern Jamboree last week.  We had Dorothy from Wizard Of Oz, Batman, our Little Stinker and our Big Stinker....haha.

How cute are they?

Our Little Stinker got a treat!

Daddy, Grandpa & kids camping weekend

Luke and his dad took Genevieve & Dane to the Rubicon to go 4-wheeling and camping, leaving mommy at home with Zeke (ahhhhh the quiet!)

They had a great (albeit cold nights) weekend together, and got to do all the fun tent, campfire, dirt, hiking, shenanagans they could handle. 

We realized that with the comforts of our houseboat, we really were not so "into" the dirt camping so much anymore.  Luke and I used to camp ALL THE TIME.  And I loved it when we did.

Now?

Not so much. 

Maybe when the baby gets older.

Here is the Bronco - resurrected from her LONG nap.

And the boys enjoying the campfire

The Rubicon at it's finest

Having fun at camp

And enjoying the wilderness.

Okay, that was fun.

Now go check out the auction over HERE

It's over there ----->

The auction is UP over at "the other blog"

Super cute hand-made somethings you won't want to miss!

What are you waiting for....?  Go NOW! =)

www.callingforjustice.blogspot.com

Check it out

For some reason this blog gets twice the traffic as my WAY MORE IMPORTANT blog =)

So go check it out!

Go HERE

http://callingforjustice.blogspot.com/

On being "Luke's Wife"

Most of the time when I walk into a room, I get the "she looks familiar, but I don't know where from" look.   Or maybe just a blank stare, as there is no recollection what-so-ever.  I'm vanilla.  A Plain Jane.  Nothing stands out.  Nothing rememberable.  I'm not saying I'm ugly, just not memorable.  It's okay.  I've gotten used to it.  I guess it's better than being recognized by my big fat neck goiter or something, right? (No offense to anyone with neck goiters).  (And please don't feel the need to comment that I am NOT plain, or that I'm NOT vanilla.  I'm not fishing for compliments.  It's just fact.  My unscientific studies have proven it).

And then in walks Luke.  And people who have only met him like one time, like 20 years ago, instantly know who he is....and now they know who I am....."Luke's wife".  

These are actually not very becoming pictures of either of us, but one of the kids took them, and I thought they were interesting.  

Luke definitely has a unique look.  But I am not sure it is just that.  I think he has a personality that people are drawn to, and remember him because of it.  He was that kid in school that was popular but didn't even know it.  He was "cool" without even trying.  (If any CVHS alumni are reading this and disagree - feel free to post!  Maybe I've got my perceptions wrong).

So yesterday I'm at a birthday party sans Luke, and halfway through the party I get the "hey you're Luke's wife, right?" from the brother of my friend (who is the host) and who I knew before he even knew Luke.  And what I wanted to say was "Yah.  I'm the wife of the guy you ONLY know through your sister, through ME.  That's me.  His wife."  

Now "friend" if you are reading this, don't feel bad about your brother.  It happens all the time, this just happened to be the most recent, thus the focus of my random post.

We had a joke awhile back where he would call me "Mrs. Luke".  It was from some movie, can't remember which one.  It always prevoked a serious eye-roll.  Who knew how true it was?

This my friends, is what it's like to be Luke's Wife.

Mr & Mrs Luke

Cheesy Pumpkin Patch

We tried out a new pumpkin patch last weekend - the one at the fairgrounds.  Let's just say that my kids now equate pumpkin patches with (over-priced) rides and jumpy houses.  Still, it was a good time.  We met some (relatively new) friends Chris, Shauna & Isaiah there (& Isaiah's grandparents).  

I love this picture because it captures Zeke and the infamous "pointy finger".  He points all day long at everything he sees.  It's adorable.

Genevieve enjoying a $3 ride on the carousel....

catching a ride....

and a video of Zeke walking, because I love the toddler walk -it never gets old

Been feeling crafty

I've been busy!  I made this little crayon holder for my niece Paige for her 4th birthday.  It holds those little mini Crayola Twistables (which I love, because they don't break!)

I also made her a little coloring book

And here is my fancy-shmancy cam-corder strap.  Why I felt the need to doll it up...I don't know.  It's the small things in life sometimes...

Guaranteed I will be able to recognize it if it's ever lost in a sea of other cam-corders!  But who am I joking.  I don't take this thing anywhere anymore.  That ended with the arrival of kids numbers 2 & 3.  Ha!  I'm pretty sure by doing this I have ended the chance of Luke ever carrying this in public.  I guess I could have picked something a little more manly than strawberries...

I also made our friends daughter a dress for her 2nd birthday.  Completely forgot to take a picture of it though.  I'm going to have to see if I can still do that.  I'll post when I get one.

Blog Auction

Please check out the blog auction over here.

Thanks!

So cute I had to share

Gosh, it's been like 3 months now, but I kept forgetting to share.  I ordered a custom canvas piece for Genevieve's room.  I "met" a gal from an online forum (the Diaper Pin), and when I saw her website I fell in love with her work.  We talked about what I envisioned, and I waited anxiously for the finished product.  I was really nervous because I have never done anything like this before.  Would I like it?  Would it be what I expected?  Would it be good quality?

And all I can say is WOW.  When I opened the box I was blown away.  The details in the artwork are truly amazing.  The piece looks perfect in Genevieve's room above her bed.  Annie from Penny Pickles is truly gifted.  The bummer is that pictures don't do her work justice.  The fine details are what make her work stand out, and a photo just doesn't capture it.

Our little walker

Please ignore my annoying high-pitched voice =)

A new skirt

I decided to take some of my material scraps and make G a new skirt. No real pattern involved, just a brown paper bag I cut in the shape of the panels, some scissors, and an idea! I made it like a rag quilt, with the seams on the outside that I cut into fringe. 

She loved that it was so colorful, and that it was unique to her!

Twain Harte with the Fam

Fun times at Twain Harte Lake

Zeke is getting to be such a big boy.  

Our little blondie.  This summer Dane's hair got really blonde since we didn't cut it.

Genevieve & Dane playing on a makeshift wooden surfboard.

Zeke & Uncle Scott.  Scott moved back to CA from NY a few months ago.  We look forward to spending more time with him on fun weekends like these.