Here we go again!

Hey everybody - Mark, Owen and I will welcome a new addition to our family May 2010! I'm feeling OK overall, less sick than with Owen. We're very excited and can't wait to meet this new little person. Well, I think Owen can wait, but he'll come around. :-)

Halloween 2009

Here we go....Halloween extravaganza!

Helping daddy carve the pumpkin.

Mid-carve.

Daddy's turn again.

He wanted to carve the pumpkin so it matched his purple pumpkin bucket. I think we did a pretty good job.

Playing with the jack-o-lantern and light sticks on the porch.

Ooooohhh, spooky!

Here is me and Karen dressed up as Salt and Pepper at work.

Owen as Thomas the Train!

Brandon, aka Handy Manny and Owen hitting up some houses. Owen told me he wasn't going to say "Trick or Treat", he was going to say "I want some candy!" instead. I advised him to go with the more traditional version.

He did a great job this year. It was cute, as people were trying to put candy in his bucket, he would grab it and put it in there himself.

Brandon with his loot.

Owen with his loot.

We had quite a busy neighborhood with lots of kids running around. It was fun and very festive. Owen is very excited about his candy and spends most of his time moving it from bucket to bucket, to his Tonka dump truck and back again. He gets a candy allotment each day and much thought goes into which piece he is going to eat next. Happy Halloween!

Kara and Selene

I realized I didn't take any pictures of Selene. This one is courtesy of Sybil. I guess I was too busy holding her to take a picture. She is so precious and just slept like a little angel in my arms. Welcome sweet girl!

Pizza making and a Fall Festival

Mark is the master at getting Owen occupied in a food making activity. Here they are making personal pizzas for our dinner.

A few weeks ago we visited the fam in Bakersfield. Our visit included walking the doggies, of course, a fall festival, visiting Sarai and her new little sister Selene, and a late birthday dinner for Papa.

Owen dwarfed next to the tractor in the field. He loves walking the doggies...

Running waaaaaay down there with the pack.

At the park with Papa.

Daddy's turn.

Now Nana's turn. I went too, but no one thought to take a picture of that. Ha!

Playing in the bubbles. This guy wins the prize for Worst Placement of a Bubble Machine. Watch out for those cords and holes in the ground kids! Enjoy the bubbles!!

Now we get to make bubble the old fashioned way.

Found some rats...pretty cool.

Learning sled walking from the master.

Running the obstacle course. He loved this one and did it twice.

Balance beam at the end of the obstacle course. He did so good!

Playing with Sarai. They did pretty good, just a few toy skirmishes, but Mark did a good job of keeping them busy with a hunt for the mythical train.

Pumpkin Patch - 2009

We just love the Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch. We have a great time here every year. The weather has been pretty warm. October is funny down here, it can either be in the 90s or 100s like this year, or be pretty cold. I guess next year we're due for the cold.

Yes, Owen has a band-aid on the back of his head. We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. On Saturday morning I was mopping the floor (you can see where this story is going). Owen ran into the kitchen because he wanted to make toast. He get very excited about toast these days. He slipped and bumped his noggin on the tile floor. There was a giant knot on the back of his head in no time. Not much would console him besides a band-aid. So we obliged him with one in his hair for the weekend.

Exploring the pumpkin patch.

Found my pumpkin!

They also sell lots of pre-picked pumpkins. Each one Owen came across was the "biggest I've ever seen!"

Cool maize.

Owen picked out his own maize and a small pumpkin. He calls the corn his "carrot".

Gourds Galore!!

Owen rode the pony....no way.

Trying to find the little tiny hiding goats.

Hi there little goat.

King of the world on top of the hay castle.

Hey!!

Getting ready to ride the car train. I'm glad Mark took over on this one. I rode it last year and I can't say I enjoyed myself.

We haven't actually carved the pumpkin yet. But I promise pics once we do. Owen is going to be Thomas the Train this year. I actually bought the costume last year, but he didn't want anything to do with it so he ended up being a Hawaiian tourist. I've spent some effort getting him excited about Thomas this year, so hopefully all will go as planned.

Family Visit - Nor Cal

We got to visit the Northern California contingent last weekend. Lots of fun was had by all!

Saturday we visited Tilden Park. In the park we went to the farm, the carousel and the steam train. It is an interesting place with winding roads and forest type areas.

Owen made a beeline for the pig. In my opinion it was a tall pig with very pointy ears.

They have the chickens in a pen, but it didn't really do much good. They got out and were subjected to chasing by a little boy.

Petting the curly headed cow.

Riding the carousel. First he rode the horse...

...then the frog.

On the steam train. This train was awesome. It held a lot of people for a kid-size train. The ride was pretty long and went through trees, bridges and a tunnel.

Goofing around on the train.

Cuddling with Relay, Dani and Mariel's dog.

October so far....

Mark had the trailer of kayaks at our house overnight for some reason or another. All Owen wanted to do was sit in the boats.

Owen's really into playing hide-and-seek these days. This is just one of the classic hiding places he's come up with.

Our kittens for one day. These two kittens had been hanging around the backyard. I was feeding them in hopes of getting close enough to catch them. My attempt at grabbing the orange one didn't work out so well. Mark created the trap and I laid the food trail. I think we missed our calling in animal control. By the end of the evening we had managed to catch them both. Owen was really into it. He has a book Curious George and the Puppies. In it George and the man with the yellow hat find a lost kitten and take it to the animal shelter. Perfect!