Soph's Halloween Costume

A few Halloweens ago, Soph's cousin Lilly was Little Red Riding Hood. At that time Soph was too little to understand what it was, but since then she has seen pictures of it. And whatever Cousin Lilly does, Soph must do too. Since she also has a mom who has such a big ego and doesn't like store bought costumes, one had to be made.

Look at that cutie! The cloak is mommy-made along with the dress. A bonus from this handmade item is that it will last a lot longer than some flimsy cheaply made store bought item.

Another bonus is this cutie loves anything mommy makes, especially if it twirls when she twirls!

I love the wooden button!

Ahhh, I love this girl!!!

Beach Fun

Over the summer, we had a cub scout outing at the beach. Which coincided with our friends camping there. What a great coincidence!

How many kids can you fit on one hammock? Maybe 4???

Nope, looks like 5 will do just fine!!!

What a great time these two had hanging out with each other! Fun girl friend bonding time!!!

And you have to have a fire, perhaps a stick, maybe even a marshmallow!

Yum!

Yummy!

Yummiest! What a fun time growing relationships!

Twin Hills Apple Farm

We love the apple farm! They make the best field trip and make the best foods!!! When it was apple picking season, we went and did a Upick. We love Upick! It connects you so much closer to the farm. 

While we were busy picking, Odin was busy eating. He loves apples as much as we do!

They were so proud that they were able to hold their baskets even though it was getting heavy.

Hmm, comparing apples to apples???

And another apple sampling!

At $1.99/lb for this many apples. It equals a lot of money...

When your belly is full and your hands are free, the next best thing is to play with dirt!

So happy with himself!

Look, we even found Mater!!!

We absolutely love this place! Unfortunately it has now closed and will probably be used for growing grapes instead of apples. So sad, but we sure enjoyed it while it was opened.

Quarryhill Botanical Garden

We went on this field trip with a Groupon purchase which made it super cheap. I like super cheap! This is out in Glen Ellen. 

Ah, the boys. Magnus being a great big brother and entertaining his brother while mom and dad cleaned up lunch!

And a field trip wouldn't be a great field trip until there's a dirty diaper that needs changing!

One of my favorite flowers. It smells oh so good!

One of the many flowers along the route.

Roar!

It was quite a hot day and after a hike up, these guys were spent! Cue the bad attitude...

After sitting in the shade recuperating, we finally got some smiles!

It also helped that we found a water fountain. Everyone was happy to have some nice cold water!

Finding a waterfall and skipping over rocks was pretty fun too!

We gave Magnus the trail map and he was in charge of directing us.

All in all it was a great trip. Our only wish was for it to not be hot like it was that day.

Grapes Galore

We have these two grape stalks that I got as a bare root when we first moved here over 5 years and they are such great producers. We always have more than enough! One year I picked over 3 bags worth of Trader Joes size paper bags. Now I need to figure out how to can/preserve these yummy seedless Thompson grapes!!! 

One thing about having massive amounts of grapes is fighting off the birds. It makes me very sympathetic to the wineries around here. Although it is kinda fun to see the kids try to shoo away the birds. Free entertainment!!!

Bountiful Garden

It is such a treat in the summer time to go out in the garden every morning and see what kind of goodness our garden has for us. We have just a side yard, but we sure get more than enough fruits and veggies. We also love to share our bounty with friends and family. We eat lots of cucumbers and tomatoes so we plant lots of those! With the drought conditions we are having now, we might not have a garden this summer. This makes me very sad. We'll keep praying for the rain!!!

Soph's is 4

 Back in July, this little beauty of ours, turned 4 years old. Soph in so many ways is so different than I am and yet in so many ways, she is so similar to me. I wished she had more of my better characteristics than those other ones.
At four years old she:
-has a quick temper(did I mention, she is like me)
-loves to accessorise
-is picky about her outfits
-is such a girly girl(loves skirts, dresses and putting on nail polish or chapstick)
-loves to hang on her daddy
-plays soldiers and Legos because that's what big brother does
-always tries to get us to give her dry cereal for breakfast
-is still taking a nap consistently

We love you Soph. You are so affectionate and we thoroughly enjoy getting hugs and kisses from you. Even the ones where you ask us to kiss you like the way mom and dad kiss!!!!

Working the 12 Years

For our anniversary in July, we went to dinner at our friend's fancy restaurant in St. Helena, but since we had some time to kill, we stopped in Calistoga. We lurked in shops and laughed at the prices. Yes, we are jerks! At the end of town, there was a bunch of trees and on the trees there were these little note cards with messages on them. It was a no holds bar, safe environment kinda thing that you could write on the cards. 

Ask us how we know... 

 We were really curious to see what was written and we were sorry we were curious. For some reason, all the ones we looked at were really sad. One said, "I wished my husband was more tender towards me." Another one was," I wished my wife made love to me more often." What a sad thing to read on our "happy anniversary." But we prayed a silent prayer for them and went on our merry way. I hope one day they get to know love like we have.

Being/feeling blessed doesn't do justice to describe being married to this man. There are moments where he infuriates me just by the littlest things he does or says, but we can laugh at it a little later. For that, I am so thankful. I look forward to many more years of laughing together. Love you so much!

Dancing Machine

At Alicia's and Jay's wedding, there was dancing. Dancing like I've never seen from Soph. It was so amazing to watch her shake her tail feathers out in public. It certainly helped to have some fun people to dance with!

It all started with Uncle Todd....

Then the most funnest Aunt Ally...

Then a solo dance party! She had so much fun!!! Let's just say she slept well that night!

Jay and Alicia's Wedding

What a treat this wedding was for the kids! They both got to be in the wedding and what a growing moment it was for the both of them. 

                                                              Ah, so beautiful and happy!

                                                 Checking out what was going on downstairs.

                                                     I think they were about to hold hands!

                                                                          Waiting...

                                                                       Yay, here they come!

 Love how Magnus is holding Soren's hand. This was a big moment for Magnus. I think it clicked for him what it means to take the lead and be the example.

Two cool dudes!

Aw, my Soph. Barely dropping any petals...

She got confused and thought she had to stand up with the bridesmaids. So thankful she didn't have to. That would've ended the day sooner than we wanted.

                                                    Bride and her daddy! Sweet moment.

 

The newest member of the Saggu family! Congratulations to Alicia and Jay!!!