Halloween-d

Another great year of Trick-or-Treating. Here are our pumpkins welcoming some neighbors:


Having friends over always makes the evening more special:


Adults should have fun too:


A neighborhood around the corner went full out and had haunted houses, spooky mazes, and a full Area 51 set up. Thank goodness we listened to Andrew when he suggested to turn left out of our neighborhood. The kids had a blast and little Ellyse (the ladybug) was the one with the most spunk by the end of the night. She had a little purse and would open it right up and look to the candy giver to fill her up.

Gone

The mullet is gone. Again, due to the pressure of the world (about 99.9% of humanity was in agreement on this issue) I cut my son's hair for the first time. It pained me to cut his mullet. I miss the mullet. I mourn the mullet. Letting go can be really hard sometimes.

Proof:


People always mistake Reade for a girl, but now I think he looks even more like a girl. Watch, someone will say, "Wow, she really looks like Mia Farrow from Rosemary's Baby.":


Or, "Your little girl reminds me of Emma Watson's pixie cut.":

Workers

Preschool Halloween Sing

Preschool is definitely a rite of passage as children are dressed up, shoved into a group, and asked to parrot seasonal songs. My child passed through the threshold of childhood while I smiled that special smile that mothers experience in moments like this:



Blake's teacher says these boys are like the three amigos. We didn't mean to match his best friend. They were both so excited to be the same Transformer. Here they are parading around the front circle after their concert:

Need Ideas?

Just in case you haven't found that perfect Halloween costume:

Iphone baby:


Yip Yips:


Slug:

Lesson

My take on the English language is not one that should be emulated. I visited my Nana up in Sacramento this last weekend and always learn a thing or two about what my generation is doing with words.

Say this:

Did you pronounce it sher-beRt or sher-bit? The correct way to pronounce it is [shur-bit]. I asked Andrew the same question and smiled when he added the "r" in his response. I tried to blame 31 Flavors for the mistake, but there aren't any misspellings on their part. I only have myself to blame. So go on readers, let's right our wrongs (I have a long way to go).

Stuff

Some more estate sale/thrifting fun.

$2.50 for a set of mushroom bowls:


$1.00 for this retro backyard chair:


This rivals my couch obsession. I bought the table on the left at a garage sale for $5.00. There was another at the estate sale for $2.50 so I bought it too. I figure I can put these tables out when we have parties:


I found these chairs at another estate sale for $10/each. The table was found at a rummage sale for $10 also. I just need to spray paint it off-white to match the chairs:


This mid-century hunt has been super fun. I wonder how long it will last and what the next big craze will be.

Songs To Sing

I love this song and video because it showcases how quick we are to think things are always greener on the other side, when truly we just need to step aside and let the sun shine on the ground we are covering up. I fall prey to this conundrum all the time:


Is anyone else obsessed with this version of Adele's song? I go cuckoo crazy for how it just sucks you in and makes you croon along:


Somehow I pulled off the dinner party. The pie was yummy and the lasagna was good too. Great company in a house that will probably never be that clean again for quite some time. I am tired and need to go to bed so this posting is a filler so I can treat you to some thrifted fun tomorrow.

Spooking

Things are getting a bit more spooky around here. Pumpkins seem to migrate around the yard by themselves and the dark is lit up in shades of orange. I am finally loving this time of year.

One little pumpkin sitting next to the gate. This photo shows some of Andrew's cover crop on the side of his garden:


Some light up and wait for the dark:


We are having company over tomorrow so I avoided all things spooky and picked the last apples off of the tree in our front yard. End of the crop means apple pies with a crumble topping. I hope they are good:

Wanted

Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists. I just came across this print yesterday. I have to have it. I want it huge and above my bed:

The history of this painting from this website:

"This oil painting is "Portrait of Patience Escalier" by Vincent Van Gogh. It was produced in August 1888 when Van Gogh was a resident in Provence, France. Provence is in south of France, where the weather is intensely sunny. He was extremely inspired by the atmosphere of Provence. Van Gogh left Paris in February and moved in his rented estate in Arles to try to establish an artist colony. The portrait in this painting is of an old Camargue peasant. His model's name is Escalier and in his life he works as a gardener in La Crau and later as a stockman. This painting is the 2nd version of Escalier. During this time Van Gogh was slowly moving away from Impressionism and moving toward Post-impressionism.

In the painting "Portrait of Patience Escalier", the style is post-impressionism and mix with some aspects of impressionism. During this period Van Gogh had been experimenting with post-impressionism. He wanted to express his emotion through the use of colors. In Arles he discovered that color could be use to create emotion. His use of paint is in the style of impasto, where he applies thick application of paint. During this time period the art movement was impressionism with famous impressionist artist like Claude Monet and Camille Pisaaro. However Van Gogh wanted to express emotion in his painting, so he turned to post-impressionism."

I was also happy to hear the original is in Pasadena, CA. That isn't too far to fly and see it. Anyone want to go?

Inventions

My ex-best friend and I would spend hours conjuring up fabulous invention in college. We soooo invented vertical blinds with Disney characters on them before anyone else. There is one idea that I never seem to forget about and that is the LED scrolling text advertisement for the top of the back windshield of your car. That way you can punch in anything you want to let drivers behind you know exactly what you are thinking. For example, "I am going to slam on my brakes buddy if you don't put two car lengths between us ASAP" or (back in my single, college days before Andrew) "Can I have directions? (To where?) To your heart."

