B is for Baseball

Really is there anything cuter than a little boy playing baseball?! Come on. You know it's true. Sure Connor would RUN at us when trying to throw us the ball, literally leaving Ian and I scrambling trying to protect ourselves. And once he was over that, he had more fun watching me and Ian throw the ball back and forth then playing with it himself, but you know.

I can't get enough of this kid. And I love when he is in a mood where he wants to play with us. It seems  at times he only wants our attention when he is going to bed (or wakes up in the middle of the night). During the day, he doesn't have time for mom because he is too busy wanting to play with friends or his toys...or the ipad. But when Connor does decide to give me those moments, like climbing in my lap and letting me read to him, it makes my day.

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On another note, I just noticed blogger updated their comments section at the bottom where you can check a box to be notified of a response to your comment. I'm pretty excited about this...its the little things in life!

The Truth...Embarrasses

Over the weekend we were at a party with a bunch of people we didn't know. Connor zeroed in on this lady with bright red lipstick and proceeded to have this conversation with her:

Connor: Why are your lips red?

Lady: Because I am wearing lipstick. 

Connor: Why?

Lady: Because it makes girls pretty when they wear it.

Connor: My mama never does. 

Lady: I'm sure she does sometimes. 

Connor: Nope. Never. 

And my face then proceeded to turn the color of the lady's lipstick. 

It's not exactly a secret to those that know me that I never wear makeup. And I don't partake in too many girly activities. But after that conversation, then me looking at my feet and seeing this:

my 10 week old pedicure, I feel as if I should up my game a little. I'm not talking about make up all the time or anything. But I should at least paint my toe nails at home. Or, more realistically, at least take off the old, chippy polish after several weeks! 

40/52

Every once in a while, I get the urge to go on a little adventure. You know, an unplanned, random one that then must be local. Well, that ended up taking us to this caboose. Connor's favorite part wasn't climbing all over the caboose. It was the fact that two trains went past while we were checking out the caboose. It's the little things in life, right?!


This week:

• I felt pretty dang special when I noticed that one of my friends pinned a shirt on pinterest that I actually own! For a minute there, I felt pretty cool. 

• Connor has been waking up early every morning, as soon as he senses that his daddy is no longer in bed. Those early mornings are awesome. 

• Connor has gotten so good at controlling his balance bike. I'm proud of that little guy. 

• Isla is becoming quite the stubborn and determined little girl lately...aka: the girlfriend likes to meltdown when she doesn't get her way. 

• These cold mornings and warm afternoons have me so confused on how to dress both my kids and I. And it doesn't help when it is in the 60's in the house when I am getting dressed and when I open the door to leave, it is 80. #fallproblems 

Now I'm off to get ready for a week of preschool runs and pumpkin patch visits. This whole morning routine thing is still throwing me off, even more than a month in. Hope your week gets off to a great start!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

It's like a bell goes off in my head on October 1st...ding, ding, ding...pumpkin patch season has begun! I told you it wouldn't take me long to get us to the pumpkin patch. We met some friends there on Friday.

^^ The kids had so much fun running around and playing with this school bus. And Isla had to be held up by someone because you could only see her hands otherwise. 

The kids had a blast. And it is nice that they are at an age that I didn't have to push a stroller around. Of course, I had to constantly watch two kids run in opposite directions! The past two years, the corn pit has been a win and it was again this year.

My kids were wrestling each other constantly in it. And before I knew it, Isla plopped herself on another boy wearing a striped shirt. Oops! 

This year there was a hay maze at the pumpkin patch and Connor was totally into it and having fun running through it with his friends. Of course, he was all into climbing on top of the hay bales. Then Isla would get all jealous that she couldn't climb on them and start crying until I would put her on one. She is in that stage where she wants to do EVERYTHING her brother does.

^^ I don't even know what was going on in this picture. I just turned around looking for Isla and found her like this. It was pretty funny. 

On our way out, the worker said, "Alright, well I will see you 5 or so more times before halloween." I guess she has us pegged! And it must be noted, this is probably the first time I didn't have to forcibly remove Connor kicking and screaming from the pumpkin patch. Yea!


And in case you care, here are posts from our pumpkin patch visits in 2012 and 2011 (Posts one & two). 

Enjoying the Outdoors While Camping

The thing that was really difficult about camping this past week was not being able easily hang out at our campsite. Between the poison ivy, being on a hill (Connor trying to ride his bike around was disastrous!) and all the raccoons, it just wasn't a peaceful place. This left us scrambling trying to find things to do.

Because we were staying at a state park, our camping fees came with the bonus of admission into all the other state parks. This made going to the beach a breeze because it was "free" parking! And as an added bonus, the kids loved running around in the sand and playing.

^^ Isla wasn't into taking a family picture

 

^^ Isla kept laying face down in the sand and would end up with sand all over her face. At least she never ate it!


We also did some fruit picking, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, I am always into that sort of thing. We drove just north of Santa Cruz to the Swanton Berry Farm. It's an all organic farm and operates totally on the honor system. You weigh your own berries, pay and even make change for yourself! They had a little store with fresh baked goods and drinks and it was operated totally on the honor system too. It was super cute and they had a bunch of wooden toys for the kids to play with! We really enjoyed ourselves.

 

^^ Connor ate every strawberry he picked. Well, so did Isla, but Connor was shoving them in his mouth like crazy. And don't you worry, I added a little extra to our bill to make up for what our kids ate.

When we were pulling up to the berry farm we saw a sign for u-pick Cal Poly apples just down the road. Supporting our school and picking apples was a win, win in our book. Fellow Cal Poly alumni, did you know Cal Poly owns more land in Santa Cruz than UC Santa Cruz?! We were the only people up picking apples and I think it made the experience that much better. We had to constantly watch out for Isla as she kept picking up half eaten apples and apples eaten by worms off the ground and starting to munch on them...yum!

 

 

^^ How cute is that tiny apple?! Connor totally ate it too.

Whether at home or on vacation, I always feel like when the kids are going crazy, getting outside and enjoying some fresh air is good for everyone!

Fall Decor

In the past I have considered myself not one to decorate for the seasons. But I have slowly amassed decor for various seasons based on craft projects with friends and a couple things I attempted to do myself. 

And I have to admit, pulling out my fall decor made me pretty dang happy. All the orange and pumpkin goodness has me excited for my first pumpkin patch trip of the season...maybe this week?

This was a craft project I did with friends. It was a show up and paint it type of situation where everything was already provided. In my opinion, that's the best type of situation ;) And  I like saying that I "made" it. 

These little pumpkin candles are from my Pottery Barn days. You probably didn't know this, but I worked at Pottery Barn for 3 years. And I spent WAY MORE than I made there while working there. It was a sickness really. 

The wreath was a project I took on toward the end of my pregnancy with Isla. I still remember sitting in front of the tv making it. I was inspired by a friend on Facebook. And I in turn inspired another friend to make one. That is probably the first and only time I have ever inspired someone in a crafty manner! 

This lantern has been sitting empty on my porch for a while now. I figured a candle would only last a day given that it gets direct sunlight all day long. So it has remained empty. Then I randomly picked up some mini pumpkins and gourds the other day, not knowing what I was going to do with them. As I walked in the house, I caught a glimpse of the lantern and in the lantern my pumpkins and gourds went. The next day, my mom said she saw the exact same idea on pinterest. If only I had done it earlier...I could have been a pinterest sensation! 

This little lantern/jar was another craft project with friends. My MOPS group made them last year. I like it. And when we have company over (and I remember to do so), I actually light a candle in it. Fancy, I know! 

Now I am feeling inspired. Like maybe I should go buy more mini pumpkins and gourds and put them all over my house. Aww, fall. I am glad you are here...even if it means the days are shorter and winter is right around the corner. 

Camping {6 pictures, 6 things}

As I mentioned in my last post, we just got back from four days of camping on the coast (New Brighton State Beach, to be exact). That camping trip left me pretty dang exhausted. My friend Anna always makes camping with kids look so easy, but this time was very hard and draining for me. That's not to say that there weren't good times to be had. It was just an exhausting trip.

 1. Connor was afraid of the camp fire and didn't want to be near it. He even moved his chair way far away from the fire pit, as seen in one of the above photos. My poor kid and his fears. 

2. Both the kids were crazy into marshmallows. And Connor finally enjoyed a smore (he usually refuses them because of the marshmallow getting on his hands) and referred to them as a "sandwich".

3. We drove around every evening to put the kids to sleep, then came back and slipped them into their sleeping bags. This came about after a disastrous first evening of trying to get the kids to sleep. 

4. We shared our campsite with five raccoons that never left us alone. I have to admit, as annoying as those things are, they really have a cool little thing going with the black "eye mask". 

5. The nights were loooong with Isla waking numerous times and the raccoons rattling our food locker constantly, but coffee at the campfire in the morning helped redeem those long nights. 

6. Connor literally woke with the sun each morning. One morning as I was walking him to the bathroom and trying to keep him quiet he said "Why are people still asleep mommy? The sun is out, it's morning!" (Cue Joey's "morning's here" song from Friends in my head). 

We did a lot more than just hang out at our campsite while gone. I will be sharing more as the week progresses...and I sort through all 850 pictures I took.