Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn!

As much as I hate to admit it, I think last weekend was our last real summer-y weekend. It's always hard to let the warm, play-outside-all-the-time weather go, but we did see it off in style by having a visit from Grandma Star, Grandpa Bob and Uncle Jay (we missed you, Aunt Cyndi!!) Ryan and Jay did some mountain biking and Grandma and Grandpa did more than their fair share of babysitting, and we all went to the local Hops Festival. We all witnessed Will start to really get his feet under him, and we all agreed that he's only moments away from running. (He's already well into climbing--Ryan found him halfway up a bookshelf yesterday!) After Grandma, Grandpa and Jay left, we spent the afternoon at a park in Black Butte. The tourist season has wound down, so we had the swings, slide and sand all to ourselves. This suited the kids just fine: Will LOVES to swing and signed "more" every time I attempted to stop pushing him. (No one will be surprised to learn that his two favorite signs are "more" and "eat.") And Kate enjoyed going down and climbing up the twisty slide as it seems to be her goal to determine the best one in town. It was a really nice, peaceful way to spend one of our last summer afternoons...and shortly after we got home, Ryan asked Kate if she was excited about sledding on the hill near our house once it snowed. I'm not quite ready for snow again, but I will admit that it will be fun to have two little ones cavorting in the snow this year!

Who needs Halloween when you've got pre-school?

Kate is WAY into playing dress-up right now. So much so that she wore a ladybug to school the other day (complete with wings) and wore her Spiderman costume (complete with fake muscles) to the brewery. She also likes to wear a Beckham jersey over the Spiderman costume, which basically makes her look like a small, steroid-taking footballer. It's not just costumes, either. She's taken to playing in my closet while I get ready. The other day she put on some high-heeled shoes, a jacket and a belt and informed me, "this will look just great in the moonlight." Because we spend so much time in the moonlight?! Kate chooses her clothes for school (a tutu is typically involved, as are two different shoes since she "can't decide because they both look good") and the last time I dropped her off, her teacher said she always looks forward to seeing what Kate is wearing. She's nothing if not creative! Some are hits and others are pretty strange misses, but the clothing battle is not one I'm willing to fight. For now, I'll just take lots of photos and use them as blackmail when she's an unruly teenager!

Have a great trip, Grandpa Mac!

Hi Dad (aka Grandpa Mac)! With your last show taped and your bags (on the way to being) packed, I guess you are REALLY retired now! :) Thanks for coming over for Will's birthday and for taking us to the Folk Festival, and for entertaining us while Ryan was gone. We hope you have a fantastic trip to Botswana! Kate keeps asking when "grandpa Mac is going to Bots-ana" so I think she expects some good tales when you return!

Another creative use of words from Kate!

Man, it's been insanely busy around here lately. So busy, it seems, I'm not keeping up on here very well. All in good time. But, for now, so that I don't forget it someday, here's a comment I just love from Kate: (after brushing my hair), "well, young lady, you sure do look appetizing!" Not sure where she heard "appetizing" but I thought it was a quite fabulous thing to say! :)

You're one today!

Little (now not-so-little) Will, you're a year old today! It's been a joy to watch you grow and learn this year. You've turned from a round, pink little bundle into a mini version of your daddy--lucky you!! Your sister has taken to calling you "little mischief" which is a pretty good description. When you wrinkle your nose and grin we know you're up to something! As you turn a year old, you've finally, FINALLY started sleeping all the way through the night (hooray for that!!) and you've taken a few wobbly steps. This week you started blowing (ready to blow out your candle, no doubt) and "singing" ee-i-ee-i--oh when we sing "Old MacDonald" to you. Small milestones but, to your parents, they are clear indication that you are a gifted one-year-old! We love you, little mischief.

Happy Birthday, Will!

Will turns one tomorrow! Since one-year-olds have no idea what a birthday is, you can celebrate it any day you want, so we celebrated last weekend in Yreka. He shared his first birthday with his second cousin, Colton, since they are just two weeks apart. They both got into their cupcakes enough to need a good scrubbing in the utility sink afterwards. It was a really nice first birthday, complete with family and good friends. We're not doing anything big on his real birthday, but Grandpa Mac came for a visit so he will have a special visitor. If Kate has any say in it, we'll definitely be getting cupcakes again.... We love you, little buddy!! Our family wasn't complete until you came along. Now, it's just perfect.

