A Tip for all Caffeine Addicts

A friend recenly tipped me off on a way to save 20 % on your future Starbucks purchases -- at Costco you can now buy $100 worth of giftcards for just $79.99! And if you forget about it the next time you are in line at Costco, never fear -- their marketing machine is out in full force handing out Starbucks cards to stuff into your cart right before you empty your wallet at check-out.

Fall Foliage Family Pics

Two years ago, our friends The Dangs took family pictures out in the fall foliage. for the past 2 years I have noodled over that idea and I decided this year we would give it a try.

Thorough a recommendation of another friend, we decided to have a photographer meet us at the local Botanical Garden, and WOW! We went early to avoid crowds, and the lighting and fall foliage AND the weather totally cooperated. Actually, they more than cooperated -- it was the perfect fall morning!

Because of our cool summer and mild fall, we have had some incredible shades of gold, red, brown, and purple -- God's paintbrush is just so alive and exciting to watch unfold!

We jumped into God's painting for a morning of fun and photos, and I think you will agree that Emily did a superb job! For a sneak peak, go to her blog.

Best Buds

It's been so fun to see Colin develop friendships with his buddies! This great smile is because he is sitting by his buddy and enjoying a fun afternoon of play outside. What could be better?

Fishpond Halloween Party

Colin and his preschool friends enjoyed a fun morning - here they are about to go trick-or-treating at the church office - we have a turtle, shark, car, Mickey Mouse, 2 princesses, and an airport traffic director. Very fun!

Colin and Mrs. Campbell put stickers on Colin's trick-or-treat bag.

These are the spider-shaped sugar cookies I took for the party. It was a Little Miss Spider themed party, so they decorated the cookies with sprinkles and icing and enjoyed other yummy treats and goodie bags from other parents. Lots of fun!

Halloween Fun in the Office

Who knew Halloween could be a season and not just a one day celebration? Last Friday we went in to Matt's office for their annual Halloween party. Several offices were decorated so the kids could trick-or-treat, and Colin's favorite area was the spider themed office.

Colin is a sea turtle; not a crocodile, and not a dinosaur. He had a choice and this was very specifically what he wanted. It's a very cute and comfy looking costume, and nothing like the ones we had as kids! This was his first experience trick-or-treating where he understands the concept of trick-or-treating, and he did not want to give up his treat bag even for one second. He even held it later that evening even while we had dinner!

Sea Turtle on the go! There is more candy to be had!

Doesn't every sea turtle wear crocs and socks? If he had been a crocodile, I suppose that really WOULD have been appropriate.

Birthday Party Fun

8th Birthday: Jama, me, Belinda, and Mikael

Today was a fun day at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). We had a guest speaker today who had a business in birthday party planning, and I could have sat and listened to her talk for another full hour -- fascinating! She provided a wealth of information and examples related to choosing a theme, planning party activities (with built-in transitions), conducting the birthday "circle" for the gift time, decorations, food, crafts, and even creative ways to handle the misbehaviors of little party guests.

Although I have yet to plan a birthday party of this magnitude, it's nice to have some information and ideas to use when planning. Who knew there could be such a great "birthday party formulary?!)

And then at our table we had further discussion around birthday traditions, and what birthdays were like for us growing up. I remember my birthday party from when I turned 8. I was joined by just a few friends, though I recall others had perhaps been invited. These were my friends who were my best friends on up until I graduated from high school, and two of them were brides maids in my wedding. You see, I don't think we remember all of the gifts we got, but I think we remember our time well spent enjoying the company of good friends. I am always wise to consider this as a parent moving forward.

As a fun element in our morning, each table was decorated with a birthday party theme by one of the moms. For those of you with girls: one of the table themes was a cheerleader theme -- the mom said she had UW cheerleaders come to her daughter's party and teach yells and do face decal painting and gave the girls purple and gold pom pons. And it was free because college cheerleaders can't charge for this. You could also get local high school cheerleaders and donate money to their club fund.

And to cap off our fun morning, a cake decorator spent time with us talking about icing cakes. We each had 2 practice cupcakes, and I learned about using thin rice paper to trace designs to then decorate a cake with much more detail using edible food markers-- wow, who knew?! And I even learned how to make a rose, not that I'll be needing that for any boy birthday cakes, but fun to learn, nonetheless!

It was such a pleasure to spend the morning with other moms, gathering ideas for my mommy toolbox.

A Few More Pumpkin Pics

Mom, Don't make me pose for a picture!

Let's haul 'em in for a weighing!

Mom and Colin.

3 Years of Tradition

Pick a Pumpkin

This past weekend we did our annual outing to Jubilee Farm, the fantastic pumplin patch we have now vsited three years in a row (that makes it an annual tradition now, I suppose.)

This year we had the best weather ever -- sunny with no rain or mist and in the mid to high 50's. There was a crisp feeling of fall in the air as we rode on the hayride out to the actual pumpkin patch.

Colin enjoyed checking out all of the pumpkins and was none to interested in posing with mom or dad for the photo op, but we "got 'em," nonetheless. We staked our claim on 3 larger pumpkins and 3 ever-so-cute mini (tennis ball-sized) pumpkins. And on the way back to the farm, we were fortunate to get to ride the wagon led by a team of horses...very cool!

Back at the main farm, Colin enjoyed watching the pumpkin catapult, but wasn't too sure about feeding the pony. The chickens and turkey, however, were pretty cool. We were also lucky the farm served brats and corn on the cob, great Colin lunch food! He was a happy boy, indeed!

Tea and Dancing Lions

This past weekend was a fun and busy weekend.

I was pleased to join other moms of boys only at a tea party hosted by a friend. What a fabulous idea! We were encouraged to wear our pearls, hats, and gloves, but alas I only had pearls.

What a great time we all had as we all sat around place settings of my friend's Great-Grandmother's china and talked about being a mom to boys and how things are different, and in some ways special. This was a delightful time of ladies chit-chat. Who says moms of little girls are the only ones who can enjoy tea parties?

Then later that evening Matt and I enjoyed a night out at a local healthsystem's Gala, which was fully decorated in a "Good Fortune, Good Health" Chinese theme. In addition to an elegant dinner and auction, we enjoyed a performance by a Chinese lion dance group, which is always interesting to observe. Indeed, it was fun to get dressed-up and go into the city for an adult-only event.

What a Week!

What a week, right? I feel like I have been glued to cnbc.com, waiting on Congressional votes, and listening to commentary from various financial and economic folks as they talk about this financial crisis.

As a former banker, I have watched so closely to understand this impact on credit, which has been so easily doled out over the past few years. I know. I was there.

And then I think to our grandparents and great grandparents who lived through the Great Depression. It forever changed them. My Grandma never let anything go to waste, a sign of this mentality.

So how are we forever changed? Will we cease to live beyond our means? Will we start to value relationships with people rather than acquiring "things" and spending money we don't have?

As you hunker down for the storm, what is important to you?

Talking Trees

Heard on a neighborhood walk this week with Colin as we stopped to listen to trees and their leaves rustling in the breeze, "Talk, talk, talk."

I never thought of it that way, but the trees were talking to us.

Let's Zip 'Er Up!

Yeah! Thanks to the fine folks at both Walmart and Gap, I am now fully outfitted with footless pjs to zip onto Colin backwards. And I recently discovered that Carter's has a few similarly-styled pairs available on Kohls.com, so for anyone else out there in need of a backwards pj fix, your options are growing! The Gap jammies are my favorites, as a snap covers the zipper, so he would have to be super Houdini to first figure out the snap and then get a hold of the zipper.

As you can see from the pictures, he protested the first time we put them on (or maybe he was protesting the camera -- which is quite possible), but now it's just become a mini routine to get suited up for naptime.

And yes, we do have 2 occurrences where we feel 99.9% certain these jammies have saved the day and have averted a possible clean-up disaster. Thanks, Lord, for the gift of footless, one piece zipper jammies!