Hella Halloween

Okay, we got an early start. 5:55 and we were into the neighborhood.

I have no idea what the Victory or Peace Sign has to do with Halloween. Something Ida picked up in kindergarten?

Okay! After it! Candy!

Storm Pounds Monster March!

Okay, East Coasters, maybe this is no Hurricane Sandy, but still...we wouldn't miss the Monster March, no way.

For one thing, this Shark likes free candy! She's very focused, indeed.

This Monster with a Tutu? She doesn't need no umbrella.

ANd she too has a special bag in which to carry those sticky treats.

Shark says, "Monday I get off my cast, so I'll be ready for the actual candy grab on Halloween!"

In the background, Kelvin! Long-lost! Reunited!

More More More

We headed out to some crazy pumpkin land, another one, to procure future gourds.  This time we went with a bunch of Tumbleweeders.  This was much harder to do, these animals, than it looks...

Talu!

Once we got home, we embarked on the most successful family yard work time ever!  So successful that the girls decided to do some work on the neighbors' yard.

All this yard work was well-timed--thanks ERV--since then it started to rain again.  Cold times here in OR.

We got some more pumpkins, don't worry; for some reason Jack-o-lanterns left outside begin to rot in fifteen seconds here, so we may be getting them every couple days.

Our Girls

Think we don't have pumpkins?

They're already jack-o-lanterns, pardner.

Yes, we're traveling along toward Halloween.  The girls do not want to make decorations, they want us to buy a very big one from the fabric store.  They know just where it is.

Miki says, "It's not very easy to buy a real witch in a store, Daddy."

Out at Rasmussen's, they had an Olympic theme this year.  Tireless.

Ida says, "What if you tied a string from my neck to my ankles, and I was a guitar?"

Also, you can't see her cast in any of these pictures, but this past Monday the doctors said it might just be two more weeks before it comes off!  Whew.

Name of the Day: Ida

Well, we continue to weather Ida's broken arm and the aftermath.  She's doing our best--thanks for all the cards and gifts (Miki thanks you less for not sending two gifts at all times!).  Meanwhile, her classmates in Jan's class (room #3, represent), all drew a picture of Ida, for Thursday her name was the name of the day.  Note how her blue cast is well represented:

Ida breaks arm

Ida broke her arm at a birthday party at JJ Jump today; she's so upset about it that she won't let me take a picture.  It's pretty hard to not have her right arm for 4-6 weeks, and it's pretty heavy and everything.  So, it's tough.

In lieu of pictures, here's a few gems from Ida during our conversations between tears this evening:

"Mama, my arm hurts so bad I want it to fall off so it can grow back again."

"Daddy," she said, crying, "this is the hand I'm learning to write and read with."

[actually, a couple days later Ida took this photo of herself after having her cumbersome, itchy temporary test replaced by the blue one that she seems to like more:

]

Later:

"But Daddy, if someone gave you two hundred dollars--one hundred dollars for me, one hundred for Miki--would you say yes?  No, you wouldn't because you love your daughters so much."


While on a walk she insisted on going on through the dark neighborhood:

"Daddy, you would never be afraid of ghosts if you knew what a spirit was.  Do you know what a spirit is?"

"No," I said.

"It's inside your body," she said.  "And if you die it's still alive."

"And I shouldn't be afraid of that?" I said.

"No.  You have one. Even I have one. Reiko has one.  How old is Reiko?"

"I don't know," I said.

"I know how old Amy is!" Miki said.

"How old?"

"I forgot."

"Well," Ida said.  "We all have spirits.  Can I take my cast off, now?"

Summer is Over, alas

Probably for most of you this has been clear for a while. But here, you know, I thought, whoa, it's over. And there's a variety of lost and/or fascinating photos that have fallen through the cracks. Some from busy times, some from other people, all vivid:

These, below, are I think from a secret birthday party that I did not attend.  There were cupcakes, I heard.  Well, Ida is enjoying kindergarten.  Very mysterious what she does here, as all she says is, "It's great.  It's all really great  I don't want to talk about it."

Elsie's going to have gigantic teeth!

If I had been invited to this party, I'd have told these girls not to put their hands in there.  That looks dumb.  Ruins the illusion.

Ida took this photo of Miki outside of the Preschool House on one of the last days those girls all went there.

This Jonah is one of Ida's favorite people:

He allegedly likes her, too.

He may not know that she got the dreaded "double time-out" at kindergarten recess for playing a chase game.

Oh yeah, one day I took the girls to the zoo and we ate a bunch of things Ella probably wouldn't have let us eat!

I think I promised to share these with you, once upon a time.

Ida still likes goats, but maybe not quite as much.  She is interested in things like sound waves now, and can spell "I am."

Oh yeah, Holladay Rock cousins at The Farm!

That's my brother Jim and Margo and also Lillian, who you may recall is exactly the same as me.  You might also recognize that hot silhouette in the background...

Cousins!  Cousines!

I don't know what's up with Matthew's head in this picture.  Something.

Deviltron DNA!

Miki is working on a lot of things, these days.  She would like to explain many issues to you.