National Talk Like a Pirate Day

We have some hilarious friends that have been hosting a "Talk Like a Pirate" party for several years in honor of the national holiday on Sept. 19th. What? You haven't been celebrating this holiday?

I just wanted to record for posterity the great pirate names my family came up with this year:
Os = Thin Beard Many Children (though it has sort of a Native American flavor)
Moose = Robert the Honest
BiggiE = Timothy Be Honest
Jelly Bean = Lady Smooth Cheeks

As you can see our family doesn't know much about pirates. The kids haven't really read or seen much about pirates and we are sorely out of pirate costumes, but the names cracked me up. That and the fact that Moose was using a chopstick as a sword.

I'm So Tired...

...but I'm trying to hang onto the fun.

A Labor Day!

Yay! Os is with us an Labor Day and it is warm at the beach -- two NorCal miracles.

I can't remember the last time Os has been off over Labor Day since harvest is usually in full swing. The cool summer has set the grapes back a bit this year and we are enjoying every extra day we have with him. And warm weather at the beach is another treat we don't often enjoy here on the northern coast. Even the seals are out basking in the sun. See them? They're the gray shapes out on the rock...






Love you, Os! You're the best! XOXOXOXOOX

A Glittery Late Night Visit

The loss of the first baby tooth in the Thomas household. Moose was so excited.

We don't officially do the whole Tooth Fairy thing at our house. Our approach has been that the Tooth Fairy is a fun game that many families play. Most kids believe it is real, so don't ruin it for them.

Moose still enjoyed putting his little tooth in the tooth pillow I made (based on the one my cousin, Desta, made for me when I was little). He woke up the next morning thrilled with the glittery one dollar bill he found in place of his tooth.

BiggiE piped up with, "But the Tooth Fairy isn't real."

Moose replied slightly exasperated, "Don't ruin it for me, BiggiE."

For our part, Os and I love watching Moose talk now that he is minus a tooth.

Another Wild Animal Sighted

I found another wild animal asleep in the house. This one seems to prefer a sort of nest on the ground as compared to the last one I found.

Preschool: Big Kids Class

BiggiE is thrilled that preschool has begun again. Now that he has reconciled with the fact he is not entering Kindergarten this year (which was never a possibility with his April birthday, just a deep desire), he loves going to school. He is excited to be with his school friends again and he told me he has lots of projects to work on.

He told me in the morning as he was getting ready for school that he wanted to wear a mohawk. I told him we could try, but his hair is pretty long, so it might not stay up. I did my best, but was secretly relieved that he has more of a tosseled hair look for his first day of school pictures.


I love this picture. If I could guess his thoughts I'd say he's thinking he's given more than enough smiles and would like to see what is going on over on the other side of the room.

My Gymnasts

The boys loved doing gymnastics with their buddy, Ike. I was impressed with the actual skills they were taught. It was not a parachute games sort of class at all. They all looked so cute doing their handstands and walking on the balance beam.