These things actually happened

Luke, speaking to an adult friend, about the events of Saturday: "It was kind of boring. We went to a movie premiere. Then Mom and Dad went out and we had two different babysitters and we stayed home all the rest of the day."

Friend: "Well, you know, moms and dads need that grownup time together once a week or so."

Luke: "Once a week?!? No, they haven't done that in about three years."

***

Zach: "Dad, I need some milk!"

Dave: "OK, but what word is missing?"

Zach: "Milk."

***

Luke: "Mom, you really shouldn't have left that bread out all day."

Me: "Well, I was going to put it away, except I got distracted because I was entertaining two kids all day."

Luke: "How am I going to eat dinner, now that I'm consumed with guilt?"

***

 Zach: "Dad, I need crazy glue! Oh, wait - let me get some pants on first."

Golden state

Scene: It's finally a little big chilly outside. It's late in the afternoon, and it's just about sunset. We've taken the kids and grandparents down to our new favorite rocky beach. And - cut to the mining operation:

The boys' hard work has been rewarded with outstanding samples of quartz and granite. But the sun is setting fast, and the wind is picking up. Time to head back up the hill. We round the corner just in time to catch these magnificent clouds:

And that's why I love fall.
Off to eat some comfort food and snuggle up under a blanket now...

All Hallow's Eve

Hey - didja know I spent about three weeks gluing more than 800 teeny-tiny red squares to a box to make Zach's Minecraft TNT costume? Good thing I didn't have anything else going on during those three weeks...

I didn't make a thing on Luke's Chop-Chop (Skylanders) costume, and whaddya know - the shield that came with the costume broke before we even left to go trick-or-treating. Gotta love those costumes made in China. This picture isn't so great because he's holding his massive trick-or-treat pillowcase/candy bag over his legs, so you can't see the full effect, but he's pretty cool anyway:

...And in unrelated news, I just emailed Dave about the Christmas tree I'd like to buy this year (a living tree that gets delivered and then picked up). Bring on the crazy holiday season!