trio

michael and i have known pat and jeni since college.  our group of friends have done dinner nights, new years eve trips and many weddings together.  they were one of the first in our group to have a baby, and i will never forget jeni's story of their first night home with rowan.  they brought her home on new years eve to a very organized household, only to find themselves at 2 in the morning with every light in the house on and all the organized baskets and drawers in disarray as they searched for the specific items they needed for newbie rowan only to have forgotten just where they put it.  it sums up that first night home with your new little so well, and i smile whenever i think of that story.

rowan is now almost 6-years-old, and has two younger siblings in the mix, tegan and brandt.   when they asked me to take a few photos for them, i happily agreed, so we met in the park on a sunny, fall day.












pat and jeni, you are fabulous people with three very cool, beautiful and stylish kids.  thank you for allowing me to capture these gorgeous faces.

importance, a la instagram

on tuesday, i took my girls with me to vote in the presidential election.  i prepared myself for long lines, packed my purse with phone and earphones, ipad and snacks.  turns out we only had to wait 10 minutes or so, but i wasn't certain of the state of the girls after a full school day, so mama always has to be at the ready (and believe me, i am not always at the ready).  harper asked a few questions, about what voting was and why we were doing it and who was the president and what the united states of america was (more and more questions popped up as i was trying to explain the first ones), and i did my best to provide answers on the importance of having a voice and exercising our rights as citizens.  in the end, she was excited that she got to put the ballot in the machine, that she and crosby got stickers and that she saw her friend, hunter, voting with his mama, too.  it wasn't the easiest excursion, but it was of utmost importance for them to see our right to vote.

the day was also important to me for another reason.  i participated in a spinning class.  not an unusual thing, but this day was more special.  after spinning 1-2 times per week, give or take most weeks, since last november, i needed to kick it up a notch.  the studio was offering a discounted ride card if you took 12 classes in 30 days.  i decided to set a goal for myself.  tuesday was my 12th class, and i kicked its behind, hitting watts higher than i've ever met.  that morning, i also received an e-mail from the studio wishing me a happy anniversary- 1 year since my first ride in that studio to the day.  

my pride leaving that studio that night matched my pride completing the bubbles on the ballot hours earlier.  both exercising my rights.  both showing my girls how to be a strong, healthy, important american who matters.

that evening succumbed to a stripey dance party.  in celebrations til next time...

halloweening

5 years ago last thursday, november 1, michael and i discovered we were going to be parents.  took a little test that showed 2 lines, and our lives were forever changed.  for the good.  we spent the night before, our last halloween as a family of 2 + dog, sipping cosmos, playing scrabble (with an actual board vs. the iphones we use now-a-days), watching the horror film saw on the television and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters with maximus dressed in his superman costume.  i remember that night vividly because it was our last night that we weren't constantly thinking about our child(ren).  how things have changed in the last 5 years.

before we get too far away from the halloween holiday, here is how we celebrated.  during the days leading up, we celebrated with spooky snacks and foods- mummy pizzas, witches broomsticks, monster pudding, mummy hotdogs, marshmallow candy corn men, apple cider donuts, boo bananas.  it was a yummy holiday.  one that continued during actual trick-or-treating, when the girls found themselves with more sugar then they knew what to do with.  we had friends over to treat with us, and we had a great time.  



harper, queen of changing her mind at the last minute for everything, went from wanting to be a dragon many months ago, to a mermaid, to a bird.  so we borrowed a bird costume.  then she decided to wear the caterpillar costume for greenfield village's hallowe'en event.  and finally came upon the wolf costume for the actual night.  she's a girl undecided.  and it's exhausting to keep up most times.
 

crosby was much less opinionated.  she happily wore the spider costume that harper wore the halloween she was 1+ years old.
 

the spider and the wolf.  catchy title for a book.
 

harper initially told her friend, lucy, not to run.  but after the first house and the candy that came from it, all deals were off.  the girls sprinted from porch to porch for close to 40 minutes while the two little ones watched from their wagons.
 

when we made our way back to the house, harper and lucy decided to pass out candy to the rest of the treaters.  i think this was way more fun than actual treating.  my favorite was when the girls called out to people across the street (who had already visited our house), "hey, do you want some candy!?"



we celebrated a fantastic, albeit exhausting, halloween, and after experiencing all the fun our girls bring to the holiday, i wouldn't change it for anything.

everything pumpkin

(*this post brought to you by hurricane sandy, who caused such high winds in our midwest town that the power in my and the girls' school was lost, thus reducing this day to an october "snow day" (um, yes, there were a few flurries early this morning), and allowing me a bit of extra time to publish this post.  thank you and may everyone affected on the east coast stay safe. that is all.)

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it's that time of year.  the time which michael so lovingly calls "everything pumpkin."  it's the time of year when i can't get enough- pumpkin drinks, pumpkin-flavored creamer, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin playdough, actual pumpkins in our house.  pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin.  i love pumpkins.  i love visiting the pumpkin patch and searching for just the right size and shape to carve that perfect design into.  i love digging into it and scooping out the goop as we turn our ordinary pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern.  i love roasting those seeds in the oven for a yummy snack.  ah, fall is the best.
 


my birthday was 2 weeks ago (did i mention that?! 33 years young, thank you very much. could be another reason i love fall and the month of october so much.)  i spent the day to myself.  dropped the kids off at school, took a cycling class, got a massage, did a bit of shopping.  it was extra nice.  michael came home early, we picked the girls up and immediately drove to the pumpkin patch to pick up our prizes before dinner.



it was sunny, it was mildly warm, and the girls' crying from the car turned into smiles and wandering around happily to find just the right pumpkins to decorate our front porch.

(this was the only time i actually allowed her to stick her tongue out, because she asked to do it for a silly picture. other times when she tries it, it does not go over with this mama so well.)

while we pick the actual pumpkins from a yard where they are set out and categorized, we wandered across the street to the actual patch for a photo opp.  fabulous setting...



...until crosby fell and that was the end of her smiles.



fast forward to this past sunday evening, when we set to carving.  we headed outside to reduce the indoor goopy mess of pumpkin innards, of which neither girl wanted to mess with.



while crosby busied herself with other tasks (she is just so busy these days, and has the attention span of less than 2 minutes on any one thing.), michael and harper planned their carvings and got to work.  harper made the decisions this year.



i think she chose well.  excited to see these lit tomorrow night, and see just exactly what it is that harper will choose as her costume.  oh yes, yet again this year, she waits until the final hour, constantly changing her mind, until she reveals just exactly what her mind is feeling she wants to dress up as.  oh the anticipation!  til tomorrow.

heavenly

if a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?



doesn't matter.  we discovered a gorgeous park today (we were led there by a friend's recommendation after seeing her beautiful instagram pictures).  this place was magical.  paths wound through hundreds of trees, up and down steps created from tree roots and packed dirt.  the floor was thick with nothing but fallen leaves.  we heard the nearby freeway noise, but just attributed it to the hum of the forest along with the crunching underfoot.  we forgot everything as we marched our way through, harper happily taking charge as our leader.  we wandered for close to an hour, having ventured out of the house to allow a sick daddy some peaceful rest and quiet.  and we decided that next time we visit this place, we have to bring the daddy along with us.  a short video of our morning.  enjoy.

forest from Emily Petrous on Vimeo.

i'm back this week in catch up mode with lots of photos and stories of our happenings over the last month.  and of course, it's halloween, so a spooky post to come.