I think I would just settle for this:

Except, I would have written "I just called the police to tell them what you just did" instead. I was driving safely in the carpool lane and some idiot decided to cut right in front of me just to pass the car in front of him. So maybe I have been a little short today and shouldn't still be thinking about a silly incident that happend over six hours ago? I just had to get it out.

I told Ellen about that fabulous estate sale and she drove by their house late at night just to see if there was anything available. I thought she was nuts. She then texted me saying everything was out on the driveway still. I drove by today and that table was still there yelling out to me. I emailed the woman while standing in the middle of the driveway and five minutes later I was loading it into the back of the van. She sold me the table for $10! She wants me to come by tomorrow to tour the rest of the house "just in case." Now I am debating whether or not I should buy the original chairs that went with the table for $10 extra bucks. Hmmmm...decisions, decisions.

A teaser of the table. Oh, the two-toned formica top. I thrifted the sweet teacups today and was stoked to find three dessert plates in the pattern below. I am now on the hunt to find more of these plates. The cup and plate don't look so great in the nighttime light:

Three

The history of our couch saga.

It all started with a blue couch:


Then I drove to SF for the gold couch. That one was too squishy, but I loved the look.

I picked up this orange couch, but the springs were kind of shot. I liked it, but it wasn't up to Andrew's comfort standards:


In the middle of the night I realized I could take the cushions out of the gold couch and replace them with the orange couch's cushions. Now I am happy:


I just picked up this area rug for $20 at an estate sale down the street. It has that bohemian look I was going for with a bohemian price tag. The estate sale was in an Eichler with lots of mid-century things that I wanted to call my own. I have no room for them, but would love to go back and buy the: long, double grained coffee table, the funky patio chairs, the oval table with a wooden geometric design that came with a leaf and the chairs, and the list goes on and on. Keep me away!

I also purchased a funky bedspread that is in the washing machine. I will show photos later. Maybe I will include the photo of Andrew shouting "no way" when I put that thing on our bed.

Storytime

This is how storytelling should go:

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Yes, we know we are not Eurovan owners anymore so we should stop falsely advertising we are so with our family photo. It is hard to find a time when all four of us are in the minivan and in the mood for a photo shoot.

Costco

Spending a morning in Costco usually saps me for the rest of the day, but today I actually had fun. We got a front row parking spot and the place was practically empty. Now that is the way to do Costco!

This product entertained me to no end. This guy's street truck is an Airstream.

Photo

His product is a bacon spread. It gets rave reviews. I had to walk past that one!


I am so lucky to have found some shoes for Reade. It is impossible to find shoes to fit this kid. Costco had Jack and Lily brand winter boots for $19.99. Sold, sold, and sold! The kid won't take them off in this 75 degree heat!


My child also benefited from my good mood. I can't believe I caved in and bought him a Bumblebee Transformers Halloween costume. There was only one glove in the package and this was his response, "Oh mom, there is only one glove in this costume. That is okay I guess. I can just wear a garden glove for the other one (hangs his head). Yeah, I could just wear a garden glove as the other one." I think I will buy him a new pair of gloves off of the Halloween Superstore website. Thank goodness they are only $6.88 including shipping.

Pumpkin Patch

Blake attended his first field trip with his preschool class. They met up at Giordano Farms in San Jose for some pumpkin patch fun.

First, there was a story:


Second, there was a walk around the pumpkin patch:


Third, there was a pause to sing Halloween songs:


Pumpkins were spotted:


Followed by snack before the train ride and petting zoo:


Loving the train ride:

Tub

Got to love it when Grandmas and Grandpas whisk away the kids for half the day so you can have time to yourself.

Farm kids in the city:

Spotted

Living in the Silicon Valley lends itself to innovative sightings. I spotted the Google car that drives itself for the second time while on my way to pick up Blake from preschool. I first saw this car before the project went public and thought it was a Google Maps car. I expected to see one guy driving the car, but when I was next to it I laughed because there was the driver plus three engineers squished into the back of the Prius taking vigorous notes (or doing whatever Google engineers do).

Driving itself:


A video explaining the concept:


The Google Blog post.

Happy Birthday Ellen

We got a last minute babysitter and were able to meet up with David and Ellen to celebrate Ellen's birthday. They introduced us to the restaurant Dishdash in downtown Sunnyvale. It was delicious and the drinks were wonderful. Mmmmm...absinthe.

Party animals:


Before I ate my weight in pita bread dipped in Sumac and olive oil:


Entrees:


Time for gifts. Ellen starts to go wild here:


We headed to Monique's Chocolates in Palo Alto for some birthday desserts:


That chocolate fix just might carry me over until her next birthday:


We love you and Happy Birthday!

He Sees

I think it is funny that we hand over expensive cameras to our young children just to see what happens.

Is this how huge a refrigerator looks to a kid?:


Blake's playground, the front courtyard:


His dirty brother. I have to bathe this kid everyday or else his hair starts dreading itself:


There are never pictures of myself since I am always behind the camera. This day, I was the victim:

Comics

Comics, in paper form, were never a part of my childhood. I was a product of the 80's so of course I watched my fare share of Jem on television. I always thought comics were stupid and boring. That might have been an incorrect assumption. The romance comics have captured my attention and I plan on looking into this:

From this website:






My son is starting with Wolverine and Transformers: