Bits of November

:: Alice at 11 months:

You can't quite see it, but this man is jogging with his pet bird perched on his forearm

:: Colby turns three!

My gratitude tree

How Colby thinks his name is spelled (he'll correct me if I try and fix it)

Bits of October

:: I taught preschool in September (it's a co-op with seven families around here), but Colby wasn't interested in the craft project until much later--and then we had a dance party to celebrate. Pants were optional.

:: We read lots of great books

:: And built fantastic cars (Colby loves to line things up),

"snowflakes,"

and snowmen (notice a Frozen theme going on?)

:: Alice discovered books. I feel a little guilty about this, but we didn't try to read with her as much as with Colby. We'd sit down for our pre-nap, pre-bedtime, or just-because book with Colbs and Alice would wander off. Then one day she discovered "Room on the Broom" and it sparked a love of reading. Now she runs over all the time, with a huge smile on her face, to chuck a book at (or on) my feet to read.

:: We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. Colby was in eating position long before the food was ready. Both kids were huge fans of the food and their Canadian heritage.

The sunset on our post-feast stroll 

:: Colby decorated our patio with his usual artistic flair

:: I love watching these two together. We learned valuable lessons in sharing this month. Colby was a little bossy and Alice was a little mischievous, but I'm so grateful they have each other to learn from and love.

:: I decorated for Halloween for the first time in our married life. I read the book, The Nesting Place: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful, and it completely changed the way I approach decorating.

:: For Halloween we dressed up as characters from Winnie the Pooh (after our failure with Colby last year, we needed a costume that didn't feel like a costume). Robb and Alice manned our candy dish while Colby and I did a little trick-or-treating (10 houses or so) before ending the night with friends and a movie.  

Christopher Robin and Piglet have never been this cute.

Bits of September

:: We started off the month with a trip to Seattle

:: Alice turned 9 months old. She's 18.6 lbs (50%), 29 inches (90%), and head circumference is 46cm (95%). She started crawling a week shy of 8 months and now she's walking. I can't get over how adorable her chunky little legs are wobbling around. 

She's the happiest little girl I've ever seen. I once had a lady come up and say when she didn't see Robb leading the music (Robb was in Utah for a football game), she was worried we were out of town and she wouldn't get to see Alice for another whole week--her smile is that irresistable.

:: Colby and I went to a birthday party for our friend, Willy. It was Colb's first time bowling and he's a natural (as long as bumpers and a ramp are involved) and obviously the arcade was a hit. Most of the kids were at least a year or two older, so Colby and I spent most of the time with each other (woot for mother/son dates).

:: His vocabulary has really picked up this year and I'm grateful for all the little insights I get now into his imagination. Right here he's pretending to be a robot:

:: Colby's latest creation: the double decker couch car

:: Colby dabbing his blanket with a towel after I told him it needed to dry post washer.

:: Storytime: he memorizes books

:: Now that it's cooling down (although you wouldn't think that looking at my kids' red faces) we've started visiting the park more. Colby has conquered all fear of the slides, so runs around us while Alice and I make our more sedate climb up the play structure (she's more interested in eating bark chips).

:: It rained! I love monsoon season, Nothing smells quite as amazing as the desert after a storm. We hurried out to sniff the air, splash in puddles, and naturally I needed some photographic evidence that we do get some moisture here.

All while Alice shoved gravel into her little chipmunk cheeks.