Garden Pests

Last week, Cole and I went out to check on our tomato plant and noticed the leaves were missing on several of the branches. Upon closer inspection we discovered.... the tobacco hornworm! And not just one, but ten! The kids picked them off one by one, and dropped them into a bucket of soapy water. A few more days and that tomato plant would have been no more.

Sneak Peek

Final installation of the mirrors/art is scheduled for tomorrow, yay! After that, the only remaining item will be for Stew to wall-mount the TV. Almost done!

Bookworm

Lauren can't stop reading these days. Thanks for the Nancy Clancy book, Emily & Amy! We just checked out a fresh batch of books at the library. And Lauren has one book 'in progress' in each of our cars, for reading during the 5-minute trip to/from school :)

Just Peachy

Skipped the frozen berries in this smoothie... :) Just frozen peaches, some frozen mango, orange juice, coconut milk, and a bit of fresh grated ginger. The texture was very Jamba Juice-like.

Nature Walk

We've been taking a few evening 'nature walks', while the weather is still cool enough. Lauren likes to look for interesting items to pick up - flower petals, seeds, etc. Cole wants to walk up everyone's driveway....

Sunday Fun

The kids have been asking to go swimming at the YCMA, and we finally went. It was a little chilly (83F) but no matter. They had a blast tossing and diving for the assortment of diving sticks, rings, and toy boats.

In the afternoon we redeemed the kids' free bowling game coupons that we received at Lauren's party. The cashier even waived the fee for Stew and my shoe rentals :)

'You're It!'

The cousins (and Stew) starting up a game of freeze tag, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Santa Visit

We still don't know what's up with Cole's pouty face... he was pretty set on not smiling I guess. Ah, it will make for humorous memories one day. Otherwise, we had lots of fun time at the annual Winter Wonderland at work.

Cole really enjoyed the trains.

Lauren's favorite activity was icing (and eating) a sugar cookie.

Crunch Time

I've made significant progress (note my last update was in 2009!), but we're closing in on December 1... I still need to determine how I want to 'hang' the 'ornaments' on the tree, but I might be able to finish up a few more pockets. One down, and 23 to go.

Contentment

Cole could literally sit and watch the Frosty Train circle the tree for hours.... Also note the sole ornament hung thus far - Lauren's newly acquired 'Rapunzel' which she purchased with her Disney Store gift card.