Camping, Pumpkins and Candy

Last weekend, Zac took Orion camping. It was a cold trip, but they had a blast!

Orion got to do some adventuresome climbing! The ground was only about 25 feet down. ;)

His favorite part of the camping was going on this hike.

We have this beautiful hibiscus blooming in our dining room. It seems so delicate and flowy and pretty. And in this picture, I love the depth - the bright outside petals, and the dense middle. So beautiful!

On Halloween, Mom and I went to lunch, then to watch the kids' Halloween parade and parties. It was wonderful to have an hour to just visit with her. We don't get to do that often enough.

The kids paraded around the gym of the school, which wasn't as much fun as parading outside, like they did last year. But it was fun to get to see all of the costumes. Orion was Peter Pan and Maebelle was Wendy. 

Then back to the classrooms to have treats and fun afternoons!

Back tracking here, but while Zac and Orion were camping, Maebelle and I went shopping for fabric for her costume and we made it that weekend. It is so soft and something she'll be able to use all winter hopefully!

Halloween was an early release day, so Orion asked to be picked up right after school instead of going to Boys and Girls Club. Maebelle loves Boys and Girls Club and wanted to stay for it. When Orion and I got home, just us two, we decided to carve the pumpkin that he has been waiting to carve for almost 2 weeks now.

Then when Maebelle came home from Boys and Girls Club, she got to carve hers.

They did a wonderful job. They drew the face themselves, then pretty much did all of the carving. :)

They are getting so big!

After a short dinner of sandwiches, we got costumes on and ready to go trick or treating!

We decided to try going around our block here since it's new territory this year. Last year we tried to trick or treat in our neighborhood, but there were no lights on at all.

So this year, we started out and sure enough, we found plenty of houses with lights on. We really only went around the block. It took about an hour, which was plenty long enough. The kids were tired by the time we got home, but their strength and patience lasted the full hour.

And as far as candy goes, they found plenty! Their bags were heavy by the end and they each had a large pile when they dumped them out on the table.

It was a fun night! And Maebelle and Orion actually got to wear their costumes to a neighborhood party last Sunday and a friend's party yesterday. So we got good use out of them. :)

Hope you are having a wonderful fall!

Fall Leaves!

So Maebelle lost her sixth tooth a few weeks ago.

I love this next one. She is so sweet!

We decided to rake some leaves last week. We didn't actually have anything to put them in so they are spread back out around the yard now along with about a million other leaves that have blown into our yard. But the kids loved playing in them this day!

Orion definitely threw armfuls of leaves at Maebelle more times than Maebelle threw armfuls at Orion. Not surprisingly. :)

They threw armfuls of leaves at each other over and over and over. I don't even know how many times. I thought for sure they'd get worn out, but no. And like any good kid, eventually they turned on me. Sorry, Maebelle, for cutting off your face. I didn't have much time to snap the shot before I needed to run and hide the camera. :)

And the lonely pile that attack left behind:

What a cheesy smile, Orion!

LOVE this next one. It is truly Orion to me:

These flowers Zac brought me one night. Oh how I love him!

Halloween pictures to come soon!

Visual Appreciation of our New Home

Before we really moved into our new house, I had a chance to appreciate it with pictures.

One of my favorite things (Ha! I'm constantly finding new "favorite things". I've got so many that I can't even keep track anymore) about this house is the light. Mostly the fact that there is some.

Our last house was very much light deprived. By the time we left Canterbury Lane, I felt shriveled and starving for light. Real, natural, beautiful, yellow and orange light. All shimmery and shadowy and spectacular.

After a couple of days of living here, Zac said something about how amazing all of our plants were doing in this house that gets the beautiful (and did I mention much needed?) East and West light.

I am definitely the same way...I need the light in all its glory to function. It gives me something that my body and mind yearn for. It heals my soul. And so does this:

Oh how I love these kids :)

And the toys they leave out. These pink skates have found new life in a house with wood floors instead of carpet and stairs. 

The change renewed something in the kids as well. Living on one level with all the rooms opening toward each other has impacted our closeness. We have a fresh sense of family and together-ness. (Is that a word?)

And the small details of this house are fantastic! The orange and yellow tile in the bathroom, this wonderful wallpaper, the vibrant yellow shades on the kitchen windows (see the first photo).

:) aaaahhhhh (that was a big, deep breath in and a wonderful, long, slow breath out)

Thank you for looking at my appreciation of our house. We are moved in now and it feels good to be here. I am sure I will develop wanderlust again before too long, but for now, I am happy. Content. And it feels good.

I hope you are too ::smile::

Update on Life

Orion got a new bike a few weeks ago. It's a real cruiser!

Unfortunately, we bought it in the middle of that heat wave and he was too hot to ride it for a couple of weeks. But he has been out a few times in the last couple of days, enjoying the rides. He even survived his first crash on it with just a small scrape on his leg. (He ran straight into Zac's truck! :) (I mean it's not funny...but it kind of was, since he didn't get hurt :)

Maebelle loves to color on her mirrored closet doors with the window markers. A few days after our out of towner family members came to visit, I found Maebelle drawing on her mirror and she showed me this -

She explained that it was Taylor on the camel visiting the pyramids. :) Apparently she thought that was really cool. She is introduced to a lot of different cultures from her friends at her school and is very interested in other parts of the world. I hope this is something we can foster as time goes on and maybe one day she'll have the chance to travel the world and see what there is to see.

Meanwhile, Orion was found coloring on the living room floor. He was drawing a villain that Spiderman was about to defeat.

His villain was all black. He did a wonderful job with it. And he had figured out what he was supposed to do without me reading it to him. He has become more interested in sounding out words and has started to use context either from pictures or other words to figure out what he's wanting to know, whether it be a word, or as in this case, what he should draw.

Well, Superhero day came around again. Last year's Super Hero Day looked like the next three pictures...

And this year, Orion decided he wanted to be Tornado Man again. Here is the 2012 model...

And Zac made Maebelle a mask, too. Boys and Girls Club didn't do a Super Hero Day, but Maebelle had lots of fun dressing up and playing with Orion that evening!

And this evening, Maebelle got her hair cut! It was time for a style. Here is the before...

And Scotti was nice enough to let me take some pictures of the process. It was fun to document it! :)

She does a wonderful job for all of us! I hadn't seen Scotti in a few months probably, maybe more. And it was good to get to talk to her for a few minutes. :)

I miss some of my Merc friends that I used to get to see regularly! Even just the hello's as we'd pass by each other once a week. They are a good, fun group and I do miss them.

 And the after. Back...

Ta Daaa!

And I hope she didn't mind, but I had to get a shot of this lamp globe. I love the swirly design and amazing color.

~ Peace ~