Dinner at the Beach

At the last minute, we decided to pack a picnic dinner last night and head to the beach for "dinner out." Yes, the beach has become our new restaurant, we eat "out" once or twice a week. (We realized later that Will turned 3 1/2 yesterday, so it turned out to be a good little celebration.) It was a beautiful day and still nice and warm at the beach. We got there just in time to see a gorgeous sunset. We found a new use for the Bumbo seat too...perfect seat for Molly to eat in at the beach! We decided to try it b/c we were tired of lugging the stroller in the sand...and the Bumbo worked perfectly. Will crawled into my lap and sat looking at the ocean with me while we ate sandwiches and Pirates Booty. I told him I was a very lucky Mommy. After dinner we walked along the edge of the ocean in the sand and everytime I said to Molly, "look at the waves." She would take her hand and swing it left and right using her whole arm. She was "waving." Cracked me up. She kept "grabbing" for the birds, the waves, and the moon. Everytime I said, "Yes, Molly, daddy will give you the moon." She'd look at Jeremy and reach for the moon. Jeremy and Will had sand races to see who was faster, I think it was a tie and Will almost got thrown in the ocean a couple times (just kidding). It was a wonderful evening, so relaxing, happy and simple.
(When we got home, we watched the news after the kids were in bed and the weather-woman was freaking out, "You like the heat today, well we're going to get a Winter Blast! Things are changing, stay tuned to hear about the cold weather we are in for tomorrow b/c of a Winter Blast!" We were laughing, it was rediculous, it's 70 today instead of 85! It is absolutely helarious what people think is "cold" here.)

Carlsbad State Beach at Sunset
Molly watching the birds.
Molly reaching for the birds.

Molly watching and listening to the waves.

Now most of you know that I am no Martha Stewart. I don't cook, I don't even like to cook, I don't bake, I'm not a very good house cleaner, I don't sew, don't even know how to sew a button on, or rather don't want to learn, I am not creative, I don't think of "fun," creative things to do with the kids...etc, etc. You get the picture. However, when we got home from the beach last night, I did this:
Yes, I had baked 2-3 dozen halloween cookies and I frosted them all last night, you have no idea how proud of myself I am. I even thought ahead, left some plain and bought Halloween sprinkles and frosting for Will to decorate some....I'm am so proud.
My favorites.
The little "card" I made to go with each goody bag of cookies. Will and I are going to hand them out to the neighborhood kids he's met. I stamped the red H myself and made a pumpkin hole punch that I found in all my scrapbooking stuff (no, I'm still no Martha Stewart, I haven't touched scrapbooking in 2 years.)

Hmmm...I Love Fall

Oh, how I love fall...I love decorating for fall, I love the feel of fall in the air, I love the look of fall outside. I took Lady for a walk Saturday morning at 7:30am...and it was wonderful. It was just me and Lady. It was perfectly clear blue skies, the sun was out and there was that perfect chill in the air. Except...I wasn't in pants, a winter hat, gloves and a coat...I was in shorts and a t-shirt. It was wonderful.
Below are some pictures of our house, a lot of you have been asking for pics, so here's some of my fall decorations and a few of just our house.
Then we visited an amazing pumpkin patch. It had the cutest hay maze, you walk through finding mailboxes with stamps in them, when your card is filled up, you try to find your way out. They had tractor rides, pumpkin picking, bouncy houses, and yummy yummy food.

I Announce to you....Jon and Jeanne Joslin

I've been wanting to share my brothers wedding with all of you for quite some time, now I've finally got all the pictures on my computer, unfortunately, they are not that fantastic b/c our camera decided to quit working at this most important time in our family, so these are all from my phone. Better than nothing. This day really meant a lot to me b/c I am soooo happy for my brother, Jon. He has found the most wonderful woman and her family to share his life with. He is the biggest hearted, most kind hearted, most loving man and soooo deserved this family. I can't explain how proud I am of him and Jeanne and the girls, Hallie and Olivia...I'm so excited that they are in our family now (well officially, they've been in our family for a long time already). That Will calls Jeanne, Aunt Jeanne and H and O, his cousins. Both the girls are extra sweet to Will, but he's got a big connection with Olivia, he's just drawn to her. Jon and Jeanne had their wedding at The Chrysalis Inn and Spa in Bellingham, WA. Right on the water, it was gorgeous. It was very small and intimate and just perfect. I've never experienced a small wedding like this before, and as much as I LOVED mine and Jeremy's large wedding, I loved this wedding just as much. I think it was just...them. The room was filled with hope, love, and laughter. And I have to share about the flowers...the flowers were amazing...gorgeous, and again just perfect. They just rounded out Jon and Jeanne, they were beautiful fall colors and complimented and "finished" the venue. Oh and by the way... :-) The flower arrangements just happen to be created by one of my best friend's Kate Fadden of In Bloom Designs. (And Jeanne works as a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital where Kate delivered Riley. Small world, huh?)
A few other little extras, Jon and Jeanne wrote their own vows, they were gorgeous and personal and had cute little inside jokes, again, they were just...them. Also, the woman you see in the pics that presided over the ceremony and married Jon and Jeanne, was Jeanne's sister! Lastly, you'll see in a picture below where Jon and Jeanne are standing to the side and Hallie and Olivia are standing in the bride and groom's spot. Thats b/c they exchanged rings with them too...they are all committed to each other and their family. (Oh and one more thing, I have to say...Will and Molly looked soooooo cute in their wedding dress and wedding suit). Will and Molly with my mom, their grandma.

Try and look at those adorable gold shoes on Molly's feet. A lot of work went into finding those shoes. I never thought I would find shoes that matched her dress or that were small enough for her feet...So thank you Nancy! (Jeremy's mom) We went on a hunt and found them at Gymboree but they didn't have them in her size, so Nancy went out of her way and took an extra trip to another Gymboree to pick them up. Thank you Nancy! They were perfect and were a huge hit at the wedding. :-)

Will with his Daddy, he was very proud to be wearing a suit just like his daddy.

Will giving Olivia a hug.

Hallie and Olivia

Jon and Jeanne coming down the stairs in the lobby of The Chrysalis for pictures.

Hallie, Jon, Jeanne, Olivia

Look at my cute Molly, I just love this whole outfit, dress, tights, shoes, everything.

I love this picture of my mom with Molly, the back of her super cute dress and my mom peeking around.

My mom, Molly and my grandma, Rosemary.

Jon, Jeanne and all of Jeanne's family.

I love this picture of Jeanne with her girls b/c it shows all of them in the same position, all their backs, you can tell they're related.

I love this picture of Jon, it brings tears to my eyes, I am just so proud and happy for him, and he looks so proud and happy while waiting for his bride.

Will sitting with Daddy, he was such a gentlemen through the whole ceremony, he didn't make a peep.

Hallie and Olivia entering....that's my grandma and grandpa on the left.

Jeanne walking towards her groom...

Jon and Jeanne exchanging vows...

This is where Hallie and Olivia are getting their rings.

My perfect little Man.

Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Jon and Jeanne Joslin.

Will hitching a ride the morning after the wedding.