fairies and dragons

stella and sammy were fairies for halloween - too cute! this was the 1st time for either of them to go trick or treating - and we did it in mill valley in aidan's neighborhood... the girls loved it! stella and aidan were leading the charge, baby ty was chillin in his adorable outfit with daddy (who wore a disturbing mask, I might add), and sammy was so into it, I couldn't believe how she just watched stella and aidan once and then marched right up and into the homes we stopped at! she'd grab a candy (or 3) from the basket of whoever was doling out the goodies, and put it in her pumpkin bucket and then walk away, down the sidewalk, as if to tell us to "get a move on, there are more houses to visit!"

then we had pizza and cupcakes for dinner and aidan and stella helped pass out candies to the older kids who rang the landers' bell...

the great pumpkin patch adventure

before the trick or treating and costumes and candy there was a stop off at the pumpkin patch - stella, aidan, sammy, and baby ty weren't really interested in picking pumpkins once they got a look at the jumpy house - THAT is where the party is at, apparently.. and it was NOT easy getting them to leave. in fact, i believe it took promises of pizza, halloween candy, and dress up to make it happen!

mad cows & krazy kats

each year, the girls' school does an "imagination parade" - aka "halloween parade".. but we live in SF, and we are very cognizant of different cultures and open minds, so we call this day "imagination day", rather than "halloween" - either way, it's cute! each class dressed up like an animal, since this year's theme was farmer in the dell... stella's sea homebase was a bunch of krazy kats - complete with whiskers and a nice tail, and ears... sammy's lake homebase was a bunch of cows, complete with udders (rubber gloves full of pom poms) and horns and shirts painted brown.

parents lined up to hear them sing a song and the obligatory photo op - then all the kids, teachers, and parents walked around the block in downtown SF.

sammy wasn't really a big fan of the whole thing -sucked her thumb and took it all in mainly. initially stella wasn't sure about it either, but she got into it after a while of holding hands and marching with her best buds franny & aidan, and then she didn't want to wash her whiskers off... ever...

spooky photo shoot

before school on halloween... stella commandeered my "costume" (which consisted of these sassy cat glasses and black shirt/pants) and decided to pose for me - here are a few of my favorites...

gone fishin' (& campin')

in late september we went up north near magnificent mount shasta to visit grandma and grandpa! we camped out for the weekend on their land - hanging on the hammock, stella playing with the kittens, enjoying the hot tub, and just enjoying each other.

While there, we went to lovely lake shasta and went out on the patio boat. stella enjoyed her first try at fishing... even though she didn't catch anything, I think she enjoyed her kickin' dora fishing pole and learning the ropes from grandpa and daddy. meanwhile, sammy took a LONG nap and seemed completely peaceful on the boat, with a breeze blowing across her. Stella was a good sport about wearing her life jacket and even jumped into the water to cool off when it got hot in the afternoon! both girls really enjoyed helping grandpa drive the boat.

we had a great time and can't wait for next year's visit!

that's SO silly!

stella loves to make "silly" and cheesy faces (see above) and tell us how we're silly. my favorite schtick is that when you ask her how she got so silly, she says, "daddy made me silly!"...

today stella and I went for a pedicure... it's quite fun to bring her - she's not really into sticking her feet in the "fancy water" with lemons and peppermint, where the lady works on my toes and feet. but she got hers painted this time with polish and was quite impressed! maybe next time she'll get them done like i do - she's concerned about how it will tickle... smart girl, that STILL drives me crazy!

anyway, near the end, a lady walked in with her little dog and stella said, "mommy! that is SOOO silly! doggies don't get pedicures!"... it was so profound, and yet hilarious!

sleepovers ALREADY!

stella's best girlfriend, franny, lives just down the street from us.. and her parents are great, so charlie and i couldn't be happier that the girls have become so close. they are in school all day together and then always want to come over to each others' homes after school and on the weekends. we've got a deal with franny's parents where one saturday each month franny comes to sleepover with us, and stella and franny have a blast hanging out, and sammy LOVES to follow them around and gets so pleased when the bigger girls let her play with them (aka be their baby or patient while they shove play food her her mouth and make her wear silly hats and push her in the stroller!). then another saturday each month, stella & sammy go over to franny's house and the party ensues there. this is a great treat for the parents, as we each get to have a date night for mommy & daddy while the girls are sleeping over!

the interesting part is that stella and sammy spend half their time having a blast and loving each other and taking pretend trips so they can "go to san diego" - and they spend the rest of the time fighting with each other and saying "i need space" and not wanting to share their toys.

good times - can't wait to see how this evolves when they are teens!

can u feel the love?

they are really having fun with each other these days - sammy has a personality and loves stella. and stella loves to help sammy out. they make each other giggle, and piss each other off. i take it all - it's too damn cute.

stella's language - continued

another one I find hilarious is how she says, "mommy, i didn't have an askident!"... aka -- she is a big girl and goes pee pee in the potty and doesn't have ACCIDENTS in her panties!

also, when I get a headache, she says "do you need to go to the hopsital?"... breaks my heart, cuz she still remembers what happened almost a year ago when I had major issues with my head and was in the hospital. but it's also cute - that one we've been working on, so now she usually has it mastered and can say "hospital".

she really loves to sing, "raindrops on roses" song over and over and over lately - good times. but the funny part is when she gets to "I simply remember my FAVORITE things, and then I don't feel soooo sad" - but she says " I simpally..." with the emphasis on the simPAAAAly remmber...

big sur fun!

this weekend mommy & the girls went for a little roadtrip, down the coast to big sur, california. it was so beautiful! we stayed at the treebones resort, which is a remote location in the mountains right at the ocean - with yurts for accomodations. yurts are huge round tents that are kind of "permanent"... they have electricity, water in a sink, beds, fireplace, hardwood floors, and a lovely deck overlooking the ocean and the woods.

it was a great little adventure for the 3 of us (while daddy was at home working on that bathroom remodel, again!) - we hiked and swam and relaxed. each morning we got to have "do it yourself waffles" - which the girls really dug - and the most delicious homemade granola!

welcome baby connor!!!!

ryan and lacey had their sweet little boy early wednesday morning.. he was a healthy little guy and we are SOOO excited for them! I can't wait to meet him later this month when I travel to Ohio for work.

CONGRATS on your little cutie!