My Belated October

late: it's the story of my life, lately

Woefully late, I considered not even doing a post for last month. However, in an attempt to capture some semblance of our family's personal "history", I am here to tell our October 2012 stories.  I'm just hopeful that the pictures will jog my memory enough to actually recall what happened!

More Fundraising for Mom

Thankfully, we weren't in charge of this fundraiser, but one of my mom's good friends came up with the idea of a giant garage sale, which she planned in conjunction with a neighborhood-wide sale.  Part of that event was a bake sale.  I figured while I couldn't really help with staffing, I could pitch in some baked goods.  At left, you see the lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting; at right, a bounty of my most popular chocolate fudge cupcakes with peanut butter/cream cheese frosting.   I think in all, I made  approximately 4 dozen cupcakes, but Diane, my mom's friend & coordinator of the sale, said she could have sold dozens more.  I was just happy to help out, but it's always nice to hear that your efforts & hard work were well-received!

Crazy Hat Day

Benjamin's preschool planned a Crazy Hat Day the first week of October.  Dave took the reins with this one and came up with the idea for a Thomas-themed creation (genius!).  I helped with cutting and pasting, but Dave totally rocked this project!  We were both surprised that he actually kept the hat on - both that evening and during preschool.  Miss Julie, his teacher, told me it was the most creative hat at school that day.  Benjamin really dug this thing; in fact, just recently it met its demise because it was loved *that* much.

Bob's Pumpkin Patch 

I wish I could say this was a magical day out at Bob's Pumpkin Farm.  The temperature was in the low 70s, it was sunny, and there were a million fun things to do and see there; it was the perfect combination for a perfect fall, family outing. Unfortunately, I was feeling very pregnant that day, Dave was tired and Benjamin was hopped up on crazy.  While I was using the restroom, he bolted into a field where they were shooting targets with projectile corn (thankfully he was not hurt, but it was quite the scare).  After a few rounds of chasing, chastising, crying, wrangling and such, an epic meltdown - ultimately and sadly - had us heading for the car.  Alas, not every day is perfect... but you all know that, right?

Showered with Love

Seriously?  Look at this amazing, bountiful spread!  Everything looked and tasted good; the pictures don't really even do this beautiful buffet justice.  I loved it all, but my favorite?  The baked French Toast was HEAVENLY.  In fact, I may or may not have gone back for a third helping.  My doctor told me I needed to be eating more, so I was just following her advice, really.

Awesome cupcakes, puff balls galore and so many thoughtful gifts - what a day!

Friends and family - surrounded by so many amazing and wonderful women that morning.  I felt all the love and so much gratitude.

Mom :)

Here are my lovely & uber-talented friends, Rochelle & Suzanne.  They were the creative directors behind this wonderful shower.  Fun fact: I have known Rochelle 10 years!! (Everett singles ward days) and Suzanne since 2003 (Halls Lake singles ward days).  It must have been divine providence that we all ended up in the same ward years later.  Oh, and yeah, they basically rock.

Halloween Party #1 - Beverly Park Ward

Dave's brother, Jon, and his wife, Aubri, just moved in to our old ward.  We attended their ward's big Halloween bash because 1) we could introduce J&A to some of the lovely folks there 2) Linda invited us, and 3) Beverly Park knows how to throw an outstanding ward party!

Halloween Party #2 - Seattle Hill Ward Carnival

I wish I had more pictures of our ward party, but because Dave was manning the cupcake walk, I was tasked with running after Benjamin.  We all dressed up this time: Benjamin was a NASA astronaut (thanks to Aunt Julie's costume collection), I was a pregnant witch (complete with long blonde wig and black/orange-striped socks) and Dave was a rockstar/Billy Joe Armstrong (complete with skinny tie, black wig, and studded belt).

After a soaking rain stopped, the Trunk R' Treat was a fun romp in candy collection.  Once inside, we discovered a variety of carnival booths which were sponsored by each of the youth groups: Whack-a-Shark (or Deacon - put on by the 12-13 yr old YM); Kissing Booth (guess how many Hershey Kisses - put on by the Laurels); Photo Booth with cute props-on-a-stick (put on by the Mia Maids); Donut-on-a String (put on by the Teachers Quorum) and of course, the hugely successful Creepy Cupcake Walk (put on by Dave's Priest Quorum).  The cupcake walk was Benjamin's favorite; we spent so much time walking/dancing around those letters, he won about 8 times... only one cupcake though. :)

The big finale is what I captured in the pictures.  Stephanie Johnson, a BYU Cougarette (dance team) alumna, was the teacher of our master class: "How to do the Thriller Dance and Look as Silly as Possible".  It was all kinds of awesomeness, as old and young alike joined in the claw moves, hunches and lurching.  Surprisingly, Benjamin took to this group line dancing like a fish to water - he LOVED it.  And worked the room like a seasoned politician.  It was classic.

