Because this guy deserves his own post!

I've noticed that this guy hasn't gotten much blog love lately. He's not doing any sports right now, his birthday was ages ago, and he's less likely to humor my desire to film pointless interviews than his sister... sooooo... yeah.

I decided to dedicate this post to my absolute most favorite 5 year old in the UNIVERSE! Facts:

1. Pearson is really good at math. He can do multiple digit addition with carrying, and has been working on multiplication. I was really good at math when I was a kid, but I never LIKED math, so I stopped taking it as soon as possible. I'm hoping he does not follow in my footsteps.

2. Pearson's reading progress skipped from like a 2 or 3 to like an 8 or 9 overnight! It was so crazy. He'd been doing basic reading, sounding some stuff out, but not really reading on his own, and then BAM! He's reading EVERYTHING. I don't remember when it happened, but it really did seem like he wasn't reading and then the next day he was!

3. Pearson is asserting his independence all over the place. He knows EVERYTHING and I am wrong ALL THE TIME. I have no idea where he got it from. I hear I was an easy going, never arguing kind of child, just like I am as an adult, so it's baffling.

4. Pearson has a great name. I love it.

5. Pearson is REALLY good about doing "chores." Granted, his chores consist of keeping his room clean, making his bed, and letting the dog out to pee, but he's GREAT about doing those things (his sister is NOT!!!). I think it's about time to start adding things to that list! Honestly, I think he could handle a lot more responsibility than I give him.

6. Pearson grinds his teeth really, really bad. Like you can hear it from across the room when he's doing it, it's so loud. His dentist doesn't seem worried, so I guess I shouldn't be...

7. Pearson's favorite food is boxed macaroni and cheese. Much to my dismay.

8. Pearson is VERY complimentary. He loves to tell people what they're good at and what he likes about them.

9. Pearson sometimes mouths his words after he says them out loud. For instance he might say, "I can't find my shirt" and then he will immediately mouth those same words without saying anything...

10. Pearson's bottom front tooth is EVER SO SLIGHTLY loose. The dentist pointed it out when he went this week. It's very slight, I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't showed me. He is very excited about this milestone, although I am sure it'll be months before he actually loses the tooth.

BONUS: Pearson finally learned all the words to his favorite songs on the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. It's not at ALL annoying that he sings them almost compulsively! ;)

I was not kidding about the pictures!

It's probably a good thing that I couldn't get to all my photos, because "culling down" is apparently not in my vocabulary. Between pictures I got on my phone, pictures my aunt AD emailed me, and pictures I'd already uploaded to the web before I started the OS upgrade, I think these 957 pictures are sufficient...

Without further ado, testing my BlogPress iPhone app:




Addison the "baby panda"!




Pearson looking rather creepy as a mummy!




Addison and Gillie in costume!




The decorations! Ugh, I love Halloween!!!!




Mmmmmmm! Vanilla vanilla cupcakes!




Goodies for the party-goers. These were pajama pants I made.




The paper mâché bat piñata.

Addison taking a whack!

Dainty Dorothy taking her turn.





Miss birthday girl pretending to be shy!




Party people!




Addison and her school buddies!




4 generations in one photo. We were so glad my mom came! Pearson and Addison are delighted by "sleepovers".




Saying goodbye to Aunt AD, we had SO MUCH FUN with her!!

Addison was disappointed when her birthday WEEK was over, but she's adjusting well back into a world that doesn't revolve around her...

- Posted from my phone, so errors don't count!

I know I'm behind!

I know I'm 2 weeks behind my weekly goal of blogging, but I swear I have EXCUSES!!! You see, my aunt visited, my daughter had a birthday party, my mom was in town, we're upgrading our computer operating system with a clean install, I got sick, I had a deadline at work, and my house burned down!


Ok, ok, my house didn't burn down, but I was on a roll, and I went for it... what can I say? I'll catch you up on all of the above as soon as my computer at home is updated! PICTURES GALORE!

Recent Recap

So in between answering life's greatest unanswered questions ("Why is a button on your shirt and a button that you push called the same thing?", "Why does alcohol hurt a boo-boo?"), here is some of the other stuff I've been up to:

First of all, I've been LOOOOVING this whole Nikki-not-working-while-she's-on-maternity-leave thing.

We've been able to go to the park:

And to the zoo:

The highlight of which was this sea lion being every bit as enamored with the children as they were with him:

The kids LOOOOOVE the Halloween Store. Check out that creepy baby prop! The head rotates and everything!

And yeah, I totally let them do things that probably make the sales people twitch, but hey, I've bought gumballs from the little machine, so we're even, right?

