Is It Halloween YET?

Claire sat and watched the clock for 10 minutes waiting for the Haunted Shrek show (which incidentally wasn't so great...). Literally, 10 minutes. Matt told her about the minute hand on the clock and how long it would take until the show started.

Running Errands With Mom

One of our many stops this week was to the Springs Preserve - we were in and out, so I didn't get any cute shots with all the cool plants and displays, but I did think that even this spot in the parking lot was scenic with the mountains and desert landscaping. Claire was being a good sport that day, letting me trek her around to four or five places back to back, so we stopped for a quick photo.

Portraits

I took the kids, by myself, to the Sears Portrait Studio. I am just spoiled with having photographers follow my kids around and let them play a bit while snapping brilliant photos. It's just never the same at one of these studios, but I had to at least try for a formal shot of Miles at 1 (or 14 months) and Claire at 3. It was our photographer's second day on the job, so I will give her that. She got a few cute ones of Claire but Miles would just stop into the studio every now and then to check on us - he refused to be art directed :) There was no adjusting his clothes or fixing his hair, whatsoever. That's how our one-year-old photo shoots typically go.

Yikes

Bless MeMa's heart for letting Claire express her artistic side!

Office Picnic

We had a picnic this weekend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the firm I work for, which yours truly planned. It was fun and the weather was great, but I was running around most of the time, checking on the catering, photographer, balloon artist, and face painter (who was my friend Janel and didn't need any checking on - I just wanted to see what my kids were getting painted).

Claire was first in line and got a dolphin and a hummingbird. I think she would have kept getting different designs on her arms and legs if there had been time. She also played kickball with the big kids and was a pretty decent 2nd baseman. One of the partners told me later that Claire was taking it very seriously and must have some of my competitive nature. I'll say...





Miles was willing to get his face painted too, but he would very slowly lean into the brush wherever Janel tried to paint his face. She was still able to do such a cute design, and when he looked into the mirror he immediately said - ruff! ruff! He knows a puppy when he sees one!

Visit from EE

I so admire a photographer who can get three children, ages 1, 2 and 3, to all sit still and all smile at the same time for a photo. Ethan and Janel stayed with us this weekend and we tried a few times to get all the kids together for a picture - not an easy task. They had fun though and we are planning our trip out to Casa Robles to visit them sometime soon!

Love This Kid

I guess my video isn't showing up, so for now here is a cute picture of Miles. He has the most sparkliest eyes when he smiles. He just lights up and it is adorable!