Thanksgiving

LT gets a baby ...

BROTHER! He's just going to be so excited. He was already convinced it was a boy baby. It's his baby, he tells us. I asked if he was going to help change diapers and he said, "Yes, but I can't reach the table!"

Gingerbread House!

LT really wanted to make a gingerbread house last weekend, so I did what any mom would do: go to allrecipes.com and search for 5 star gingerbread and frosting recipes. Then a trip to Sur La Table for essential cutters and decorating gun.

Beginning!


Decorating!

And the best part, eating!


It turns out that this is a good use of Halloween candy. The rest has been hidden in my closet and has been forgotten for the past week, so it's probably about time to toss it. Once the parents raid their favorites, of course.

Christmas List

LT made up his Christmas Wish List. He insists it is not a Christmas List, just a Play List, since really he would like these toys at any time for any reason. It was tough, though, trying to fit every single toy in the ad on to his paper.



Note: it's hard to get a real smile and not a silly "cheese" grin.

Halloween Fun

Ugh. Our computer is not working very well, but finally here are the Halloween night pictures.

A confident Trick-or-Treater, flashlight in hand.


The Candy Train.


I think he got a few more candies than cousin JT. LT has never met a candy he didn't like. Except, maybe the gummy eyeball. He didn't try that one. We will be doling out 2 candies a day for the rest of the year, it looks like.

Pumpkins!

BLTSr. did a great job carving our pumpkins up! LT and I were in charge of gutting the pumpkins, although LT refused get his hand icky, and then roasting the seeds. I'm just so impressed with the way the pumpkins turned out!



LT had his first earthquake tonight. It was very scary. We were laying down to go to sleep when everything started shaking. I grabbed him and we went in a doorway. BLTSr. was at an ultimate game. We went outside afterwards to make sure the pumpkins were still standing (not catching anything on fire) and there were some other neighbors outside, too. I didn't have my glasses on, so I couldn't really tell what they were doing other than asking if everyone was okay. Being a bit nerdy, I immediately went online to check out the US Geological Survey and saw it was a 5.6. That's the biggest since I've lived in the area ... 7+ years. We were fine and everything seemed fine, so after calling Daddy to tell him we were fine (LT told him that it went "boom boom"), LT went back to sleep.

Speaking of LT, he has been a very helpful raker. Here he is in action!





** In case you are wondering why the posts are few and far between these days, it's because I keep falling asleep at the same time as LT every night. That doesn't leave much time for anything outside the essentials. :D

Mr. Conductor

I think this is probably LT's favorite birthday present. He likes everything, though!

It has tickets, a whistle, a wrench, a stop watch, even a walkie talkie!

Run, Run, As Fast as You Can!

Moonica!


The King & Queen of Halloween!


Is that Gingerbread hat giving an extra inch?


With the winner of the pumpkin weigh off! 1300+lbs.


Even Gingerbread Men have to go potty sometimes.

Drummer Boy

Uh oh

Guess the Costume

Can you guess what this Halloween costume is? Prize for the first correct guess! Except for Auntie C because I told her what it was...



Still missing a few finishing details and the all important hood!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to LT!

I took LT to the mall to get his picture taken in honor of the momentous 3rd birthday. He also picked out a new outfit for Kitty (Kitty is now a firefighter) and we had his favorite dinner of crepes. Turkey Pesto for the main meal followed by Strawberry, Banana & Chocolate for dessert. Then we came home and he finished opening presents. He is currently pulling the circus train cars behind an actual Thomas the Train car and has already played 2 different games just tonight. He couldn't be more excited!

His party on Saturday was a lot of fun, if a little crazy. It ended up raining and raining here, so we had it inside. 10 kids is a lot for inside, but they seemed to all have a really good time.

Bubblicious

LT & Mommy had lots of fun at the Kidz Zeum yesterday. We even took the train downtown for extra fun. It was hardly crowded at all, so LT got to take lots of turns at everything. His favorites were the bubbles and the waterworks area. He got soaked even though he was wearing a smock. He was having so much fun he didn't want to leave the water are to go to the bathroom, so he was running around in circles at one point. Finally he realized he had to go Right Then.

