lovely weekend

We recently changed Anna's schedule so that she is at her dad's house 50% of the time. She had, for the past couple of years, been on a "every-other-weekend" schedule with him and with us the rest of the time. Of course they saw each other more than that because he'd stop by every now and then to take her for a bike ride or read together or have dinner or whatever. But a month or so ago she decided that wanted to make it "more fair". She thought that daddy should get to spend as much time with her as we do. Which is cute but WRONG. (ok, maybe that is more fair...but I don't have to like it, dang it. She's MINE. ahem.) Anyway, my point - and I do have one - is that it was sooo nice to have her back "home" after she was at her dad's for 8 days. I miss that little booger when she's gone.


Saturday morning she and I had a lazy morning on the couch reading. Have I mentioned how much I love that we can just hang out together and read?? The dogs like it, too.



And then we put together her Halloween costume. As I'd mentioned awhile back, she wants to be a Garden Gnome. I googled it to see if I could come up with inspiration; what I'd like to know is WHAT DID MOTHERS DO BEFORE THE INTERNET? And don't give me that crap about "using your imagination." Anyway, I found a Garden Gnome MASK which is infinitely easier than the "felt hat and batting beard" I was planning on making with my imagination. Thank jeebus I don't have to do THAT anymore. Thank you amazon.com. So we dug out some brown leggings and one of my long-sleeved t-shirts, stuffed it with a little pillow and belted it. It is PERFECT. Moby is not too sure...
Later in the day Christina and her girls came for a sleep-over; it's been something like two months since we've had one. We made a Mexican-food feast (tempeh tacos for us girls and home-made posole by David) and the girls drew and colored. And then the gnome mask made came back out...



Christina's girls LOOOVE David and he provides them with great "daddy" energy since their daddy is away so much for work. Isn't Skyler's new pixie-haircut adorable??

The next morning David made espressos for us and Anna went around with a pen and a note-pad taking breakfast orders. Then she made pancakes and smoothies for all of us. I LOVE EIGHT. Such a great age.

I got to read to Piper while Christina and David talked politics (can you BELIEVE I opted out of that conversation?? But when there's a snuggly almost-three-year-old who wants to be read to, well, that's not much of a decision, now is it?)

That's the cool thing about being an auntie; you get to snuggle them and read to them and teach them naughty things and then give them back. At one point I walked into the room as Skyler and Piper were asking Christina why THEY can't have a bunny. I said "Do you know why Anna has a bunny and you don't?" (Christina thought I was going to go into my spiel about Anna being older and more responsible so that she can take care of the rabbit and blah blah blah.) But I said "The reason Anna has a bunny and you don't? Is because Anna's mommy is SOOOO MUCH NICER than your mommy." BWAAHAAHAAHAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Then, because it was a gorgeous fall day and Christina and the girls have never been before we headed out to Green Bluff to pick pumpkins. Green Bluff is a little community of orchards and family-run farms. You can go out there at any time of the year and depending on what's in season, you can pick your own peaches, apples, berries, Christmas trees and of course, pumpkins. Many of the farms have live music, pony-rides, horse-drawn sleighs, petting zoos, and little country-stores where you can buy fresh pies, apple cider, fruit and veggies, candles, honey etc. We headed straight for the pumpkin patch.

Christina has always been a rebel and a wild-woman, which is a big part of how I came to love her in college. Now that she is supposed to be a grown-up, she has to channel her rebel-energy in new directions. On this day she figured out that if you just jiggled the bubble-gum-machine full of goat food, you didn't need to put a quarter in it. She took immense pride in showing the girls this trick, all the while dancing and chanting "I beat the system, I beat the system!" She's not going to think it's so funny when her girls are teenagers and are out-smarting her.



Gratuitous goat photo. I love me some goats, you know.

One of the farm dogs, a Great Pyrenees; he is a 200 pound teddy-bear. I caught Christina trying to stuff him in her shirt.

I am sooooo glad that my sweet and crazy friend lives nearby now. Love you, Christina!