We actually let the kids take an impromptu swim the other day in like 70 degree water. I thought they were INSANE, but they were having a blast so who was I to argue?

And of course, I've gotten lots of hands -on time with this guy, who is impossibly cute:

And can I just tell you how excited I am about it being Halloween season?! The clothes the kids wear, the decorations, the pumpkins, the crisp weather... it's all marvelous! Why can't it be October all year long!?

And last night I became positively OBSESSED with home movies of my kids. Seriously, it's bordering on unhealthy. I can't help it! The videos catch so much that photos never could. They way they used to talk, and walk, and move. Ugh, it's killing me! I was tempted to post like 50 of the old ones here, but that would be boring and weird, so I decided to compromise and show some RECENT video of the kids to show the stuff the pictures can't. These are actually from the same day, a few weeks ago, as I was getting ready to drop them off at school.

First up, we have the kids headbanging to Marilyn Manson's version of This is Halloween. I warn you to turn DOWN your speakers before pushing play! By the way, the headbanging and the dance moves were complete improvised. These kids are nuts:

Next up, we have a quick interview with Addison. I had to get on camera what she currently wants to be when she grows up. It's... unique.





Isn't it romantic what she wants to be?! A princess mom, with a beautiful dress, who dances with her husband. She also wants 8 (!!!!) kids -- 4 boys and 4 girls, natch -- and a brown and pink and yellow princess dog. She's given this much thought, and reminds me ALL THE TIME that this is her life's plan. Completely cute, and also kinda scary...

Impromptu Tea Party

Ok, this is old at this point, but I wanted to share anyway, because it was so sweet!

After some questions and not-so-subtle hinting from Addison about her silver tea set, Grandma offered to throw Addison a little tea party with silver and china and EVERYTHING! Addison was delighted! She had pink lemonade in her tea cup and we were served lovely cookies (100 Calorie packs of chocolate something-or-others) and fresh cucumber sandwiches.

And her Gi-Gi (my mom) was even there to join in. Thanks, Grandma, for being the only person I know who would break out her fine china and real silver for a private tea party for a 3 year old! And that's why we love you so much!

Soccer Stars!

Well, not exactly, but still. Addison and Gillian have started their soccer season, and if they're not the best players out there, I'll be darned if they're not the cutest! Precious, I tell you.

Here we are, mid-run, looking quite serious about what we're doing:

Here is Addison, famous for running down the field while intently watching the cheering section:

Which invariably leads to one of her dozen or so falls throughout the game:

She's a tough cookie, though, so it's ok.

By the way, I am making a goal of blogging once a week for two months. I figure if we suffer through the lame for a while, it's bound to get interesting again eventually, right!? Let's hope!

A test of will...

No T.V. for one whole week! None. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

And yes, it applies to mom and dad, too! Scary!

But I do plan on cheating with a Netflix movie after the kids are in
bed one night!

What's black and white and red all over?

The little dress I whipped up for Addison this afternoon! I used this incredibly easy tutorial from Martha Stewart to do some sorta-smocking at the top, and it was all easy from there! Addison LOVES it and I'm so proud. Best of all, I made it from RIDULOUSLY cheap fabric from Ikea, so it's also one of her least expensive items of clothing! Woo hoo!

Open Letter to the Lake: A Photo / Video Essay

Dear Lake,

Thank you so much for the marvelous vacation I shared with my family this weekend. It was a break we needed very much-- to reconnect as a family, laugh and play together, and enjoy your natural beauty.

We are especially grateful for the endless entertainment you provided to the kids, sans batteries and plugs. They needed it, too, even if they didn't realize it.

The serene water and lush shorelines were the perfect backdrop for our photos, which I will treasure always.

You challenged my children to not be afraid of climbing the rocks, swimming with fish, and yes, even jumping off cliffs!

You gave us time to bond with Grandma and Lee, and reminded us how grateful we are for them.

We will miss you, Lake, and can't wait to come visit you again.

123 to the Zoo

We went to the zoo today for the first time in a long time, to check out the new "Birds and Bees" exhibit with Grandma. We were SO sad when we found out the normal seasonal exhibit, the Butterflies, wouldn't be coming this year, but decided to give it a chance... As you can see from the pictures, we were glad we did! The kids got sticks with a seed cluster clothes-pinned to the end of it, and the birds would sit on the stick and eat the seeds! Big hit!

And of course, no trip anywhere with Grandma would be complete without a treat, so we grabbed to some Dippin' Dots-type ice cream before we left. Here, Addison is questioning her flavor selection...