What does that shirt say?

Grape Farm

We had a nice Labor Day weekend in Santa Barbara. We went to some grape farms (also known as "wineries" to those readers over 21). We went to the Santa Barbara zoo, we went to the Natural History musuem, we went to the beach ... busy, busy! LT had a great time with Auntie B and Uncle V. They were great fun!



In case you are wondering, he did not have to go to the bathroom when I took this picture. He just likes to "hold it," so I try and remind him that we only hold it when we have to go to the bathroom. He got a little mixed up the first time we told him to "hold it" and has been "holding it" ever since.

Video 101

Lesson 1. Do not turn the camera vertical while taking a movie clip. Oh well! It's still cute.

Tummy

Beach Excitement

We went to Natural Bridges State Beach on Saturday as a change of pace from our usual beach. This is right next to the park where the monarch butterflies migrate through in the winter. It is a really beautiful beach. Natural bridge seems a bit of an overstatement since it doesn't actually go anywhere. Natural bridge to nowhere?





But let's be honest, this was the big attraction on Saturday. The dead sea lion:

We weren't the only ones taking pictures.

We followed up the beach with a trip to the boardwalk. A nice family gave us the rest of their ride tickets as they were leaving, so LT was able to enjoy two rides. The last time we were there a couple gave LT all their prize tickets from the arcade. We just keep running into nice people!

He's a very serious boat driver here:

Little Runner

We're trying to get back into the habit of running. We told LT that we were going to go for a run. He ran into his room and got this outfit out. "Here's my running clothes, Mama." Then we stretched out on the porch. Then he refused to get in the jogging stroller. Oh no, he was running, too! He must have gone at least a quarter of a mile before we talked him into the stroller so we could get at least some faster running in.

The running idea has been postponed indefinitely.

County Fair

The weekend before last was the County Fair. I was very surprised to find out that our county has a whole 4H competition complete with pigs, cows, goats, all kind of livestock! We even watched part of the auction for the pigs and cows. LT enjoyed all the typical fair things - food on a stick, pony rides, and meeting the state troopers.

It turns out this was probably the last Santa Clara County Fair. They haven't turned a profit in years and needed 90,000 attendees to break even. They only got about 40,000 they said. The end of an era, I suppose.

A Study in Dry Erase

Here the artist details his work.

1. A Snail. With legs.


2. A Stingray with a Long Tongue, as pointed out by the artist.


3. A Pokey Meany Fish.


4. The artist working on a canvas.


5. A Porcupine with 5 Legs.

Barry Bonds Jr

We've created a baseball monster. It all started with an innocent trip to an A's game a few weeks back. Now he goes around singing "Let's go Oakland." Then we ran into a baseball set at the Discovery Channel Store's Going Out of Business Sale. Next thing you know, LT wants to play baseball every chance he gets. Daddy came up with a genious plan and drew homeplate and the pitcher's mound on the driveway with sidewalk chalk, complete with foot spots. Then Mommy got a spot as catcher. (Wait a minute!?!? LT is really enjoying it. Maybe I will even look for a Tball league for him next year.

Note: the stray satellite dish and umbrella stand are soon to be disposed off.
Note (if Uncle Gregg is reading): We went with Dish Network. Loving it!

Home Sweet Home

You may be wondering where we have been... well, we bought a house, went for a long weekend for a wedding, moved, sold a house, had visitors, all in the span of 2 weeks. Now we are in unpacking misery. Only about 4 inside boxes left! Plus then the odds & ends laying about looking for their perfect spot.

We are really enjoying the new house. Just last night we went to a community even that has a band playing at the downtown elementary school. LT and I jogged over - it's only about 1 mile - and we met up with some friends and had pizza and strawberries and sat in the grassy field and had a great time. LT got a ride back with Daddy and I pushed back the empty jogging stroller and enjoyed the nice neighborhood to walk through. I only got a couple weird looks.



Oh, and a PS - the house was tented for termites before we moved in while we were away on that long weekend!