peter, peter, pumpkin eater

here we chronicle last night's adventures in pumpkinland:

somehow, bryan has been appointed our official pumpkin guts cleaner.

a job he hates (which is probably why it was given him).

this year, summer joined the crew with a few special responsibilities.

first, pumpkin inspecting.

second, pumpkin exploring.

and third, pumpkin peekaboo.

my role is as the struggling "arteest."

 

bryan says, "emily, why don't you draw your designs on the pumpkins?"

emily says, "carve first. draw later."

 

(dad, i'm wearing the goggles for you.)

happy halloween!

ps - the little pumpkin says "boo."

won't you be my neighbor?

what's this i see? a note? on our garbage can?!

"please be considerate of your neighbors and put your garbage cans away. thank you."

 

 

i just love the anonymous "neighborly" reminders that are a regular part of complex living. though seemingly anonymous, this particular note is from the elderly woman who lives next door. sometimes our garbage cans get in the way of her black miata.

 

but really, with all she has to complain about living next door to us, we're pretty happy she's only mentioning the garbage cans.

news update

summer loves the dishwasher.

emily goes dark.

remember when?

the lovebirds (my brother, ken, and his bride-to-be, emmelie) have come up for air just long enough to send me some pictures from their august adventures here in washington (thanks, emmelie!):

at the top of the space needle.
the price of admission is almost as steep as the edifice itself.
but somehow, ken finagled a military discount.

 

 

at the first starbucks in pike place market.
free admission.

ken buds makes the treacherous (and illegal!) descent to snoqualmie falls.
i ask you, emme, does this look like the kind of guy who is going to jump out of airplanes?

what ken does enjoy is a giant doughnut (shown here to be roughly the size of his head.
and yes, that is a class three chin). baked fresh for the duvall farmer's market (the doughnut, not the chin).

 

NOT PICTURED:

our rock star band formed at the experience music project museum:
kenny and the emilies (clever, we know).

the great pumpkin

fall is my very favorite season--'tis the season of the great pumpkin. this year, summer enjoyed the privilege of picking out our family's very own "great pumpkin." we are a bit unclear as to the criteria she employed when selecting said pumpkin (color? shape? size? proximity?), but she nonetheless did a respectable job for her first time.

after enjoying the afternoon in the pumpkin patch--the most sincere pumpkin patch we could find--we returned home to watch it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown (of course!) and enjoy some hot apple cider and ginger cookies.

ah, the comforts of fall.

summer selecting her pumpkin.
"this one!" she cries.

who says i can't pull the plow (or push the wheelbarrow)?

we found this cute little "pumpkin" and just had to take her home.

bryan and the bounty of pumpkin guts he will soon be dispatching.

summer sitter

meet the babysitter:

not but a day after turning eleven months old, summer had her first non-familial caregiver. (and previous to this she was only watched by my mother, who happens to live in alabama, so needless to say, those sittings were few and far between).

i left a page--front and back--of typed instructions: important numbers, a detailed schedule, general information, the location of household items, what to do in case of a power outage or fire, and of course, an eight step illustrated guide should summer choke. when i cam back home, the sitter said, "these are the most detailed instructions i've ever seen!" shivers went down my spine. and yes, i would like to thank the academy for this award.

i wanted to take a picture of the two girls together; however, summer was sleeping when we left and (shock of ALL shocks) when we returned home. thus cementing in my mind what all my parenting books have been postulating: that babies are the worst for their mothers (a bit backwards, isn't it?).

but the sitter was great, summer was great, our date was great. everybody wins. i think we'll do this again some time.

but summer's favorite?

the swings!

autumn in the park

eating wood chips

see-sawing with mom

climbing the tractor