And, with that, I wrap up our crazy October.  There are a lot of things I didn't document in pictures, so sadly, they are not discussed here.  With 9 days left until the arrival of Baby Girl Goodwin, I am hoping that I have some moments to jot down at least another blog or two.  After November 13th, we go from the well-known & well-accustomed model of a family of three to a family of FOUR.  It's going to be wonderful, exciting and terrifying - all at once!

August Pictorial

Here's our month, in pictures:

SEAFAIR

I've wanted to go watch the Blue Angels show for years but have never made it happen.  Because Benjamin is old enough now to appreciate it, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Leaving later than I had hoped - as always, these days - I got stuck in the epic traffic entailed with Seafair.   I chose Groveland Park, a beachfront spot on Mercer Island, for our viewing fun... along with a few hundred of my closest friends.  Finding some parking was super tricky and I wore the wrong shoes (cork wedges) to navigate the very steep hill down to the beach, but I was getting so excited  as I heard the planes zipping overhead.  Taking Benjamin to places like this is challenging because he's not a big fan of sitting still and he loves the sand & water - and his silly mommy didn't think to bring a suit or toys to let him go wild.  Despite all of that, we had a fun time basking in the beautiful, sunny afternoon and watching the dynamic show.

HOT-HOT-HOT

Seattle is an awesome place to be in the summertime because it's a gorgeous, temperate climate - except when the thermometer shoots into the stratosphere and most homes don't have A/C.  Benjamin camped out on the floor in our bedroom to share in the one fan we have.  His setup was rather cozy; with six blankets folded over to create a cushy bed, I sometimes I curled up on it for a quick cat nap.

FIRST MOVIE!

Thanks to the Regal Cinemas Summer $1 Movie program, I was game to try out Benjamin's first big screen viewing.  The 10am showing of Rio, though not a familiar cast of characters to my little guy, was a big success!  Granted, I brought an arsenal of treats to help the cause, the bright colors and infectious music literally had him dancing in the aisles.  As the 90-minute film came to an end, he was getting pretty antsy, but it was a fun experiment which we both enjoyed!

CHUCKING ROCKS

Had some time to burn one afternoon, so we headed over to McCollum Park.  Inevitably, we ended up near water - a little creek runs through a wooded area in the park.  And so we hung out creekside, where Benjamin thoroughly enjoyed the natural surroundings and hunted for the perfect rocks for chucking.

FERRY ADVENTURES

Because I work from home, it's so easy to just spend all of our days at home.  One day, rather spontaneously, I packed us up for an adventure on the high seas... well, the high seas of Puget Sound.  We parked the car on the Edmonds waterfront and purchased walk-on tickets for the Edmonds-Kingston ferry.  Armed with his sippy cup, Benjamin took in all of the sites of the boat, water and occasional fly-by of a seaplane.  Oh, and after a week of Shark Week programming, he kept looking out the window and exclaiming, "Ooh, there's a shark!".  Fun day, fun times!  

REFUGE @ PHANTOM LAKE

On a particularly hot Friday, Dave called and said they were shutting down the office and everyone was heading over to his grandma's house in Bellevue.  She lives on a lake so we could just sit in the water all day, without the insanity of the crowds found at public beaches.  I ditched what we were doing at home and we headed straight for the relief of those cool waters.  It was a relaxing day and a special treat to spend a Friday with Dave, just hanging out and having fun with the family.

EVERGREEN STATE FAIR

I love the fair.  It's such a fun, exciting place that holds a lot of special memories for me.  Again, it's one of those things that I always mean to do, but never seem to get around to it.  When I got a call from my SIL, Aubri, that opening day was free, we again dropped what we were doing (sensing a theme here?), and met her for a day at the fair.

Roller coaster rides, up-close views of Honey Buns the Cow, and strawberry slushies were just a few of the things that we enjoyed that day.  Unfortunately, we were encroaching on Benjamin's nap time, so  we had to deal with some meltdown moments... but nonetheless, it was a fun day at the fair!

VICTORIA GETAWAY

Dave and I have been talking about getting away for a long time now.  Besides a brief stint as chaperones at our stake's youth vonference in 2010, we have never been away from Benjamin.  Thanks to the kind offer from my BIl & SIL, Jon & Aubri, we were able to slip away for an overnight adventure to Victoria, BC.  I've wanted to go there for ages, so I planned the excursion.  Unfortunately, I was battling my horrible cough which put a slight damper on the fun for me.  But, despite the health issues, it was so nice to spend some time alone with Dave. We milled around town, noshed at a local deli, took pictures like any good tourists, took in a sea-life show at the Underwater Gardens and watched a football game as well as a terrifically-terrible Sci-Fi movie while eating lots of treats... all in the comfort of our free-upgrade, enormous hotel suite.   For me, the two highlights of the trip were the 3-hour ferry trip (Speiden Island was an awesome treat!) and a very spontaneous, late-night 80s flash mob that happened in the park just outside our hotel window.  Although it was just one night, I loved being able to spend time together and and have our little adventure in Canada.