Our little lamb.



The cotton balls didn't last too long...



In all his glory...

 

The best part of my costume were these shoes! A thrift store find to boot!

Usually Halloween passes us by uneventfully. For the past few years, we've been lax about putting decorations up or evening carving pumpkins. I'm afraid we didn't do too much by way of decor this year. A few weeks prior, I was in a store and saw a cute little costume for Little P for about $10. Pretty inexpensive. I came close to buying it, but then I thought, maybe I should make her costume. After all, this is her first Halloween.

Then that same afternoon, we were invited to a Halloween party. Luckily, the invitation was actually a month before, so it gave us plenty of time to come up with a costume. Now mind you, my husband and I have actually never gone to a Halloween party since we've been together or even hosted a party (that translates to 13 years!). Crazy, now that I think about it.

Originally I was going to make an owl costume for P, but after thinking about the wings and having to hold her throughout the evening, I thought against it. So, I found the lamb idea on Martha Stewart's website. It was very simple to put together, and I must say, she was awfully cute!

For my costume, I also had to consider it being a "baby friendly" one so I could hold her without dealing with attachments and such. I chose Pippi Longstocking because she is one of the many characters in books that I have loved throughout my childhood. Again, this was an easy costume to put together as well. I found the dress and shoes at a thrift store, bought the wig, and socks, and I was ready to go. As for my husband, he took some time to come up with an idea. After shopping at some thrift stores, an idea started to morph. It changed a couple times to finally end up as a Tea Party Guardian. He held the sign and glued a bunch of signs that came from their website. It was a very clever costume, and it was a great conversation piece at the party!

P had a great time with her cotton balls. We had to take off her costume because the cotton balls were so tempting.

I only regret not going to the pumpkin patch to get some snapshots of her with the pumpkins. Oh well. One step at a time...at least we made it to a party this year.

But you can't take the teacher out of the girl! I had the opportunity to teach a lesson to five different 4th grade classes at AgVenture at the Paso Robles fairgrounds today. (This event is very similar to the one I participated in when I taught 3rd grade in Fresno--Farm & Nutrition Day at the Fresno fairgrounds). The theme was Earth Resources and as a representative of my work, I presented a lesson using an apple that represented the earth. The gist of the lesson was to prove how important land is to us, specifically agricultural land. I showed how 1/32 parts of the earth's surface (cutting up the apple) is actually used to grow crops to feed the entire world's population! The kids were very attentive and fascinated. They were a very nice group of kids. The teacher in me came out, and it was like stepping into an old pair of shoes!

Speaking of apples, my work owns property that they lease to a local farmer. He was generous enough to let us pick apples so we could give all 150 kids an apple. Boy, did they appreciate it as did their teachers and chaperones. They were pretty hungry especially as it got closer to lunch time!

A couple days before, we took some time to "de-stress" and went apple picking! After our big Creek Day event, it was sorely needed.

Despite all the rain, it was a fun day. I even have leftover apples...maybe to make an apple pie, apple carrot muffins, or applesauce for Miss P.

It was such a refreshing day, it got me thinking that maybe I will go back to teaching after all...yeah right! No thanks! The grass always looks greener on the other side...

My blog buddy!

Mommy-to-be!



Oh happy day!



The first season's rain, and the perfect time to test out my new rain boots!



The Great AgVenture. Some of them are paying attention...

RT chopped off his hair! He came home last night and totally surprised me! He looks so different to me. After three years of longer hair, he wanted to "mix it up". I think he looks great! I really liked his longer hair, but it is good to change things once in a while. It'll be fun to see who notices in the next few days and see what kind of comments he'll get.

Yuck! The weather here has been atrocious! Not only have I grown accustomed to the cooler and foggier climate here, but it's the only climate our daughter knows, too. Because the main living in our house is the second floor, it gets really hot. For a few days, it has been 84° in the house! Nobody has A/C here, and luckily we still have the old '70s ceiling fan in the living room. It's almost bearable because it's a once-in-a-while phenomenon and once the sun goes down, it cools down pretty quick.

What's not tolerable is being at work. At my work, our office is in an old, historical Victorian house--beautiful house. Not so beautiful without A/C and being 91° while working!!!
I guess throughout California it's been crazy hot. How many folks out there still think that there is no such thing as global warming? This intense heat when fall just started?
The fog has since rolled back in and now I can think straight.

The Joad mobile in all her glory!

A partial view of Islay Creek campground.

RT with his fancy, deluxe kitchen!

No high chair, no problem!

We even had friends come visit!



Jannu did a great job alerting us of the raccoons!



This trip has been a long time in the making, even before the baby was born. When RT bought the VW bus, he had envisioned us taking camping trips. But, before that could happen, there was much he had to do to prep the bus, mainly getting a "z-bed" installed so we'd have a place to sleep. So, after two years, we took our maiden voyage and camped at Montana de Oro, not far from our house.

We wanted to go with the baby sooner, but other things seemed to get in the way. You know how that goes, when life gets in the way.

We were a little concerned--whether or not Little P would be alright. She actually held up like a champ! I think it's because I was with her the entire time, meaning, I couldn't put her in the playpen or the bouncer. It was either hold her or sit her really close by. She had such a good time and was in a great mood the whole time!

I felt bad because I wasn't much help. RT packed everything, unloaded it all, set everything up, and cooked!

For his birthday, he received lots of cash knowing that it would go towards his camp kitchen. He was very proud of that! I must say, it came in very handy. It's amazing what kind of camping gear is out there nowadays.

We didn't get settled into camp until very late Friday night. Then Saturday morning, RT had to lead an interpretive hike on reptiles for the Small Wilderness Area Preserve (SWAP) at the Elfin Forest. He didn't get through with that until early afternoon. (I cheated, and Little P and I hung out at the house while RT did this...sshhh...).

Back to the campsite and more fun! We had so much fun and thought it was a relatively easy kind of vacation, that we are planning another one in the works really soon! At the campground, we saw lots of families with young kids. All the kids were having so much fun---even our little one and Jannu. I'm sure all of us remember going camping when we were little, so we hope to instill some really strong memories for our Little P.

The one thing I regret not doing on this excursion was not busting out the s'mores! I know, rookie move. Oh well. I have saved them for next time. Until then, we'll see you 'round the campfire!

While RT's parents were in town, we found out that Dahlia Daze was going on. Lo and behold, the dahlia is Morro Bay's official flower! Who knew?? The Morro Bay Garden Club has recently revived this celebration that historically began back in '60's.

We decided to check it out and were pretty excited to be able to hopefully purchase some bulbs. While the displays of dahlias were absolutely gorgeous, I was really disappointed that there wasn't that much for sale, but I guess it isn't really that time of year for bulbs.

Nevertheless, it got me inspired and this fall I plan on planting more dahlias and hope that I can get some more varieties in the yard.

As a side note, my dahlias I planted this year didn't seem like they were growing. We figured out that they must be the "dwarf" variety since they are so small. Just yesterday, a red dahlia decided to bloom! "Dah-ling" it looks mah-velous!

Being sick and having no family around was a real bummer. For those of you who are fortunate to have family close by, count your blessings! We are lucky, though, that are families are within a couple hours of driving distance. My sister and mom came out to take care of Little P the first afternoon while I was in the hospital, then my dad and nephew arrived. Everyone except my mom left, and she stayed with us for a few days. As soon as she left, RT's parents came for a visit and stayed an extra day to help out. It was nice for the family to spend some quality time with Little P! She sure loved the attention and all the "new" faces!

Grandma aka "Obachan"

Auntie aka "Aunt NeNe"

Grandpa aka "Lolo"

Cousin aka "T3"

Great Grandpa Clarence aka "Lawrence"

Mak aka "Oma" and Poppa aka "Farfar"

Little P and Poppa