First day of school!

Today was Kate's first day of preschool--WHEN did my baby girl become old enough to go to school?? Time does truly pass so quickly, which is why it's so important to celebrate the big milestones like today. I knew it would be harder for me to send my little companion off to school than it would be for her to leave Will and me; she was as ready as could be. She wore her favorite outfit of the moment (bright orange tutu and Cars t-shirt) and proudly donned her Spiderman backpack (nevermind that we didn't actually have anything to put in it!) When we got to school, she was off and never looked back. And I do mean that literally. I stayed for a few minutes, chatting with the other parents who all seemed reluctant to go, and when I went to say good-bye to her, she just said, "I thought you left already." Then she gave Will and I a kiss and as I was saying "I'll be back to pick you up," she ran off, so all I got out was "I'll be...." Guess I didn't have to worry about this day being hard on her. Will and I enjoyed the next three-and-a-half hours on our own and, when we went to pick her up, Kate informed us that she "wasn't quite done with school yet." I had to bribe her and distract her to get her to leave and she was still the last kid there! So, I think she likes it. A lot. She was so hyper afterwards that she was nearly breathless and I think excitement is a good sign that this will be a good first year of school for her. She, Will and I enjoyed the rest of the day, too, because we got to hang out with Aunt Courtney, Dan, Uncle John and Amanda. They were very great sports!! And the topper of the day is that Ryan is coming home tonight. He has to take one day off since he's worked 14 days on the fire, so we'll enjoy our one day with him before he heads back. Kate will be bouncing off the walls when she wakes up to find daddy home!

Two days, two parties!

Wow!! What a labor day weekend this has been. It was a whirlwind to say the least (I kind of feel like my whole life is a whirlwind lately!) I took the kids down to Yreka for the Singleton wedding-of-the-year (we've had a good run of one wedding each year). Ryan is STILL out at Warm Springs helping with the fire. It's going on two weeks straight now, and I know he would have so much rather been in Yreka. He was greatly missed, but we're also all proud of him for working so hard. I must say I'm even more thankful now that we're not a military family--I don't know how they do it!! So, without Ryan, down I headed with Kate, Will and Hickory. I can't say the drive was my favorite part but it went as well as I could expect. All was well once we got down to Grandma Star and Gumpa Bob's house; the kids went straight into the little pool. They must have ran themselves ragged because Will slept for THIRTEEN HOURS on Friday night, which is definitely a record. The wedding, cousin Amy and Tyler's, was on Saturday and was absolutely fantastic. It was at Mt. Shasta resort on a perfect summer day. Kate asked which princess Amy was and, she was right, Amy looked just like a princess. It was fun seeing all the Singletons and Kate, especially, got into all the festivities. They even had a photo booth complete with dress-up stuff--Kate would have stayed there all night long. She managed to tear herself away from the photos long enough to have a cupcake and get down on the dance floor with her second cousin, Caitlin. At the end of the night, she told me "dancing with Caitlin was my very best thing today." I must agree, it was the sweetest! I will endeavor to post tomorrow about the second big party of the weekend: Will and second cousin Colton's first birthday party!! It's not much of a spoiler to say that they both LOVED cake! BIG, big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting our wild clan and the wild first birthday--you are the best!! Now, I'm off to prepare for Kate's FIRST day of pre-school tomorrow! Actually, there's not much to "prepare" but it's such a big day, I feel like there should be!

Kate prepping for the wedding. She discovered a love of the lounge chair and Will discovered a love of cherry tomatoes from Grandpa's garden. Kate and Will both discovered a love of plums from Grandpa's tree--they were COVERED in juice!
The beautiful bride and groom

Amy & Tyler's first dance, accompanied by Caitlin and Kate (below).

The slow-dancing cousins. If that's not cute, I don't know what is.

Our girls got moves!

Thanks to Uncle Jay and Aunt Cyndi for entertaining this little munchkin while I had my hands full with Will!!

Rolling down a hill--a simple pleasure of childhood!!