It's crazy hair day!

Thankfully I found the hairspray just in the nick of time!

Casualties of Nursing

It took about two seconds for me to realize that Evan missed the food supply by about ten inches last night. At first I thought there was a 20 pound piranha on my neck. Then I woke up and realized Evan was apparently a little bit hungry.



It's much more obvious in person...the flash on my camera really washed it out. This morning Rollin said, "Mom, you've got a big red stain on your neck."

Please refrain from judging me when you see me around town this afternoon :)

Tennis

One of my goals this year was to get back on the tennis court. It's not like it's a chore, I love the game, but for whatever reason, I haven't found something that works for me since we've been in Washington. And there's always that nursing baby. I got a taste of league play in college and it was interesting...right Erin? Lots of has-beens taking things way to serious! But it was fun, and a little competition is good.

Well, the year is winding down so I figured now or never. I worked with the kids all summer, and now Sela and Nina are taking lessons and I think they're getting hooked (which was the plan). But it's October, and I haven't done anything tennis related for myself, other than serve one bucket of balls last week. So on Saturday after watching Sela's lesson, I just went in and signed up for a clinic on Tuesday nights. The only description on the paperwork was "advanced." And if I'm not advanced by now then something's seriously wrong.

Well I showed up tonight not expecting much of a workout...even wore my running shoes because I was in too much of a hurry to find my tennis shoes. I walked over to the court and started to wonder if I had the wrong night. Which happens more than I'd like to admit lately. Anyway, it turns out the class is me and three middle aged men. Now, I'm a base-liner and a singles player. And my guess is most of these guys play doubles and like to serve and volley. So it was like playing against my Dad. We even did a slice drill. I don't usually slice my backhand so that was interesting to say the least. I was rusty but it was very fun and a great workout. We ran a lot doing drills. The guys were very nice and funny and welcoming. We all won our fair share of points. I wanted to win more, of course! But it will come. I wish I had someone to just hit with a couple of times so I could find my rhythm again. But this is a start and I thoroughly enjoyed it! (And I did ace the coach once...hee hee)

Fall is lovely

I just looked at the forecast for next week and it's thoroughly depressing. We've had some incredible weather over the past month and this time of year the natural beauty around here is truly breathtaking. I'm going to focus on the positive and pretend there aren't five days of drizzle headed our way. Here are some of the things we've been enjoying about autumn.


This Japanese Maple sits right by the front gate...my favorite colors all in one tree.

A few of the gourds, squash, and pumpkins the kids grew became a centerpiece for our table.

Japanese Maples are positively my favorite trees.

Sela and Nina harvested the pumpkins this weekend.

I went to a cooking class last week and my friend Britney made this wonderful pesto without cheese or nuts....just fresh parsley, oregano, olive oil, garlic and salt. I've made it twice since then with the herbs from my garden. AMAZING!

The slow cooker is a permanent fixture on the counter. We had white bean hominy soup today. Zig adorned his with some fresh tomatillos from the garden.

Our anniversary is this month. It's been 10 years :) 4 moves. 4 kids. Not enough sleep. Tons of fun and many wonderful memories.

We've had some absolutely perfect weather this week. Sunny and cool. Evan took a nap in the garden.

I'm on a navy kick right now and I love this dress I found for Nina....Mom, I think I need one in my size...care to dust off the old sewing machine??


We like to pretend Evan can sit up.

This has nothing to do with fall, but I needed a picture of Rollin. He's still my little huggie bear!

Go Sela Go!

Sela said she was nervous all day about the cross country meet this afternoon, but she walked away with another win! She must have channeled all that nervous energy.It's so funny, I had no idea she was such a good runner. These meets are so much fun and all the kids have such a great time. Rollin and Nina enjoy playing on the playgrounds of all the different elementary schools and Evan is pretty content just watching all the action. He gets passed around quite a bit too. Unfortunately, Zig was in San Fran today so we had to cheer extra loud to make up for his absence.

After the meet, we came home and had lentil sloppy joes and then off to Theno's for some pumpkin ice cream!


Ready, Set, GO!

Through the schoolyard

Through the parking lot

Finishing back at the field.

With all the commotion, Evan fell asleep.

Little Miss Responsible

Every day for the past six months, Nina has made her bed before leaving her room in the morning. She hasn't missed even one day. One evening before tucking her in, I told her she didn't need to make the bed in the morning because I was going to be washing her sheets. She looked at me and said "I just have to, Mom. It's my habit."

And she doesn't just throw it together, oh no. She is very proud of her "no bumps" method. The bed looks perfect, just like I would make it.

Now Nina is also very particular about how she positions the covers at night when she gets into bed. She is careful to keep them pretty much tucked in so her job is easy in the morning. The babysitter got in trouble one night when she pulled her covers back a little too much ;)

Another part of her morning routine is getting dressed before coming to breakfast. Nina is also a pro at this one...always laying out her clothing for the following day the night before. And she has a trick to make this morning task quicker as well. She discovered she could do without the nightgown and instead use her pink blankie to cuddle up in. This way she is able to avoid putting away pajamas in the morning. We'll see how she does in the winter with this one!


Nina's great example has even rubbed off on Sela lately and most days both beds are now made without any nagging from Mom. This I love.

Five Months

And this here is why my to-do list remains largely undone:



Evan is growing much too fast and I am savoring every moment. Words can't express the level of adoration I have for this little angel.



Sucking pointer finger and playing with his toes are his favorite things to do.


I love you, baby boy.