Mismatched Pumpkin Patch

On a whim, we decided to do our traditional family run to the patch on a weekday. W got home from work early and Linds was nearby the patch for work. W & I stopped for a round of pumpkin spiced lattes to get into the spirit. All family members rendezvoused at Joan's Farm for our annual trip.

At one point, three of us were in the pumpkin cargo wagon while W pulled us along.

But some of my favorite pictures were of Auntie Lulu and E.

E gave us his best pouty face when he realized that we couldn't let him climb all around.

It's so hard to keep a straight face when he gives us the perfect 'u' face. He's just so cute when he does it.

Ezra got his first measurement picture. A few over 2 feet.

He's quite stoked to be making such good progress on his job: growing.

E went hog-wild in the patch. He loved all the new things to explore.

Exploring is serious business so I only got one {read: yes, only one out of the millions I took} of him actually looking at me. It's a winner. :)

So happy I can still dress him 'cute' on occasion. I know neither he nor his Papa will let me do this much longer. ;)

And Linds was kind enough to try for a family shot. Did not happen. E did not want to pause for a picture. Too busy eating pumpkin stems and using pumpkins as drums to worry about framed family memories. Yeesh. Please see exhibits A, B, and C.

But we did have fun with the other silliness on the farm...

Sadly, at this time Linds got a devastating phone call. Her family has been facing multiple medical issues this year, and so new news about her Great Aunt just tossed a terrible storm into our evening. We hugged, prayed, and walked Linds back to her car so she could head home to look for flights to Colorado. We promised her we'd pick out the best pumpkin for her to carve. The festivities were cut short and we picked up a few pumpkins before heading to the car ourselves.

 So our patch trip was a bit mismatched. Lots of silliness and lots of sadness too. We're still praying for her and her family. We were glad to be there when she got the call even if we were in the middle of a pumpkin field. Life happens when you least expect it to. :(

I'm thankful for her friendship and the traditions we've built. She's the sister I never had!

We love you, Linds. You've got your work cut out for you when you get home for some carving!! It's bigger than Ezra.

Vintage Finds

I've been at a stand-still with re-decorating the downstairs. I'm going to have to wait on the rugs for now (read: until we save enough money for W to go for the idea). But I'm planning to head a local flea market with my mom next month to look for cheap furniture options. Yesterday, while out running errands, I stopped in a few regular discount stores with a fair selection in the home furnishings department. And I was happily shocked to find these gems screaming back at me to buy them:

The "Rules to Live By" frame is my starter for a frame gallery on the wall above our fireplace. I've been eyeing some wall gallery inspirations here, here, and here.  And while I'm not very creative on decor, I decided to make the leap anyway because I NEED to put some family pictures up, FINALLY!

The black rustic frame with house this free halloween print in our little nook by the staircase. I like that the frame could almost pass for a black and orange look. And well, the vintage airplane was just cool. Burnt orange and vintage. Love at first sight. I'm not sure where it will go quite yet, but I couldn't walk away without it.

Soooo, hopefully soon very soon, I'll have an update on my wall gallery. I'm still on the hunt for some funky, fun, vintage frames to hang them in. Baby steps!

Drank a Little Drank, Smoke a Little Smoke

Last week, Linds and I split out on our responsible day jobs to head to the Greek Theatre in Berkeley to see Jack Johnson. Love his mellow music beyond words. The last time I saw him live was in San Diego in 2005 with a then boyfriend. {Still have that shirt he bought me, only thing I ever kept from an ex...just couldn't part with Jack} This time the only gentleman that was with us was Flat Stanley.

The Greek is an amazing venue! I loved it! Very intimate. With general admission, we came early to get some great seating. We brought butt-pads and a blanket.

Our drank a little drank: wild Linds snuck some shooters in. Must confess, first time with shooters. I discovered I love Malibu with Coke. I'm such a light weight and only could handle one. I'm lame, I know. I already get made fun of. :)

We both felt like we were in college again. Well, Linds did. I don't have any good juicy stories besides the small handful of frat parties I went to as a date during my freshman year.

