September

Forgive the silence!  I'll try to put up a few posts with some pics from September...

A little "Clement-heavy" since Josephine has been in school.  She's doing GREAT in Kindergarten.  Her teacher says she's very sweet and helpful, kind to the other kids.

Clement obliging Josephine's "hilarious" request that he put the hat on his head and take a picture.
Note: Elmo shirt.  It's a big deal around here.

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A play date with Wyatt (Zanna's younger brother) who is about two months older than Clement.  They're INCREDIBLY sweet together.  Pretty sure they have older, alpha sisters who have taught them the fine art of "turns" and "sharing".  ;)  These two were great at cooperating and giggling together.

Adorable.

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With Josephine getting worn out at school, there's been some hard napping around these parts. 

The zombified, we-just-woke-up-and-want-to-stare-at-each-other moment.

what she created before passing out...

perfectly good bed over there.  Why all the sleeping on the floor???

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He decided to get brave and step off the scale unassisted.  He practiced it a lot.  I took a video.

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playing in the front one morning after taking Josephine to school. 

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Clarence.

Begonia.  Cute as ever.

wherein Begonia completely ignores Clement's attempts to direct her to the tennis ball he tried to toss her

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dinner at Sean's apartment... (there's that Elmo shirt AGAIN)

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Reading.  He's very studious!  Well, maybe not "very" ... but I'd say there's at least one spell a day where he really dives into the books.  A video here...

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On the way back from the baby shower... a rest stop... get your wiggles out.

my own adventures...

I went with Josephine to cash in a gift certificate from last Christmas to a place called iFly.  Sky-diving indoors, basically.  No jumping out of perfectly good planes and risking death.  Good idea.

Josephine and I were both really pumped watching folks go ahead of us, but she HATED it when she actually got in the wind tunnel.  It IS loud, despite the earplugs they give you, and she didn't like feeling the air rushing up her nose; she felt like she couldn't breathe.

So it wasn't much up her alley, and I ended up using her time.  Naturally, I LOVED it.  There's a video here.

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I also flew, airplane-style, out to California to see Mychel for a long weekend, driving with her from her conference in San Francisco down to where she lives in Orange County.  It was a really fantastic trip-- great to catch up.

Virgin Airlines:  In case you wanted your aircraft to feel more like a nightclub.
I know I always have.  
The fog machines upon entry were especially effective.
Will be sure to wear my stiletto, thigh-high, black leather boots next time.

Arepas!! 

Muir Woods

the hostel we stayed at, just north of San Francisco, before starting the drive

Stopped at my beloved monastery for a couple hours!!  

spot the wannabe contemplative hermit

elephant seals

The second night, an AirBNB place.  Worked out well.

A tree in San Luis Obispo was tagged with a "Hug Me" knit.
So I did.  I hugged ME.
Nerd.

Now, that's what I call BREAKFAST.

swam.  cold.  in case you were wondering.

a very good send-off!

Really couldn't have asked for a better weekend trip!!  Majorly wonderful.

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The same weekend as Darla's baby shower, it turned out that the vicar of the last remaining Anglican Church in Iraq was speaking in Plano (just north of Dallas).  Went to see him.

The Rev. Canon Andrew White

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Otherwise, it's just been house projects mainly.  Jason (and other, quieter guests) will be happy to hear that, amongst other achievements, I finally got the upstairs faucet handles switched so they now turn the proper directions.  :)  

it's a NIECE!!!!

I haven't even posted pictures (YET... maybe some day??) of Darla and Brad's wedding (nearly two years ago now...) (NOR my brother's wedding, for that matter, over a year ago)...  Well, what can I say?  When something's a really big deal, I rarely manage to scale it into a bite-sized blog post.

BUT suffice it to say, my sister got married!  HOORAY!

And now they're expecting!  HOORAY HOORAY!

A niece!  I'm wildly excited.  She announced it on Mother's Day and is due on Thanksgiving.  

Here are some pics from her baby shower at my parents' house.  Her friends descended with supplies galore, decorated and did a lovely job.  Such a creative shower!

The Masterminds!

Clement broke the "No Boys" rule.  And he relished doing so.

Mom made these favors, in keeping with a Princess and the Pea theme
(and other children's books, relating to food).