Of power and preston.

Steve and I were in the front of the van talking about some proposition or another when Preston heard the word, "government" in our conversation. The following is our banter:

Preston: Do we have a government anyway?

Daddy: Yes--

Preston: Well, what's his name?

Daddy: Oh, well, the government is made up of a bunch of people who work together--

Preston: But, what's his naaame?

(Amused glances and smirks exchanged between parents.)

Daddy: Well, there's the Legislative, the Executive--

Preston: Ughhh...

Daddy: The government has power to--

Preston: Power? Like a Laser Power or sumpin?

Daddy: No, no...

Preston: Does the government cut people with the power?

(Umm...)

Mommy: Well, there's a President who is in charge of the government. His name is President Obama.

Preston: President Oomana?

Mommy: No, O-Ba-Ma.

Preston: (singing) Obanaaa, Oomaana, Ukuunaaa.....

I wish they could stay children forever and ever.

Paige's Piano Recital

Paige had her 2nd piano recital last week. She has been playing for about 3 years now and is doing so well and is so fun to listen to. She has the best teacher who is patient and encouraging. For this recital, Paige played two memorized pieces: The Entertainer and The Night of the Tarantela.

It was a packed house and we enjoyed a nice little concert by all of the students.

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What I've Learned About Paige:

She is a great pianist.
She excels when she can be independent of her mother.
Meaning, I do not help her with her piano practice or theory lessons.
Meaning, she has chosen to motivate herself and we are all happier for it.
Meaning, it is not good when two controlling musicians butt heads.

Ahem.

Preston's 5th Birthday!! Hooray!!

We had two celebrations: one on the actual birthday with our little family and one party with friends that weekend. The theme:

PIRATES!

His big brother made him a sweet Star Wars card:

To Preston. You are a real Star Wars character. You are cool and you are awesome. From Trevor


"Pin the Parrot on the Pirate"
So close, Preston!
(I know this looks wierd, but our 3rd car garage opens up to the backyard.)

Everyone drawing their best pirate!




Trust me--you want to give this boy a gift, because his reactions and gratitude are priceless.



Matey Cupcakes (Fruit-roll ups for the scarf)

A conversation last week, also known as Why We Adore Preston:

Preston: Mom, I wish I was a moose.

Me: A moose? Why's that?

Preston: Uh, because then on Halloween, I could hang my trick-or-treat bag on my antlers!" (followed by raised arms and an implied, "Duh!")

So creative, joyful, lively, delightful, grateful and happy! We love you, Preston!

The holy science of water droplets

It's always this way, isn't it?

Rain first.

Then the sun.

Rain: we can't see much when it's a' poundin'.

Sun: is when we see the beauty of all that rain.

Rain first.

Then the Son.

Blurry Bliss

September's Happenings

Here are some random items from our past little while.

A broken garage door--to say the least.

Those little dents at the bottom were due to monsoon microburst winds.

Those broken shards of glass were not.

They were due to a garage door fix-it man who "messed up" (in his words), shattered the glass, suffered a major six-inch-glass-shard-going-through-hand injury, knocked on my door asking me to drive him to the emergency room whilst I am staring at a large pool of blood quickly collecting on my garage floor and me saying, "Um....uh..." and trying not to faint. I gave the poor guy an old lime green towel, a gatorade (ya know, so he wouldn't go into shock), and told him to put out his cigarette (for I imagine smoking is not good when you are losing blood).

{sigh}

It all worked out, the man was back at work that night (wow) after some stitches, and our garage is as good as new, if you'd like to drive by.

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Lots of delightful dress-up time.

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(Look how tall our Paige is!!)

Fall Soccer and Volleyball began. I have no pics from the games yet, but this is Dad in the backyard with the kiddos "running drills" and other official athleticism.

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Steve had a birthday bash. The kids had picked out a Shark book from the book order "because Daddy loves Sharks, Mom!"

Which is true.

And, bonus, this book comes with 3-D glasses. Scary!

The other gifts included items from our pantry that the kids wanted to wrap.

Ya know, some of Dad's faves like salsa, kleenex, and mints.

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Oh, and also, there's this.

I know, it doesn't look "positive"...which is why there are two.

But I really took three.

I mean, four.

Just to make sure.

Since, you do that when you're in shock.

In a good way.

13 weeks and the little pumpkin (also known as the "Owens' Final Installment") is so far, so good, according to the many ultrasounds.

I have been not-so-good in my fog-like state of nausea and exhaustion.

But life seems a little rosier now,

and I remember that food tastes good.

Though it still doesn't exactly smell good.

Yay for babies!

I'm dreaming of an orange fall...

First day of October.

Today's High: 105

{sigh}

Is it possible to have seasonal depression, but because of too much sun? Too much heat?

I just have to remember that we are frolicking away our Decembers and Januarys when the rest of the country is shoveling their way to their cars.

So, here's to a 90's type of day, at the very least, for the rest of October.

(I'll have more September pictures later, 'cause I'm way behind...)