Totally interesting side note. While waiting for the opening artists, this came up:

"Help us make this tour carbon neutral. purchase your Jack Johnson To The Sea Carbon Offset Sticker."

How is consuming another item, an offset sticker, make the tour carbon neutral?! I  still breathed out carbon during the concert. Can someone explain this?

First up was Zee Avi. 

Oh.My.Word. This girl, who's only 23 by the way, is simply phenomenal. Think Colby Caillat meets Norah Jones. 

Followed by ALO, who opened with Matt Costa {love his music too!} in 2005.

Jack!! Love him.

And man, was he awesome.

I was glad he played a lot of his old songs. I haven't been following him for awhile so I'm not familiar with his new stuff. And as far as the smoking, well...there was plenty of hash to go around us. And here I confess again: my first experience of seeing people smoke pot. A lot of firsts this night. :) Linds's boyfriend made a big deal when we were in line to eat something. We kept laughing at him, but he was on to something. Caught a puff in action. 

Oh, we did some gambling too: parking in Berkeley without a permit. Even with an hour and a half left before we were actually free to park there, we got off without a ticket. Probably helped that we were several blocks from campus. Definitely worked up a sweat walking through campus to get to the venue.

Such a wonderful girls' afternoon/night. We booked these tickets back in March when Ezra was only 3 months old. It felt like eons before October would come, but here it is already! Both my boys were sound asleep when I climbed into bed. W was so kind to put E down a bit later so I could sleep in the next morning. Definitely don't love Jack even close to how much I love William.

Weekend With Grand-Mama

E showed her his newest toy he's been playing with. Thanks, Elliot, for letting us borrow it!

He loves to open that little door!

E also showed Grandma how he helps around the house, already!!

And what a great climber he is!

The morning before the airport drop-off, we all went to feed the ducks with the leftover bread from the party.

That's E chasing the ducks after we ran out of bread.  

Then he played on a duck.

  While checking out the other ducks.

Then we added him to some more art for another photo opp {you'll see, he just fits in so perfectly}. Poor kid. He's got some odd parents. 

But he quickly saw the great advantage to this new angle...to see..the ducks!

It was waay too short of a visit with Mama Judy! We hope to go down to visit W's family very soon. So long over-due.

Good-bye, Grandma! We miss you already! But we'll see you again in less than a month.

Celebrating William

This past weekend, we hosted a graduation par-tay for W. It being October and all...not really graduation season, I got a bit creative for the little amount of decorations I used. Since he's going to be an accountant, I went with the money theme to help boost the festive-feel.

Amongst the candy dishes, I included some "Smarties" too! Mom borrowed a robe for him to wear.

And Mama Judy flew in for the weekend to celebrate with us! So proud of her son!

E was a huge hit {surprise, surprise!} He got to meet some long-time family friends for the first time. It's times like these that I'm grateful for his mild case of stranger/separation anxiety {so far}. Definitely a people person, that kid! Here he is with Annette, my mom's friend since grade school.

Hanging with Mel Mel (above) and Donna (below)

Teri and Robert sandwiching Sabrina {who's 1/4 of my parents' European traveling team.}

 The lovely and creative Margaret, who did my beautiful wedding decorations and center pieces. And the fabulous Miss Diane. Love that woman like a grandma...she's known me since I was 6!

My girls and I...also known as E's favorite aunties.

A word to the wise, never leave your child with 'older-more-mature women' who are in the same room as cupcakes!!! Ever! They'll think it's funny to give him sugar in amounts you won't be happy with {Ahem, Mother!!} A few bites won't hurt him, but let's not get carried away here. Thankfully, he was so busy the whole evening that he worked out whatever sugar was in his system by bedtime. Auntie Linds definitely helped; after all the guests were gone & it was clean up time.

The Swenson family felt loved, blessed, and cherished that evening. And very very exhausted! W & I hit the sack around 9:30 and woke up to our E alarm clock around 8am. Guess the evening tired him out too!