Pumpkins!

I think this is the first year that the kids have done all of the carving themselves!

With the exception of a little help with the tops (arguably, the most difficult part of the carving), they were on their own!

Justin got a kick out of the skeleton gloves that came with the carving kit

The finished products... from the back: Jared chose a frog design with cool stick in eyes, Justin chose a peace sign in keeping with his Hippie costume, Madeline did a beautiful job on her owl, and Grace went with a classic jack-o-lantern design.

Happy Halloween!

Caption this photo...

Are you sure this will be an Olympic event in four years?

Thanks to Mark Vanderpol for the great caption!

Timpano!

Well, here it is!  The finished product...My first Timpano!  It was pretty terrifying to cut it and not know if it would all fall apart....

One slice and all was well... Look at all those beautiful, yummy layers!

The slices came out beautifully

And it tasted as least as good as it looked, plated with 3 sauces(pesto, vodka, and alfredo)

More on the assembly and enjoying the finished product in future post!

Where are the Catalina pictures?

I am sure some of you are wondering about the Catalina pictures and whether or not the bargain underwater digital camera actually worked... Well the answer is a bit more complicated than a "yes or no".  Yes, we THINK it did work.  Jared took pictures, and the number of photos left kept going down.  But then on the last day, when they weren't going to be in the water, he took it out of the waterproof case to slip it in his pocket.  Upon removal from the pocket, the battery compartment popped open.  Jared closed it, but he then noticed that the number of available pictures had gone back up.  Well, he took a few more pictures that day and back at home the same scenario occurred and the pictures remaining number again went up.  Apparently,  when the battery compartment opens the pictures are lost, which causes a significant  problem if your batteries run out while the camera is full of pics.  Oh well, it looks like I should have gone with the disposable variety after all.  

Jared had a fantastic time in Catalina.  He snorkeled twice the first day, once in daylight and once at night.  He ate seaweed right out of the ocean!  Way to go, Jared!!!!  He kayaked, dissected a squid (and ate the eyeball lenses, ewww!  When asked, "why?"...  he said, " because the instructor said we could!"  Is that a 12- year old boy response, or what?), rock climbed, jumped off a platform into the ocean at 6:30 a.m (brrr!), and saw about 100 dolphins swimming around the ferry back to Long Beach.

I still hope to have some pictures, eventually.  Someone is supposed to be compiling the chaperones pictures so that we can purchase them.  

Bright and early this morning,...

...we sent Jared off to Catalina for 3 fun-filled days of marine exploration!  He is so excited about all the adventuring they will be doing on his 7th grade class trip, especially the night snorkel!  You can see from the window that it was still dark outside when we left.  The carpool left Escondido at 5:45 a.m., so we (actually Jon & Jared) were out the door at 5 a.m.!I am sure we will have some more pictures to share when he returns later this week.  That is as long as the underwater digital camera we bought him works. I am a little skeptical that a camera that only cost me $20, will stay waterproof.  I will let you know, because if it does, it was a bargain!

Happy Birthday Grace!

Here is my trip down memory lane.  I can't believe my little Gracie is 11. Somethings never change, though.  Those sweet, little cheeks are still there.  And, the great big smile!  

Isn't this the sweetest sleeping baby picture ever?

10 months old

2 years old with her first carved pumpkin!

4 years old- apple picking (and tasting!)

6th Birthday

7 years old next to her favorite rose bush at our house in Maplewood.

10 years old, with Hannah (2nd cousin), at our family reunion in Idyllwild

And, showing off the short, sassy, birthday haircut.

Happy 11th Birthday Grace!!!

Brisingr release party

It seems to have become a tradition for our family to go to the book store's midnight release party when a new book comes out.  This time it was Brisingr - the third book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.  Both Grace and Jared have really enjoyed Eragon and Eldest and were eagerly awaiting Brisingr.  Grace had put the book on her birthday wish list (her birthday is next Sunday, the 28th) and requested that we go to the party.  So, despite the long week we had had, it was off to Borders at 10 p.m. on Friday night!  The store had some activities planned to keep all the fans busy during the wait.  The evening started out with a Quest to find clues throughout the store.

Here are Grace and her friend, Kirsten, who teamed up for the quest, trying to make sense of the clues they have found.   And afterward, with there prizes.  They were 2nd place!  Great job, girls!

Grace won the costume contest for her Arya (an elf in the book) costume.  She won a signed book plate for her book!  She was so excited, and it made her birthday gift that much better!  Not only did she get the book, but a copy with a signed book plate!  

All night the kids received raffle tickets for the raffle at the end of the night.  Up for grabs were spots 1-4 in line to buy the book.  We have never gotten one of those spots before... but this time Jared got spot #4.  Here he is with the coveted silver wrist band!

And my happy readers!  They stayed up for a couple hours getting started on the new book before crashing for the night!  

Yawn!  I was sooo tired afterwards, I could hardly keep my eyes open to get the girls settled in the living room for the night.  I must be getting older, because staying out late didn't used to affect me like it does now.