Happy Boys, Happy Graduate, and Happy Halloween!

(Wow, this is way further back than I realized. Time flies. I think that shirt is too small for Thad now.)  One summer afternoon I was babysitting the boys and decided to take them to the Imagine! Museum here in Everett. It's a children's museum similar to the Discovery center in Boise, but a little more play-focused. It was really tough work handling two boys on my own! Being the cool aunt was easier when I wasn't outnumbered. But I think we all had fun. Thad was really serious and focused, if I recall correctly, and I think I do. This picture corroborates my story.

Ira was so small a few months ago! I can't believe he used to be this cautious. Now he tries to go down the stairs headfirst. 

Contractor Thad, seriously studying some blueprints. Or perhaps thinking about some architecture. (Sometimes when we drive around old neighborhoods, I will point out different houses I like for this reason or that reason. Thad will usually patiently endure my forced conversations, and will sometimes play along with me. Once he told me, "I like the spiral on that house but I don't think the color matches at ALL." He's so sweet and full of surprises. 

Exotic Animal Clinic Vet. 

Chubby baby with a helmet. And he really needs one. Seriously. 

He's happy and he makes everyone happy! 

Flash forward: Speaking of happy, Milly's graduation in September was the happiest occasion. I am so proud to be the last sister without a degree and/or career. Haha. Love you guys. And we missed our Mar and Sawyer, but this was a busy and full gathering! Not pictured: the dogs, who spent the entire weekend with us, chilling in the truck when required. 

I took Thad to the State Fair. I had been promising him we could go for weeks, so I finally had to make good on my promise and off we went. He was pretty excited about the cotton candy. 

It was actually really nice to spend the day with him and watch him get excited about going on the rides, and watch him wiggle in line when we waited for treats or games. He is such an awesome kid and really my best pal. I love living closer to him, even if 7 is a trying age for all of us. I need to remember sweet things about him sometimes. 

Originally, I was going to use felt to make the Halloween baskets, but that project went awry when Daisy chewed up the plastic mesh I was using as a frame. Toffee decided to offer his help by keeping the felt safe and warm. 

And I dressed up as a "witch" with some black clothes from my closet, a pointed black hat, and some cheap red hair dye. Why the red? I have no idea. I thought it would be fun and festive, or something. Between the Seattle drizzle and the rim of my hat rubbing my forehead, I was left with a lovely red stain by the end of the night. 

A Big Panoramic Picture of a Pumpkin Patch

Alyssa's mother (Jan) came to visit them at the beginning of October. Over the weekend we went to a pumpkin patch, a Michigander tradition! It was with great dread we discovered that the pumpkin patches in the outer farmland of Seattle are insanely popular around here and therefore, super busy. And since we came a little later in the season, the fields were really picked over. Crowded+pitiful produce=cranky visitors. We booked it out of there pretty quickly. It was pretty scenic though. I wish I'd had a better camera with me. 

I'm Blogging Again and it's Very 2009

As the title says. Please give feedback on the size of pictures and ease of viewing. This is primarily a newsletter for my loved ones far away, so I want to be sure it's good!

Hopefully I can write some more in-depth accounts in the next few weeks (how very Laura Ingalls Wilder of me). For now, I'm just going to try and post an overview of life in Seattle with Rena, Toffee, and Daisy!

Love, 

Lorena

Ira is such a mover and a climber and an adventurer. This was an old boat anchor dock tie-off (or some similar large iron contraption) and since it's outside in Seattle, it's covered in bird poo and maybe some algae. So of course, Ira was drawn to it.

I guess we could call this my "school photo" for the year. I know Grandpa will appreciate this. Tell him to call me if he wants a printed copy ;) My hair is a little shorter than the last time I saw most of you, but I'm mostly the same! 

A beautiful garden planter of "succulents" (I think). This type of plant is very popular up here in the Pacific Northwest, which I find interesting because we have plenty of water; this isn't the desert with cactus and other hardy growing things! But there's not a lot of sun, which I guess to a plant is a type of harsh growing condition. 

Ira at the botanical garden. Just such a beautiful, curious boy. Sometimes he is gentle, like this moment when he was inspecting the daisies. But mostly he tore through the botanical garden like the rabid monkey he is.

This large old building with a gorgeous stone and wood and glass entrance made a great backdrop for that climbing mountain goat over there in the corner. 

I have replaced the old area rug with something softer, and I have even purchased a new lamp for that dark corner, but I have yet to put up real curtains on the windows. Any suggestions? 

Daisy certainly loves her cozy nesting spots. 

Even with the dismal fall skies, the view from my living room window is pretty lovely. 

I made these buckets to go with Thad and Ira's Halloween costumes. The buckets are "walking cartoon bombs" that Mario and Luigi sometimes carry around in the game. Of course, the bigger one is Thad's ;)

Toffee would like to model our other area rug for you. This one is strategically placed between the kitchen and living room. It's a pretty ugly shag carpet, but the warmth and coziness make up for its appearance. You can really feel the cold wind blowing in from the water these days, especially on my bare wooden floors. So we love our rugs around here. 

Just Daisy being cute. I take way too many pictures of the dogs. And I buy them way too many toys (the dragon, by the way, is amazingly unharmed despite the danger posed to it in this scene).