Friday, October 30, 2009

Halloween Carnival

Junction Elementary's biggest fund raiser is the Halloween carnival and raffle. Here are some pictures of the big event. Taylor just won a cake at the cake walk and she's choosing a cake. The "cake" I made (brownies with orange-colored mint frosting) looked so bad that it was the very last one on the table.
This one makes me laugh because even though it's a bad picture of Peter, his half-opened eyes fit the costume.

We were late for the carnival and Peter and I were supposed to be at two separate booths. I threw on some clothes I don't usually wear and didn't look in the mirror. I left the face-painting up to the face-painting booth and was pleased with Lauryn's face. I didn't get around to making cat ears for her headband but they took care of that for me by putting the ears on her forehead.
Oh boy! Taylor just won a gold fish...and now it's floating in a big mason jar on top of the fridge. If it survives that we'll put it in the pond someday.

Row Row Row Your Boat

Our friend Jeanne sent her dad and his bride up here for a fishing trip. Peter took them out on the river one day and they went with Doug the next. I can't figure out how to upload video on facebook so I'm posting it here. It's cute. It's amazing to me how busy the fishing season has been. Both Doug and Peter have been on the river for the last week straight.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Company

I'm glad my mom takes pictures or I'd have nothing for my blogs. I just posted more pictures on my running blog.
Bren and Neil came up to Mom and Dad's for a weekend and the four of them came down to check out our new place and go for a hike. Cypress, the girl next to Bren, lives just across the highway from us with her fiance. She and Bren have been friends for about four years, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with her.Neil carried Lauryn in the backpack on the hike. Instead of falling asleep like I'd hoped, she kept talking and talking. Neil answered all of her questions and kept her entertained.


Our kittens are getting bigger.
This cat looked so relaxed until I took it's picture. The camera flash seemed to shoot it into the air.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Tay: My Nickname Delima

Everybody at Taylor's school, including her teachers, call her Tay. I'm not sure why it bothers me. Maybe it's because a second grade student started it; it would be different if it were a nickname that we started at home. I can't figure out if it bothers Taylor or not. I'll ask her about it and one day she says she likes it and another day she says she doesn't. I realize that if I don't say something to stop it, she will be Tay for at least the rest of her education in this area, which may last through high school. Neither Peter nor I had nicknames so this is unfamiliar territory. Any suggestions or insights?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Odds and Ends

We went out to the coast again last weekend for Peter to take the CBEST test so that he can be a substitute teacher. From attorney to sub...that's funny. It was another beautiful day. Our friend Zan watched the girls while I did my run on a trail along the coastline. Then we took the kids to the park to play. This is the only good picture I got but I thought it was cute. This picture makes our deck look dirty, but I wanted to show the "cat condo" that we constructed for our kittens. It's basically a big shelf with a carpeted two-by-four that they climb up and down.

Harvesting pumpkins is fun...


or miserable?
Taylor and I were out on the deck today reading when we witnessed a new friendship forming between Sakari, our dog, and Trinity, my favorite of our five kittens. They played together for quite a while:

Monday, October 5, 2009

Got (Goat's) Milk?

Taylor's school has been doing a unit on farms and has taken a fieldtrip every week to a new farm. Peter and I have chaperoned the last two and it has been neat to see other farms in the area. Today we got to feed, and pet goats. Then we got to taste fresh goat's milk and make goat cheese. A lot of the kids liked the milk. I watched Taylor's face to see if she'd like it too. After a sip her face got really concerned as if to say, "Do I have to drink all of this?" She then offered me the cup and I knew she didn't care for it. (I was glad she didn't gag or spit it out or say something rude.) Lauryn and I had a taste. I agreed with Taylor but Lauryn loved it. "Dis is willwe yummy!" she exclaimed and then she downed it, barely coming up for air. I asked Peter if she'd eaten lunch because she seemed so ravenous about the milk. She had. She wasn't so crazy about the cheese however. It came right back out of her mouth and I had to take her outside before she spit it on the floor.