Happy Halloween from My Girl

Hazel can be found, almost daily, working on some form of art. Don't you just love the cute animals with the blood and the stitches? These are some of my favorite works of art by my girl.
She has just started sounding out words without asking for help. I just can't get enough of these examples of her work.
August is quick to tell her when the words aren't spelled just right and I have to pull him aside and gently remind him that he still spells words wrong and that I still spell words wrong and that it isn't his job to correct her right now. I want her to feel confident in her ability to read and write and with August zipping through books like A Wrinkle in Time and the Harry Potter series it can be daunting to her as she struggles through her easy readers.

Screamin' Eagles

Yesterday I was a part of the Screamin' Eagles- a group of elementary school moms from Olympic View and View Ridge. We gathered with a number of other schools (8 in all) from around Seattle to have a bit of a kickball play off. It was a great time with bad beer and good group of ladies. I'm already planning for the spring tournament where we'll coordinate a bit better and maybe even...practice(!) before the games!!
Trey and the kids came along for the show but after they realized that it was going to be three hours of games they lost some interest. But August was too excited to leave with Hazel so he stayed behind to take pictures, keep scores and take some pictures...
Did we win the tournament, you ask...why no we did not, but man, oh, man did we have fun!

Crime and Punishment

I was cleaning the house a bit this afternoon when I came upon this:


An H. On the dinning room table. The table that was custom made now has an upper case H. Then I found this:
Apparently the H wasn't good enough so she felt the need to make a new one, this one was indeed up to her standards and so followed it with her whole name...all in caps!

So here's the question: What's the punishment for this crime? We, as parents, believe that the punishment should equal the offending action...we're at a loss here...any suggestions?

Birthday Boy

Trey Many, I don't know how I got so lucky...Happy Birthday...you are a wonderful dad and an amazing husband.


I love you and can't wait to see what this year brings!

Traditions

We went to the Pumpkin Patch today. We have been going to the same place for many, many years now, only to find out that this is the last year the are doing pumpkins...it was a bit sad for us all.
It couldn't have been a better day for it...the sun was beating down on us as we roamed the farm looking for all the things we used to do.


Thankfully we were all able to find the right pumpkin for each of us...August, of course found one that he could not carry. Thankfully Trey brought the big guns!



My little family:

10 on 10

I'll admit to you all that I was rather uninspired today. I had a lot going on and did a ton of running around and occasionally forgot to take the picture.
I did meet up with a great bunch of gals who are all taking part in the 10 on 10 project...so that was cool.

True Colors

So the kids and I went for a fall color hunt after school today. I just kept wishing it was the 10th...the sun is out in full force, not a cloud in the sky. We had a great time finding small bugs, purples, reds, greens, oranges and yellows. Here are a few:


The rest can be found here.

I'm throwing this picture of August in because this is the face of a 4th grader doing homework...and I have to look at it every day...poor kid.

Bathroom Update

These two were taken on October 2nd. The plumber was working super hard at replacing all the bells and whistles in the wall:

These were taken today. New portions of the wall and ceiling as well as some patchwork on the floor:

New wall behind the...wait for it...

New tub!!! It's under there folks...believe it!Notes:


So it's coming along. We've been doing this for how long now? I still have to catch myself from walking to this bathroom to use it...and August was throwing up last night, thank God he made it all the way downstairs!!

Seasonal Thoughts

***I think Mike G took this picture last year at Alki Beach***


I tend to get a bit melancholy as the temps change from warm and dry to wet and, well, not warm. I would be exaggerating if I said it got cold here...yesterday it was windy and 65, today it will be rainy and 60...not too bad. But I really did love this summer. I know, we had some cold days, but they were bumpered with very warm days...and I kinda like that.
So I'm thinking about why I get down around this time of year and I realize that I have absolutely NO reason. Here's what the change in weather brings the Many Family:

Trey's birthday, October 16.
Halloween (and my brother's birthday), October 31.
Hazel's birthday, November 17.
Thanksgiving, November 27.
August's birthday, December 4.
Christmas travel dates, December 19- January 3.
My Dad's birthday, Christmas Eve.

That's a lot to plan for folks! I have nothing to be down about. There are a million things to do and yet I'm sitting on my couch with a scarf wrapped around my neck. Trey's birthday is right around the corner...and what are we going to do for Hazel's birthday this year? She is still flip-flopping between a gymnastics party and a nail polish party...decisions, decisions!

Reynolds v7.0

Once upon a time there were two people who had a baby:

then they had another baby and a dog:
Then they began to foster kids:

Then they had another baby:And continued to foster kids, with the hope of adopting some of them:
The family grew and shrank from time to time:

And shrank and grew:
And grew:And changed: