Halloween 2009

And we totally sucked at pictures. Akasha got a late nap, and we kinda ran out of time, but here is a shot of Orion as the Red Power Ranger. Not sure what the pose was all about!
Akasha, on the other hand, we didn't get a single decent photo of. :( She had a cute little ladybug pullover, but you can't really see the antennae here.
This is what happened when I tried to put her down for a shot with brother.
Yeah, she is usually a little grouchy for awhile after getting up. AND it looks like the lens on the little camera is smudged up or something. Must remember to clean it!

You can't tell in the picture, but this would be her first ever taste of a candy bar! After I realized she had managed to gnaw through a Snickers wrapper (no joke!), I figured, what the heck? They don't have a very thick chocolate coating. She didn't have much of a reaction, so maybe she is already almost past her dairy issues. That would sure be nice!
Stolen from Zoe's blog of the whole gang.

Towers Galore!

Just a few days ago, Akasha started stacking some toys together into towers out of the blue. She does it every morning now, and sometimes more. I finally got some pics of the action! She makes some pretty cool stuff, sometimes with something bigger on something smaller, and will often sit an animal or something on top lol. It is like she went from 0 - 60 overnight in the building skills!

Rad Shirt!

This was my favorite score from Pass it On this year by far! Just so cool somebody created this shirt for a kid!

Let the Embarrassment Begin!

No, seriously, I officially have Sarah's permission, and even encouragement, to put up things she drew and wrote. She is one confident girl. :) I was telling her I found some great essays from high school that were cracking me up, and she said it was fine if I posted them. So I am starting a process of going through documents to see what I want to put up. At the same time, while I am posting all this art of Orion's, I thought, why not take pictures of some of Sarah's stuff as well? I came across these in an old notebook and thought they were pretty funny!

Another Art Exploooooooooosion

I got behind in hanging up art, so this is a giant catch up post. These aren't in the order he made them, or any order for that matter. Just some stuff I like! Hopefully these aren't any duplicates from older stuff I posted.

Kid on a slide!

Easter Egg
Snowman
I liked this one with the long armed dude because it was also his first sun with "rays".
A birthday cake!
This is how he draws me. :) I love the cheeks.
This was quite a production for him. He usually doesn't spend this much on a single drawing. This was a whole city he said. There is even a gray street under the cars.
This one has a bit of a story. Orion drew the fireman, then wanted me to draw fire. He kept making the shape in the air to show me, but I didn't realize he only wanted me to draw ONE flame right under the water. So he was quite upset at first. :( Then I suggested making the water go into streams. He liked that and said, "Why didn't I think of that?!" haha This was kindof a big deal because he usually gets really upset and frustrated when a drawing doesn't go his way, then crumples it up. Yay for thinking outside the box a little!
Daddy, who doesn't have blue eyes. :shrug:
Guy on a motorcycle. One of my favorites!
This one is pretty neat because he was wanting to paint a heart, but felt he didn't know how and was asking for help. Tessi suggested he painted the way he thinks of a heart, and this is how it came out!
Fire engine, with a hose and everything! And apparently a flat tire LOL.
This one was quite recent. He said it was several friends singing Mary Had a Little Lamb together. :) Notice the notes, and I guess people close their eyes when singing!
Just somebody under a rainbow. Mommy with a baby in the tummy? The square things on the arms are sleeves.
Orion drew these two then asked me to add the hearts. :)
Mixed media! Akasha loves this one. She cries, "Doggy, doggy!" every time she sees it. I asked Orion if that was a noodle he ate in his tummy, and he said, "No! It's a stripe!" Of course!
He knew just where to put this sticker.

When I asked about this one, it was simply described as "a guy with really long arms."
This is probably my all time favorite so far - a family of dragons! I think it rocks he pictures dragons as spirals!

What to do with that old Halloween fabric hanging around.

Survivor and the Changing Face of the Country

Yes, I am going to make another post about reality TV.... Ron and I haven't had much time to watch anything together, but he has Survivor downloaded, and we finally got around to starting this season. For those of you who don't watch the show, each season is structured a bit differently. Often, tribes are picked on the first day, but this season, they were "prepicked". They also did something else I don't remember seeing before (although I have not watched all of them). They had the tribes each vote for a leader, just based on appearance and without knowing anything about the people. They didn't even know their names! People had to write down descriptions instead. The players come from all over the country and from many different backgrounds, so I was pretty surprised (in a good way) with the results. First tribe, Russel gets voted as leader:
Not just a black man. A black man with dreadlocks.

Then in the next tribe, Jaison almost wins:

I have no idea when this was filmed in relation to the election, but I have to wonder if there is any connection. Things like this make me think we are headed in the right direction. There were even a few female "names" written down. Would be nice if they were just as likely to get elected, but I have been surprised once.... Where are we headed?

Oh, and for those of you who DO watch the show, no spoilers. We have only watched the first two episodes. :)

Mom and Chuck's Front Page

Finally took a picture of the whole front page of this news paper.
I think the headline is pretty funny considering they get well into the 100s now. Not to mention, don't miss the New 15-Story Building for Downtown! ZOMG This is my favorite article on the page though:
The whole thing is about the petition a bunch of scientists, including Linus Pauling, signed, asking for a ban to nuclear testing. Oh well.

Math Moment

Just had to document this brief exchange!

Orion: Mom, bring ten strawberries so sister and I can have the same number.
Me: What number is that?
Orion: (with no hesitation) Five!

Gee, I guess they do learn all on their own. :)

Plumper Pumpkins

Wow, the weather was insanely beautiful today! Perfect day to get out to a pumpkin patch! We picked Plumber because they have all sorts of launching devices - popular with the boys!

We snagged a wagon in the parking lot, which was a BIG hit with Akasha. (More "wheewheewhee".)
As much as she loved it, she also absolutely refused to smile!
Oh well, we ended up getting there way too close to her naptime, which was my own fault. I was really looking forward to some great photo ops, and she just wouldn't even look at me most of the time! This one was still kinda neat I thought.
Orion, on the other had, has no problem posing.
He loved this colorful corn!
Funny shaped pumpkin!
Orion is endlessly amused with these stick your head in the hole things.
Not really sure what the attraction was to this moldy headed guy. Ick!
Taking a break for a Daddy hug.
Highlight of the day! This pumpkin gun was some type of air compressor thing. There is a car out in the field they were shooting at, and if you look closely, you can see a little orange dot flying through the air. Orion picked it, and it hit the car. He was so excited. We never saw it get hit again that day, so I guess we got pretty lucky!
This was a shot he did with 8 small pumpkins all at the same time.
Then it was time to try a hand at the giant slingshots. There was a sign that said, Only one person per bay, but luckily the kid collecting the money didn't really seem to care.
Akasha checking out the slingshot action.
This is what the attendant was doing. Guess that is why he was so distracted. :)
Later that day.... Looks like we got some raking to do....
"Yeah mom, I'm gettin' all wet!"
Both kids thought it was hilarious the way this leaf was dangling off Kona's belly when she came in side.
And tomorrow we are expected to be back to the rain. :)