Pumpkin Patch 2012

I didn't want to go to the pumpkin patch on a weekend, when it would be crowded, but I also didn't really want to take the kids by myself, without Joseph, during the weekday. When my mom told me she would be coming into town for a day to celebrate an early birthday for Moses, I decided to drag her along to the pumpkin patch with me after we picked Akiko up from school.

A plethora of pumpkins.

 By the time we got to the patch, the little ones had fallen fast asleep.

Squish-o man!

Time stands still for me when this one sleeps.

My mom stayed in the car with them, while the older kids and I ventured into the patch.

So many choices!

This one looks good!

We found four awesome pumpkins; one for each kid in the family.

Congratulations! You're the pick of the litter!

Part of the haul.

Then it was time to play.

Each child gets to choose one activity. Moses chose the inflatable slides. They were a little wet from when it rained earlier that morning, but he braved the water and mud, unlike the other kids there, and ended up with the whole thing to himself.

"Mom! Are you taking a picture of me?"

"It's okay. It's just a little water."

"Did you take a picture of me sliding down?"

Akiko opted to do the petting zoo. She could have stayed there forever if I'd let her. I think she loved the bunnies most of all.

Goats galore.

But the bunnies are the softest.

One of the hens was very unique. It was white and fluffy.

By the time Akiko and Moses were done with their respective activities, the little ones had woken up and my mother brought them out to join us. The last three years at this pumpkin patch, they've had a train ride, and I told Asher there would be one, but this year they didn't have it. Oops! I talked him in to riding the mini horses, though.

Riding the horsey train like a real cowboy. Okay, not really like a cowboy, but he sure looks cute!

Having just woken up, Asher got really upset when it was time to get off the horse. He wanted to keep going, and I don't blame him. Those little horses are way too much fun!

The pumpkin patch was a surprisingly relaxing outing for me this year. I'm so glad my mom was able to join us. She was a huge help.

Thanks for coming to visit us, Grandma Sachiko! (And for bringing the printer!)

Oh, and here is a gratuitous picture of the boys in their matching jammies just for Auntie Helen, because we finally got the boys all in them on the same night that night.

When they're dogpiled on each other, it's really hard to tell where one boy ends and another begins.

Changes

Before I begin--

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY PAPA!! We send kisses from California.

Now, on to the post--

The cat is out of the bag at church. We're moving.

We've been in this house for three years. It's the longest we've ever been in one place since we got married over eight years ago. Half of our kids have been born while we've lived here. As much as I dislike some things about our house, there are still many more things I love about it. But it's really not our house and I've always known this place was temporary. Still, it's sad to have to leave it. We've all got tons of friends we're leaving behind. 

I got released from the Primary presidency last Sunday, but I'm still helping with the program this Sunday. It's going to feel really weird going back to adult Sunday school classes and Relief Society. I may still just hang out in Primary for our last couple of weeks in the ward.

So, where are we going? Well, we are moving up to northern, northern California. We'll be renting a huge Victorian house in a little town on the Lost Coast, just south of Eureka. Joseph will continue to work for the same company and telecommute.

Why are we moving? We just feel like that's where we need to be. Besides, rent is way cheaper and we'll be able to save to buy a house a lot faster. There will be more room for the kids to roam; Akiko and Moses will both get their own rooms at our new place. School is still a couple blocks away for both kids.

I'm not sure how often I'll be posting in the next month or so. We move in three weeks and there's a ton of stuff to do. Then, once we get there, it may take me a bit to figure out how to get internet.

I bought a moving kit at Costco the other day:

Who in the world is that happy while they pack? And I love how the lady is doing all the work, while the dude is chillin' with his mug of joe hot cocoa.

I haven't even started packing. I hate it. It's such an overwhelming task to me, I'm procrastinating. I have done a little organizing here and there. I'm also using the "I'm really too super busy with the Primary program to have to deal with packing right now" excuse. In reality, there's not a whole lot left to do, I mean that I have to do, except be there and help direct.

Well, that's all I've got for now.

Toothy Simon

This post is more for my record keeping than an announcement to my dozen or so followers.

Simon - little five month old Simon - already has his first tooth. It just broke through today. He's already bitten me with it.

I don't know why he's in such a hurry to grow up. He's already tripled his birth weight. He's so heavy, my arms are jelly by the end of the day. His chunk makes him super cuddly, though.

He's going to start scooting any day now. Then we'll be in trouble. How am I ever going to keep my older kids from keeping small items off the floor? I'm watching him on the floor now. He's already doing the pre-inchworm. He knows how to move to get what he wants, just not efficiently.

Those pajamas Auntie Helen sent sure are tasty though. I don't have the heart to tell him that they're for wearing, not for eating.

Utah, Again

I'd like to blog more right now. I'm constantly thinking of quips to write about, but lately, I've had little time to do any blogging.

I mean, I've got every excuse, right? I've got one kid in school full time, another in preschool part-time, a two year-old (nuff said), and an infant (again, nuff said). Primary program is in two weeks. A big change is coming (more on that later). Halloween is getting nearer. On top of it all is just the general day to day tasks: laundry, dishes, meals, grocery shopping, etc. Then, of course, we have to throw in a bonus trip to Utah in the middle of it all.

Joseph's sister, Megan, and her husband, Josh, and their brand new baby girl, June, went through the temple on Josh and Megan's first anniversary and got sealed together.

It was a sweet ceremony. I cried. There were so many parallels to my wedding and sealing, I could not help but reminisce. It was also an opportunity to strengthen my testimony regarding my eternal family.

