Beck & Ellery: November 2014

Sparrow students put on a school play in the park...

We used what was supposed to be an "island" in the pool and turned it into a stage for puppet shows...

Sparklers!...

Katie's Baby Shower...

Onesies before...

And after...

It's a good thing we had it when we did because Little Jude arrived 3 weeks early!...

Beck's 1st Family Portrait. Just love it...

A crazy storm that came out of nowhere blew through our neck of the woods and left a path of destruction behind. Things weren't too bad at our place...

But other's didn't fare so well. Look at these monster trees ripped out of the ground!...

Of course it was during a heat wave and our power was out for 9 hours. Seriously hot. We went out to dinner (for the AC not the food) and ended up at the top of Mt Helix for a gorgeous sunset...

We jumped in the pool before bedtime and still went to bed with cool rags on our heads...

Time to break out the slip n' slide...

Baking star biscuits on a cooler day...

Hook 'em!...

We stole Jordan for the day and went to the Science Center...

And then headed over the the Huggins' for a housewarming party...

Look at this beauty...

AND this beauty! My Aunt Diana found out she had a tumor on her pancreas and after a few scary and uncertain weeks, she's doing great! (Scary and uncertain to me. She has been unbelievably positive and strong the entire time.) Her surgeon at Stanford ended up removing her pancreas, gallbladder, spleen and part of her duodenum in the Whipple procedure. Her tumor was so rare there's only been 20 reported cases of it - ever. There was a cancer scare but all of her lymph nodes have come back clear! She's really been such an inspiration to all of us. Love you Di!...

Ellery's 1st field trip. Oma's Pumpkin Patch...

Ellery and her buddies, Katlyn and Aidyn...

I felt bad that Beck missed out so we made a quick trip to a closer patch...

Yee Haw! Marla and Jeff invited us to a YMCA gala, Johnny Cash theme...

Someone's happy about their first bath in the new bathroom...

My busy little artists...

Last day of soccer. Ellery was delighted...

Picnic with her class...

Time to make a gingerbread haunted house...

Took this pic to text Zach a picture of our mattress that was just delivered when Dots jumped up.
Shout-out to Tempur Pedic for replacing our old mattress for FREE!...

Collecting worms. Boys being boys...

Mary and my dad came down to visit..

The threesome at Beck and Sydney's Fall Festival...

Cheering on Jordan and Rian at their swim meets! Pom-poms and all...

Go Jordy Go!!...

Yeah RiRi!!!

Heading to Jordan's birthday dinner...

But first...

A teenager?!? How can it be?...

Fall is finally here. Sportin' the scarf Grandma Wanda made...

Daddy's work outdid themselves again at their Halloween party...

Almost every time we lost track of Beck this night, we found him here throwing darts. It's also the game Jesse was helping out with. Coincidence? I think not...

Tired 'lil indian...

Meet our newest pet, Bullseye...

Beck and I found him outside and immediately made a little habitat for him and did our research. Turns out praying mantis' make wonderful pets! They're friendly, easy to care for and incredibly entertaining...

Ellery brought him to school to show her friends, Aidyn...

Ella...

And Suraya. Then we released him into the kindergarten garden...

Each week Fairy Wren goes home with a student and Wren couldn't have picked a better week to come home with Ellery. We went to Solana Beach, dance class AND Sydney's fairy party!...

Denver with the cousins! For almost an entire year, Ellery was talking about trick-or-treating with her cousins, Mollie and Annabelle. We decided to make it happen...

Botanical Gardens...

He asked to be chased...

But then he got caught...

Happy Halloween!...

Happy 5th Birthday Annabelle!...

We had such a great trip and look forward to seeing the CO Pannier's out here next month!...

This girl is an early riser! She's up between 5:30 and 6:30 every morning making sure daddy hasn't left without saying goodbye. She walks him out to his car and he flashes his lights, every morning, M-F. Then she crawls into bed with me. Love these early snuggles with my sweet girl...

Landon's birthday party...

Ms Ellery reading about Pompeii to her students...

Yes. Fall!!!...

Both kindergarten classes and their families met at a local park for Sparrow's Lantern Walk. It's a cute Waldorf tradition where we celebrate our inner light in the outer darkness of the approaching winter. We sang songs, munched on muffins and drank hot apple cider. Beck and I even made him a lantern for the festival...

I know we sound like a bunch of hippies (and some of us are) but we cannot say enough good things about this school...

Ellery didn't have school last Fri so we made a North County weekend out of it. 1st stop: Legoland!...

2nd stop: Solana Beach...

She said her wish was that Grandma and Grandpa would be out here. I told her you're not really supposed to say what you wish for but she replied "I think that one will come true."...