he didn't get it from my family...

Will is lucky to have a Noni (chris' mom) who is an amazing artist.

She must be rubbing off on him.

He is all about cutting, coloring, painting, etc. right now.

Today he showed me these and told me what each one was.

Don't worry, there were plenty of brown blobs

that were also labeled with horse, cat, etc.

but these were pretty right on, eh?

And yes, I did provide him with ten pretty colors

but his first move is always to mash them all up together.

filthy

a 2 bath kind of day.
he had so much yogurt up his nose

big blobs would flop in and out with every breathe.

carve that pumpkin

Pumpkin carving was serious business this year.

Lucy won for best scooper.

Henry for picking the most complicated design for megan to carve.

and Will for being most OCD.

See that gash above our gnarly dude's left eye?

Will sawed that thing the ENTIRE hour we carved.

Holidays get more fun every year!

what a difference a year makes...

sassy, opinionated, snuggly, sweet char.

can't get enough.

repeat

w: "mom, let's play hide and seek."

m: "ok, I'll hide first."

w: 1-2-free-4-5-6-8910.

w: "mom, where are you?"

he looks around but not too hard because really

he's scared to find me.

"mom, where are you?"

m: "wiiiiillll."

w: "mom, where are you?"

m: "wiiiiillll."

w: "mom, where are you?"

etc.

then he finds me behind the laundry hamper.

w: "ok, now it's my turn to hide!"

m: "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. ready or not, here I come!"

I walk around yelling "where is he, Char?"

opening and closing doors.

looking under tables.

etc.

until I "find" him...

behind the laundry hamper.

repeat.

he finds me behind his bedroom door.

I find him behind his bedroom door.

repeat.

he finds me under the crib.

I find him under the crib.

repeat.

he finds me behind the couch.

I find him behind the couch.

repeat.

repeat.

repeat.

This game will be replayed exactly

one million times in the next five years.

I think I am way to lazy to be a parent.

harvest fest

Will's school had the most perfect little fall party on Friday night.

It was like we went back in time to Geiger Elementary, 1987.

And it was carnival night.

the. best. night. of. the. year.

I'm sure every school did the same thing

but I can't remember anything MORE fun when I was a kid.

We did the cake walk, bounced in the bouncy house,

ate hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy,

fished over the water wall, shot hoops, tossed bean bags,

rode ponies, played with balloons, followed Char around,

knocked over milk bottles, pet rabbits and goats,

collected candy and laughed a lot.

Oh, and Will won the cake decorating contest

with his "HUGE spider cake!"

It was such a sweet, innocent, perfect little night.

Wright Park

Wright Park is kind of our new hang out.

It's close to the kid's schools

and is full of fun.

It was really creepy and trashy when I was growing up

so I am thrilled to see it in all it's glory.

This little dude thinks he is so rad.

The second I put those boots on him

he started strutting and hasn't stopped.

The Arboretum was the perfect "haunted" house

for our little chickens.

Char was obsessed with the giant rats.

We posed.

We fed the Koi.

Henny acted really scared.

Will was pretty scared.

And Char picked his nose.

Then we fed the ducks,

played on the playground,

collected chestnuts and acorns

and called it a day.

I am so thankful for our friends

and these amazing fall days.

just because...

dudes love dirt.

this was a couple of hours after their first bath

and change of clothes of the day.

we've upped the laundry load by about three fold

since the rain hit and made mud

and Will decided he's

"planting a garden and

making a compost like curious george"

in our back yard.

they're very serious about their work

and lucky for is it occupies about 3 hours everyday

between the actual play time, baths,

new clothes wrangling and laundry.

all snuggled in...

with baby supplies packed up and ready to go

right next to the bed.

work, cont.

i started my "work" post (see below) last week

and then today stalked this, this and this.

you can add what they say to the bottom

of my little blurb.

i heart the people i work with!

work

work has been hard the last few weeks.

i always say there is no place else I'd want to be

if i have to be away from my dudes.

i go to work with my head held high,

excited to meet the challenges that are presented

to me/us every second of our 12 hour shift.

...

we laugh, cry, sweat, worry, pray,

hope, advocate, feed, clothe, bathe, baby

talk, hug, snuggle, cheer, suction, soothe,

comfort, revive, travel, play, diaper,

run, coordinate, share, clarify, teach,

serve, collaborate, search, discover

and much more on most days.

...

we bring it.

because we have to.

for our patients, their families and our coworkers.

...

and because it's what we do.

it's what we've dedicated our lives to.

and it's what we love.

...

having that intention brought into question

has knocked the wind out of us.

there's an overwhelming sadness

over what has happened.

and what is happening "out there."

...

but we will persevere.

because we owe it to our sweet patient who died,

the nurses who took care of her,

and the thousands of patients who need

our heads to be in the game.

...

we will always remember

what is happening right now.

and we will be better at our job for

experiencing it.

...

not many can say they've seen a miracle.

i have.

we have.

we've seen lots of them.

we each have our list.

and i look forward to

adding to mine.

splash park

last saturday chris golfed

and the boys and I played.

we went to the park.

it was beautiful outside

and the splash park was sprayin'.

we had no suits

so they stripped down to their undies

and we had the best hour

splashin' in the splash park

all by ourselves.

why do kids always become comfortable

with stuff at the end of the season.

Charlie was in heaven

sticking his face in the spray

and Will ran around like he owned the place.

i'm excited for fall to be here

but i'm already looking forward to next summer.