Halloween Preview

This is our niece Hannah, trying out her leopard costume. That's one cute cat!!

I'm hoping to be able to post pics of our nieces Sam and Kenzie and nephew Riley tomorrow (hint, hint Kris!).

Artist in Action

A gray day, left over paints, a few sheets of card stock - welcome to our art studio!

Owen has entitled the first work "Abstract with Blue Ribbon", and in honor of the soon-to-be World Series Champion Phillies, he's named the second piece "Philadelphia Soft Pretzel".

Bidding starts at $1.00 ...

Pumpkin Painting Party

You all remember last year's Halloween costume fiasco, right? Tears and hysterics the moment the bumblebee wings touched his back ...



I have a hard time justifying spending $30 on a costume that he'll (maybe) wear for an hour, so I was happy when this year my friend Jill offered to lend us her son's adorable lion costume. Owen loves animals, and does a great roar. And Owen loved the costume too ... as long as it was safely curled up on the couch next to him for petting.



So, on to Plan B. Inspired by a morning show segment on homemade costumes and Owen's love of anything with wheels, I headed to Goodwill and scored a pair of striped overalls and white t-shirt. At home I made a bandanna out of left over red fabric and found an old whistle - Owen would be a train conductor!


A train conductor without a hat, bandanna or whistle. One day I will greatly embarrass him with these tales.

Anyway, we were "costuming" a bit early because we hosted a Pumpkin Painting Party yesterday. Owen's buddies Garrett, Reganne and Mackenzie (with their new baby sister Kerrington) came to our house dressed in their Halloween finery. The kids had a lot of fun decorating their pumpkins (and their moms and themselves) with bright colors and lots of stickers and played great together. At the end of the day we sent them home with treat bags filled with orange and black jellybeans and chocolate eyeballs -yum!

O-In-The-Box!

On This, Our Silk Anniversay

Bob and I have been through our share of bad times; but we've experienced many more moments of incredible joy together. There have been ups and downs, and I think as any "married" would tell you, it's not easy; it's not even always particularly fun. There are stresses and disagreements and misunderstandings. But in the end, I know it's worth fighting for.

Because this is the man who has stood beside me, encouraged me, tolerated me, laughed and cried with me. On the eve of my surgery he gave me a statue he had made with a plaque that read "True Champions Never Give Up". He's sent beautiful flowers; surprised me with gifts both silly and grand; made me smile with unexpected gestures (he once bought a CD I'd been wanting and loaded it in my car so that when I started off to work in the morning I was greeted by a favorite song).

But most of all, I love him because he has given me the two most precious things in my life ... Cearra and Owen. He shared his "princess" with me, then traveled halfway around the world to bring home our son. And he loves them both - and me - with a heart as generous and open as it is good.

Yeah, it's all worth it.

Our Hilton Head Holiday

On Hilton Head Island, the stores and restaurants are set back from the road, often behind a lush curtain of trees, and identified only by low, tasteful wood, stone and brick signs - no neon, no bright lights. It's lovely, although a bit dark and hard to navigate especially at night. In addition to maintaining a charming low country atmosphere, the lack of bright lights ensures that the baby turtles who crawl from their sand nests head towards the moon and their sea home rather than the deadly roads or unwelcoming parking lots. I love that.

Owen and I spent last week at Nana and Pop-pop's place in Hilton Head (sadly, Bob spent last week in Missouri). We flew into Charlotte, where my good friend LeAnne picked us up and took us to her gorgeous old home for lunch with her hubby Marc and their son Rhys, another Kokshetau kid. From there we loaded up the car with plenty of snacks and diversions for the boys and drove to the coast.

Our first full day was spent exploring the resort's wonderful pools. Rhys and Owen loved the small fountain in the beach side kiddie pool; swimming with us in the warmth of the two big salt water pools; the bubbles coming up from the bottom of one pool (like a giant hot tub); and the play area with shooting arcs of water. That night LeAnne cooked up a yummy dinner of shrimp, baked potatoes and asparagus; then we all ventured to the story circle for a camp fire and s'more making.

The next morning we dressed up the boys in the adorably preppy outfits LeAnne had brought along and went to Sea Pines for a photo shoot. As you can imagine, two 2-year old boys aren't the most cooperative models, but we managed to get a few cute shots and more importantly had fun exploring the marina area, cavorting on the playground, and enjoying a lunch in the beautiful park. We had to say goodbye to LeAnne and Rhys in the afternoon ... after all they have a lot to do since LeAnne and Marc are leaving later this month to return to Kazakhstan for their daughter!!

Owen and I enjoyed the rest of our visit with Nana and Pop-pop; spending another day at the pool and, when the weather wasn't cooperating, a morning at an indoor children's play place - where Owen whipped up some sandwiches in the kitchen, piloted an airplane, and played at railroad engineer.

It was great too to see Uncle Rich and Aunt Cathy when they arrived for the beginning of their vacation at their nearby condo, as well as family friends Frank and Dorothy. We truly had a wonderful week!

Alison - last pic is all for you babe!

A Mary Baldwin/VMI Weekend

A Boy and His Toys

Owen has recently developed a very strong bond with his stuffed animals. No real favorites; they all regularly get kisses and lap time. His fondness for them means we take them up and down the stairs every morning and every evening, and often on each journey between first floor and second throughout the day.

This process entails Owen handing them to me - puppy, bear, big bear, blue bear, lamby, etc - one at a time, saying "peease" (which is very cute!), and then setting off once my arms are full and no one is left behind.

This morning he came up with a new method of transportation for his furry friends - the laundry basket! He loaded them all in, smiled up at me and said "up peease". I have to say, it's a pretty smart idea and works well - until laundry day that is.