There's Something in My Pocket

Found in the laundry from Moose's pockets: pieces of chalk, a lego and some rocks. Busy, busy boy.

Picnic in the Park

BiggiE and his buddy, Judah, enjoying the Indian summer.

Jelly Belly -- Eleven Months

Our little girl is on the move and loving it! She wants to walk so badly and can walk along when she holds on something, but has yet to go hands free. She is getting pretty fast at crawling and likes to chase down her brothers, though often she is just arriving at the destination by the time they are heading to the next.

Jelly Belly loves animals of any kind. She laughs hysterically at our friend's dog. I was telling Os about Jelly Belly throwing the ball for the dog and he said that if the girl wants a dog she should have a dog. Papa is definitely wrapped around a tiny pinky finger. We all are, really. It is hard not to be smitten with a little one who grins so big every time she sees you. Moose and BiggiE spend a lot of time making her smile.

We love you, Cutie Pie!

I Want To Be A Part Of It...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!


The Empire State Building, a Tourist and the cutest King Kong you ever did see.


Batman and Superman are ready to save you!


Our Jack'o lanterns.


Jelly Belly's Jack'o lantern smile...
Instead of coming in in pairs the top teeth have alternated giving Jelly Belly the perfect Halloween smile.


WARNING: The next picture is not for the squeamish.

Uncle Drew had me cut his hair into a mullet. The mullet plus the mustache with some jean shorts and aviator sunglasses was very realistic. Drew said it was a funny costume when you were around people you knew, but when he went to a party where he only knew one person he made people a wee bit uncomfortable.

Harvest Mustaches

With Os working crazy long hours during harvest, the kids and I like to come up occasionally and join the crew for a little pizza party. Uncle Drew is working harvest this year, too, and he has introduced a new feature to Pizza Day: milkshakes.

You may have heard of the Playoff Mustache, well, here we have the Harvest Mustache and Uncle Drew's milkshakes help Moose and BiggiE get in on the mustache action.

Lovin' BiggiE

My friend, Marcy, introduced us to a book called I Love You the Purplest by Barbara Joosse. The story follows two brothers and their mom through a day of adventure and affection. I often think of this book and how my relationship is different with each of my children, but my degree of love for each of them has the same ferocious intensity.

I have been enjoying the three days a week that Moose is a school and Jelly Belly is napping and I get a little one on one time with BiggiE. I may have mentioned that one of our friends calls BiggiE "The Professor" because he always has detailed explanations for what he is doing. This same friend recently remarked that we may need to rename BiggiE "The Mayor". It's true. BiggiE can be quite outgoing when the fancy strikes him.

BiggiE's preschool teachers are the same ones Moose had last year and all four of them were commenting on how different the two boys are from each other. Not bad, they qualified, but so different. Whereas Moose was focused on his peers, BiggiE chats with everyone, especially the teachers -- all the time. They also said he is very affectionate and loves to give hugs. It's true. If BiggiE has met you before that means you are hug worthy.

One thing I love about being a mom is watching these three people develop who they are. I feel like I am often looking at them and wondering who they are inside. Occasionally I get a glimpse of who they may be at 10 or 30. It is humbling and awe inspiring.

We Love You, Cardinals!

We can't believe it! The Cardinals are out of the playoffs!

Sad, but true, the St. Louis Cardinals are through for the season. We're willing to take the blame. We thought for sure the Cardinals would make it to the World Series because it was Jelly Belly's first baseball season. We were two for two to date -- the Cardinals made World Series appearances in 2004 (courtesy of Moose) and 2006 (courtesy of BiggiE). Our winning record has been broken, along with the Redbird's. I love Os, but this was my last attempt to help them to the World Series. They're going to have to do it own their own next time.

Good thing they have Albert Pujols.