Josh and Megan also decided to bless baby June, since nearly everyone in Joseph and Megan's family were out for the festivities from Maui and California (except Wayne, who just couldn't make it out, and Jake, who has the lamest I'm on a mission in the Philippines excuse ever... j/k).

It was a quick trip, full of family fun. To my friends, I'm sorry. If I'd had more time, I would have called, but we were so booked the whole time.

While we were in Utah, we:

met sweet, ten day-old baby June,

got a picture with Grandpa Dave and some of his grandkids
(while straight-faced Simon punches June),

added another cute grandkid to the picture,

let my brother and his family meet Simon while we...

... celebrated my sister getting one year older and closer to death,

while Simon received some Kristen love,

crashed at Grandma Sachiko's house while she was visiting her family in Japan,
so we took care of Grandpa Larry and the kids got to meet their long lost Aunt Kellie,

partied the way only a Mormon can party,

spent the day with Grandpa Fred and bought ice cream from the truck at the park,

hung out with this old lady,

finally had Joseph on a trip with us,

hung out with our Maui family while Simon punches Joseph,

got some Auntie Hannah love,

and some Kailee love, too.

It was so fun to see nearly everyone in Joseph's family. We also got family pictures done, which I will post later. It was also soooooo nice having Joseph there with us for this trip. It's so much easier with him around.

We love you family!!

Making Kiki

Last year, before Halloween was even upon us, Akiko had already decided what she wanted to be for Halloween this year. Fine with me. It gives me a whole year to plan things out.

I decided to get a jump start on costumes a couple weeks ago. Now that the craziness of the beginning of school is behind us, there's a lull where I can actually get a few projects done before the craziness of October and the beginning of the holidays hits. This October is going to be a bit crazier than usual, but more on that later.

Simon and Asher are just using hand-me-downs (saves me time on the costume making). Simon will be a mouse and I will be a cat. Asher will be a mummy and Joseph will be a pharaoh (a costume that I bought, *gasp!*). Akiko will be Kiki and Moses will be Tombo.

Kiki and Tombo who?

This Kiki and Tombo...

... from this movie:

If you've never seen the movie, you should check it out. It's super cute and one of our favorites.

I've been working on Jiji, Kiki's black cat, for a while. I had been looking for a stuffed version to buy, and I know they're available, but I could not find any for sale anywhere. I did find a crochet pattern though at this link.

I altered the pattern a bit. The original pattern makes Jiji into a cone with front paws attached. I wanted him to look more like this...

... when he's standing in for the stuffed cat that Kiki lost during a delivery.

I puffed out his chest and made his body more cylindrical. Then I created hind legs to make him look more like a sitting cat rather than a lumpy cone. The rest of the pattern I followed.

Done, but without the details.

Simon loves him:

I just finished him this afternoon. I also made the radio:

Please try to ignore the unevenness of the speaker holes. I'm not that perfect. And sorry about the phone pictures. I took them to send to my sister.

The radio was a fun project. It's just a large pudding box covered in red duct tape, with a little silver duct tape for the window. The antenna is a black straw. The dials on top are soda caps that I colored with a sharpie and glued on. The radio only took me about an hour to put together.

Akiko/Kiki's dress was an interesting project. I'm not really a clothing/garment seamstress. Well, I've never made a dress, anyway. I didn't use a pattern. I used one of Akiko's shirtdresses as a guide.

I totally winged the whole thing. Even the sleeves. As I worked on it, I kept thinking to myself that the dress was either going to be okay or disastrous. It ended up better than perfect!! I'm so pleased with it!

Really hard to see, but it really did turn out well.

It fits Akiko perfectly. It's easy for her to get on and off. The sleeves and the hem are even. I mean, I couldn't have asked for this dress to go any better. I only had to redo the sleeves once.

All that's left to do for Akiko is to make the shoulder bag and the red bow and find red ballet flats. I'm really pleased with how this costume is coming together.

Moses' costume is pretty simple. I can't find a red and white striped shirt anywhere in his size. I'm only finding them for adult-sized Where's Waldo costumes. I'm going to take one of his white shirts and paint the stripes on, ensuring that it'll look just like Tombo's shirt. After that, I only have to dye a long sleeved shirt yellow (because yellow sweaters are also impossible to find).

Moses and Akiko are going to look so cute this year. I'm so pleased with how everything is coming together.

Joseph thinks I should encourage our kids to be characters that are less obscure. I don't. My kids know who their characters are and that's all that matters to us. I could get into a big long discussion about this debate, but maybe I'll save that for another post.

Oh, and if you're wondering, next year's costumes are in preliminary planning already. What can I say? I really love making Halloween costumes.

Memory Lane

Akiko and I spent an afternoon taking a stroll down Grandpa Fred's memory lane.

I got a negative and slide converter for my birthday a couple years ago and, while it was something I really wanted and was really excited for, I hadn't used it much. Once, when I was in Utah, I convinced my dad to give me all of his slides from his mission so that I could convert them to digital. I finally got around to getting that project off my plate.

Akiko helped me. We had a lot of fun. She had a lot of questions that I couldn't answer. All these pictures were about ten years older than I was. Grandpa Fred, be prepared to answer them if she asks next time we see you.

Once we figured out how to work everything and got our rhythm, the conversion went really quickly. Now I want to go through all our things and find as many negatives that I can find and convert them all and post them on FB so all my friends can reminisce with me. Maybe when I give the slides back to my dad, I'll trade those ones for any negatives he may have.

Anyway, my dad went to Japan on his mission. I love that country. So now, please enjoy some beautiful pictures of that beautiful country that my dad took.

Now, those are real vintage. Not an Instagram effect. Not that I have anything against Instagram or anything. There's just something so nostalgic about 35mm film that digital effects can't duplicate.