Dorothy Gayle and Freddy Krueger go trick-or-treating...

Halloween came and went quickly this year. I enjoyed presenting Halloween storytimes at the library again. My co-worker Jenny took some photos of the kids dressed up at storytime.
The twin boys who dressed up as skunks last year came as spiders this year. Very cute!I also took in some pumpkins from our garden again so we could have a "Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin" contest for the kids and teens. Below is the teen pumpkin- it ended up weighing about 35 pounds. Not huge, but not too bad either. Maybe we'll get a bigger one next year.
The kids pumpkin was much smaller- only about 14 pounds. It's funny how some kids have no concept of how much things weigh. I had some 2nd and 3rd graders guessing that it weighed hundreds of pounds!
The Friday before Halloween we had my parents over for pizza and pumpkin carving.
Being a new fan of pumpkin, Clark watched us closely and picked up any pieces we dropped.
We gave him his own pumpkin on the floor to play with, but he was more interested in my camera.
Logan likes to make scary pumpkins. But Clark wasn't scared- he kept licking the pumpkin's eyes.
Mine was supposed to look scared...
I told my parents they looked like American Gothic when they posed with their jack-o-lanterns.
We tried to make the pumpkin look like it was scared because Clark was eating it, but it didn't turn out so well.
All lit up...
On Halloween morning we went to watch Chloe's ballet class. The girls were all so cute, but at three years old they don't follow directions too well yet. As we like to say- "It was like trying to herd cats."
Chloe and her friend Faith pose after the class.
That evening we had a great dinner at Mandi and Geoffrey's followed by trick-or-treating with Chloe. She was dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She stood still for Mandi to braid her hair.
Geoffrey loves Halloween- especially scary things. He tried to put on his Freddy Krueger mask to go trick-or-treating, but Chloe was too scared. So he settled for wearing the shirt and hat.
After the trick-or-treating, Logan advised Chloe on which candy to eat. She very generously offered to share.
Now, a week later, we're at work on another house project. We've whittled them down over the past five years, and we're nearly done with the whole house and yard. It's hard to believe we've owned (and worked on) the house for nearly five years now. This week we're working on the front yard. On Saturday we went shopping for sprinkler parts and plants, and on Sunday I dug trenches for the sprinklers while Logan put together the system. Here he is soldering the new pipes together:
Dad brought his newly painted truck over for us to see on Sunday afternoon. It's at least fifteen years old (can't remember what year), but it looks brand new now with the new paint job. Clark was so excited to see everyone.
Here's the yard with the trenches and new sprinkler pipes.
Today (Veteran's Day) Logan and I were both off work, so we spent the whole day working in the yard. We built a circular planter around our tree...
And planted several new plants, including a row of lantana along the sidewalk.
It was nearly dark when we stopped working tonight, so I didn't take photos of our most recent progress. I went and got two truck loads of tanbark for the yard, and we still need at least one more. But that will have to wait until the weekend. Back to work tomorrow...

Dogs love pumpkin!

We've had another few weeks of Logan and I being alternately sick. Logan is finally starting to get over his latest cold.
We had one great day of rain and wind a few weeks ago. I was home sick that day, and when Logan got home we spent a cozy afternoon vegging on the sofa. It rained so much so fast that the street in front of our house flooded:
The flood went halfway up into our front yard:

Later that week, when I was finally feeling better, we flew down to Disneyland to celebrate my 30th birthday. Since it was a short weekend, we didn't take a lot of photos, but here are a few.
Logan had to pose in front of the dreaded teacups. He gets nauseous just looking at them!: Logan posed with the biggest sheep I've ever seen at Big Thunder Ranch: And he got involved in a bleating contest with a goat: Petting the goats is always a fun part of the trip for me: Over in California Adventure, the palm trees grew candy corn: Logan happened to be wearing his Chip and Dale shirt when we saw them and posed for a photo: The Halloween decorations are just as much fun as the Christmas decorations were last year: Giant pumpkin heads greeted us at the front gates: The Disney characters were all wearing costumes. So cute!:Last night we gave Clark a small pumpkin to see what he would do with it. He was very interested in it, and sniffed it all over- before chomping into it!
This is my favorite shot:
He left quite a few claw marks in the pumpkin:
When he finally broke through the shell, he started eating it so fast that I had to take it away:
Mmm- yum!

