Day 332: Camping In

November 27, 2012: Owen got out his pop-up tent, and had the idea to bring all his "snugglies" inside while he played a puzzle game on my phone.  It was like his little clubhouse where he could play undisturbed.

Day 331: Ruffles

November 26, 2012

Day 330: Little Forest

November 25, 2012

Day 329: Arcs

November 23, 2012

Day 327: Thanksgiving Part II

November 23, 2012

Day 326: Thanksgiving

November 22, 2012: My new dining room, all ready for family and a yummy Thanksgiving feast

Day 325: Grandma's China

November 21, 2012: I was so excited getting the china all set up for Thanksgiving dinner.  No, we're not that fancy, but I've always wanted to have a nice holiday dinner table, and it's my first chance to do it.  It means extra dishes we have to hand-wash after we eat, but I'm willing to do it just so we can use Grandma Illingworth's china.

Day 324: Anakin

November 20, 2012: Before there was Owen, and even before Sydney, there was Anakin the umbrella plant.  Jeremy and I bought it back in 1998.  I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I think it was something we bought together and took care of together, and Jeremy came up with the Star Wars name.  When I moved to San Diego, I brought Anakin with me to remember Jeremy by.  I remember flying back home for a holiday and bringing it with me on the plane.  Like, in my lap.  Why?  I have no idea.  I guess I thought it couldn't last a few days without me.  At the time it was a little tiny thing, and now it's about four feet tall.  It's been around for almost 15 years, lived in 7 different homes, and whenever I'm sure it's about to die, it surprises me with its resiliency and comes back to life with more tiny little leaves. 

Day 323: Ikea

November 19, 2012: A lot of people don't like Ikea.  I am not one of them.  I spent several hours there browsing, which put me somewhere between pure giddiness and a meditative state, and when I left I had a brand new dining room.  Mmmmmm.

Day 322: Photo Shoot

November 18, 2012: The prospect of getting half off holiday cards if I order by November 19th (plus free shipping) sure did motivate me to get them done early this year.  The rain has made it challenging to get outside to take photos, but luckily it let up for awhile today.  I took Owen outside for a "photo shoot" and had Jeremy play around with him to get some fun shots.  This isn't the one I chose for our Christmas cards-- I have to keep that a surprise.  And now what a relief to have the Christmas card task checked off my list so early.

Day 321: Twinkies

November 17, 2012: I haven't had a Twinkie in years, and now that Hostess is going out of business, I keep thinking about Twinkies and how much I want one.  I don't even really like them; it must just be a pregnancy craving, or maybe just a case of wanting what I can't have.  (Besides, I'm more of a HoHo girl.)  But I waited too long, and now I probably won't be able to find one anywhere.  This was the Hostess section at Target, and 7-11 only had Donettes and Fruit Pies.

Day 320: Magnets

November 16, 2012: Owen knows how to spell his name!  Okay, that's a little misleading.  He knows, "O, W, E, N- Owen!" but he's still learning to identify the letters.  He can find "O" and "2," so he and I set up these numbers and letters on the refrigerator.

Day 319

Day 318: Berries

November 14, 2012

Day 317: I Love Lamp

November 13, 2012: Of all the things I remember from Grandma and Grandpa's house in Arizona, it's this lamp.  I love, love, love it, and no picture will ever capture the brightness of its colors.

Day 316: Sand Castle

November 12, 2012: Owen wanted to go to the park on our Monday off together, and today he didn't even really play on the playground.  He was all about the sandbox.  I actually remembered to bring a bucket and a shovel, and we made sand castles together.  The little sticks of tanbark are "flags."

Day 315: Wrestling

November 11, 2012: On Saturdays and Sundays, Owen counts down the minutes when he can go wake up Daddy and wrestle on the bed.  All you can hear is giggles and growls, and all you can see is flailing limbs.

Day 214: Snoogle

November 10, 2012: It's called a Snoogle, and it's supposed to help you sleep when you're pregnant.  I had been so uncomfortable trying to sleep (even more than normal) and this was much cheaper than a new bed.  It is literally like four feet long, and I wrap myself all up in it.  I've been sleeping better than ever.  If I need to get up suddenly, it's kind of a mess to untangle myself, but it's worth it.

Day 231: Crunch

November 9, 2012: The fall leaves crunch, crunch, crunch under our feet when I take Sydney for a walk.

Day 312: Pink

November 8, 2012: It's a little Photoshoppy, but I was trying to save a crappy photo.

Day 211: Sigh of Relief

November 7, 2012: At least I got to go to bed last night knowing that my president was still my president.  But my other two important issues (Prop 30- funding for schools, and Prop 32- basically taking away the voice of my union and others) were not going the way I wanted at 9:00 when I couldn't stay up any longer.  I kept telling myself that with 5% of precincts reporting, it didn't mean anything, but I still tossed and turned all night.  When I woke up in the morning, I was happy to find out that Prop 30 had passed and Prop 32 had failed.  All I had to endure now was facebook posts from conservative friends warning us that the world would end because of who the country had stupidly voted back into office.  Oh, shut up.

Day 310: I Voted

November 6, 2012: I could vote absentee, but then I wouldn't get the cool sticker.  And I wouldn't get the pleasure of trying to hold a wiggly Owen who keeps saying, "Let's GO!"

Day 309: Dark

November 5, 2012: This was fun-- light painting with light from traffic signals, street signs, brake lights, and street lights.  This was the first drive home in awhile when it was dark after picking up Owen.  (Boo to the time change.)

Day 308: Curlicues

November 4, 2012: The things you notice when you go macro...I never knew dandelions had little curlicues on them.

Day 307: Moth

November 3, 2012: I guess this moth thought it would be camouflaged on our beige wall.

Day 306: Red Cup Season

November 2, 2012: I'm not sure I'm ready for the holidays, but Red Cup Season at Starbucks always feels special.  And every year it's a pleasant surprise when I make my first Red Cup visit because I always forget that it's coming.

Day 305: Red

November 1, 2012: a close-up of a fall leaf art project hanging in my classroom window

Day 304: Halloween

October 31, 2012: I am so bad at taking pictures sometimes.  But my excuse this time is that I was at work, and I couldn't really take pictures, take care of Owen, and watch my rowdy second graders to make sure they weren't beating each other up or burning down the school or something (not that they'd ever do that).  So this is a stolen picture (thanks, Mom) of my little Spiderman.  He wore his mask for a few minutes and then he was done, but he still looks like Spidey even without the mask.  We've actually gotten good use out of the costume.  He wore it to "Boo at the Zoo," daycare, my Halloween parade at school, and a few times around the house.  Last night he wore it for 10 minutes and just stood in front of the mirror looking at himself the whole time.  It must be the muscles.  They're pretty awesome.

Day 303: Belly

 

October 30, 2012: Most people tell me that they don't think I'm showing, which I'm sure is a compliment. But this is what I see.

Day 302: Super Friends

October 29, 2012: Owen's latest obsession: The Super Friends.  He knows the names of all the Super Friends and everyone in the Legion of Doom.  And now, so do I.  He has these Little People versions of the Super Friends, and he set them up on the underside of his upside-down "Spinny Spin" (Sit N Spin).