Happy Birthday Jonesie!

We had a surprise visit from Jonesie last week. I didn't tell the kids he was coming so when he opened the door as they got home from school there they were stunned and then thrilled.

Today is Jonesie's  60th birthday! We are wishing him a great day from afar and can't wait to celebrate with him in just a few days. Jonesie is the best grandpa two kidlets could possibly wish for.

pinkalicious

Ems and her girlfriend M went to see Oregon Children's Theater's Pinkalicious over the weekend. They got totally decked out in pink, of course. The play was followed by cupcakes. It was the ultimate girlie outing!

happy halloween

My sweet nerd and pretty Belle had a great Halloween. They ran from house to house as if their lives depended on it. At the end of the night, they counted up their candy - E had 101 pieces and Em had 100!

can't resist a leaf pile

happy birthday grandpa!

Ev and Em's grandpa always gets the short stick having his birthday on Halloween. So we like to celebrate with the family a day or two in advance. This year we made a killer carrot cake!

October dahlias

October is the most spectacular month for dahlias in Oregon. Check these out from the Gorge White House. So lovely!

fruit loop fun

We hit the Fruit Loop south of Hood River last weekend. We love to stop at the orchards and stock up on apples, pear juice, and pumpkin butter. This year we found a place where you can cut your own table grapes. Yum! They were tiny and delicious! We are still nibbling them.

The fruit loop is so beautiful with rolling hills, miles of orchards, and pretty misty fog the morning we visited. Fruit loop forever!

spending time on the ipad

Having access to an itouch, iphone, and iPad means there is always a way to fill time. My latest favorite app is Instagram - super fun way to play around with pictures.

4 little pixies

By shear luck, we have four little four year-olds on our street - little pixies that like to run around together. I'm so happy for Ems to have these sweet friends so close by.

fall porch

The best part about our new porch, besides having an outdoor room to hang out in, is the possibilities around decorating. This weekend I put together the fall scene - haybale, corn stacks, pretty grass, pumpkins, flowers, gourds, and even a gravestone or two. Such fun!

living large at the pumpkin patch

We have a fall to-do list that includes fun things like make carmel apples, have a photoshoot in a leaf pile, drink fancy coffee drinks, etc. This past weekend we checked a bunch off the list - corn maze, pumpkin patch, hayride, and decorate with pumpkins. And though it's hard to admit, the corn maze beat us. We couldn't find the true end and skipped out through another entrance. Maybe next year.

sleepover

Em's had her first sleepover with best friend Margaret. They played and played and cuddled into bed. Em's said, "Actually, at sleepovers you are supposed to stay up all night." When I told her that was for when you are older, Margaret piped up, "Yeah, like 16." So they followed their 4 year-olds' need to sleep and were out by 9:30pm. Em would like Margaret to stay over every night now.

soccer!

Soccer fever has taken over our house. After one bad preschool soccer class, E never wanted to try it out again. But his good buddy J is a soccer star and convinced him to give it a try. And he LOVES it! In fact, our whole house really loves soccer - fall mornings with coffee, super talented boys, and E's natural ability to boot the ball way down the field makes us all soccer crazy.

pinterest

If you are ever wondering how I am spending my time, you've got a good chance at being right if you guess that I am on pinterest.com cultivating my pinboards. If you haven't been on pinterest, I have to warn you - it's incredibly addicting AND satisfying. Check out my boards here.

http://pinterest.com/pdxkatie/

first day of third grade

back blogging to capture E's first day of third grade. Nana and Jonesie extended their trip to stay for his first day. We had to scale back so there wasn't five people accompanying him to class on the first day! I'm very excited for E's year - third grade starts the shift from learning to read to reading to learn. They get to study some pretty academic subjects and gets to try out Battle of the Books for the first time. Go E!

hello kitty

To celebrate all that is kitty, I made Emme a new Hello Kitty hat. She is never enthusiastic about my knitting projects for her, but this one earned her interest.

ol' john dory

At the beach this year, we discovered an old pirate map in the beach house we rented. It was the map of Ol' John Dory who buried his treasure at Cape Kiwanda.  The kids followed the trail to some happy results.