Tomorrow we're carving pumpkins, which should be good for some more pictures. And then on Halloween we'll be spending the evening trick or treating with our goddaughter Chloe. Sounds like fun!

Another week, another alien invasion

Not much to report this week. Logan and I have both been sick with colds. We've been passing the same one back and forth between us. Lovely, huh? This is the worst one I've had in years, but I think I'm finally on the way to being well again.

We saw this really neat bug in our front yard yesterday, and I had to take some photos of it. I took a few minutes to look around on Google for something that looks like it, and I'm almost certain it's a katydid. It's amazing how well its body is designed to perfectly mimic a leaf. I was surprised when it flew away. It looked like it was too big to fly! Logan was trying to pretend that he was scared, but he really was intrigued by the little guy. I'll probably have something more exciting to post in the next few weeks. My 30th birthday is this coming Friday, and I've got lots of fun stuff planned to celebrate. Now if we can just get well...

I'm a Runner!

Happy fall everyone! I hope you're enjoying the nice crisp weather.
We've been enjoying lots of time outside lately. We noticed about a month ago that the new people who moved in behind our house have their own bounce house. Once or twice a week we hear the fan turn on, and the bounce house inflates into view over the fence- followed by lots of laughing and giggling by the two little girls who live there. Clark is very interested in the bounce house, and will sit on the deck and watch for a long time! He doesn't bark though- what a good dog.This past Friday evening I tried something new. I ran a 5K race- my first ever running event. I figured that after running nearly every morning for the past three or four years, I should probably try an event. I was really nervous before the event, but it went fine and I'm looking forward to the next one. I decided to try this one- which took place in Palo Alto- because it was in the evening. It's called the Moonlight Run, and this was the 25th annual event. Logan was on hand to cheer me on and take lots of photos.
Here I am with my number pinned on and my headlamp ready:
No, those aren't alien spaceships floating around- there was lots of dust in the air that night. There was a big crowd running the 5K, and I learned that I need to start closer to the start line if I want to run for time. I was stuck behind lots of really slow people!
Here I am just after I finished the run. Can you tell I was just a little bit proud of myself?
Stretching out before heading to Jack in the Box for a post run snack of curly fries and a shake:
The race registration fee included a long-sleeved shirt for me, and we decided to purchase a bandana for Clark. We put it on him after we got home, but he didn't like it too much. Just after Logan took this picture, Clark peed all over me. Go figure...
In cuter news, I bought a big pack of dog toys at Costco for Clark the other day. He's in love with his new flamingo toy. It's so much fun to watch him carry it around the house.
Here's Clark kicking back with his flamingo and his daddy. What a life!

Chicken Dance!

It was two years ago that I wrote the first post on this blog, and the topic was the annual kindergarten chicken dance. Today was this year's chicken dance, so Logan and I drove over to the Cupertino civic center for the festivities. We started out the morning at church, followed by lunch with the Cacioppos at Hobees. Yum! It was really hot here today, and the forecast says it's going to get hotter each day this week. So by the time we parked the car, walked to the chicken dance area, watched the kids dance (in the sun), and walked back to the car, we were ready to head home to a cool drink.
About 45 kindergartners showed up to dance: Logan and his co-workers Steve and Robin helped the students tie on their chicken beaks before the dance started:
Logan staked out a spot in the shade to stand while he coached his kids through the dance:
The kids were so cute when they twirled each other around:
I had to get a photo of the "fab five" kindergarten team (plus Robin's daughter) before everyone went home to enjoy the rest of their Sunday:

Party Day

We had a double party day today. First we went to our god-daughter Chloe's 3rd birthday party, and then we went to my parents' house for a BBQ.
I made this dog for Chloe's birthday. She seemed to like it, but it was hard to tell because she had so many other presents too! Mmmm- cake!
By age three, she has the present-opening thing down to a science:
Chloe had a cat themed party, and this stuffed cat was an immediate hit:
What a big girl she has turned into:
The party at my parents' house is an annual event now. Every year, Humboldt's football team plays a local game, and several of my parents' friends from college get together for the game and then a BBQ afterwards. Here's the group of HSU graduates from the 70s: