Tagging

It's FINALLY HAPPENED! I've been tagged. By whom? Well by none other than Tania of Julian & Co fame (I just love her stuff don't you?!). Now I must admit, I'm a tagging novice. I mean I've read about it but I've never actually done it.

So the rules are these:
1. To link the tagger and provide the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Drum roll please.....

And now I give you 7 facts (1 of which is untrue just 'cause I want to keep it interesting) about me:

1. My second toe is longer than the others.
2. I rarely, if ever, follow recipes unless it's for baking. Because while I like living on the edge with my meals, I'm not about to take chances with cakes or cookies!
3. Dave and I have been together for half my lifetime.
4. Our kids are named after movie characters. (2 points if you guess which two movies correctly. Hint: These movies came out in 1993 & 1997).
5. I have about 5 different favorite ice cream flavors. I mean, hello?! Who can have just one?
6. Sometimes when I laugh really hard I snort.
7. I was one of the original Bay City Rollers.

Alrighty roo, so that's me in 7 little nuggets of info.

And here's my list of those I have now dubbed the Fabulous Seven I'm tagging:

Cheryl Special Sauce in the House
Kirsten Nilsen Life
Anne The Rogers Family
Ciaran Momfluential
Dorothy Colin and Owen
Nita Wongology
Erin Design is Everywhere

Now go run to their blogs to see what they said!

Budding Artist

Jonah brought home this original painting from preschool. He titled it: Pink Carwash.

The Pumpkin Patch

visit to the pumpkin patch is a sort of pilgrimage for our family. This year, we attended Jonah's field trip to Sharps Farm in Brookeville, MD. It was the quintessential autumnal experience. We fed chickens, picked our own popcorn cobs off the stalks, found our way through a corn maze, picked pumpkins and took a hay ride that passed through a creek. Here are some pictures from our trip. Enjoy.

I Couldn't Help But Have One More...

We have been extraordinarily busy these past couple weeks. And unfortunately, I do not see an end in sight. So for now the posts will be short and light.

In that spirit, I thought I'd pop on her to post one more picture of Jonah doing what he loves best—playing (while eating waffles).

The Boy

Ellie Bellie Kids Sale

Summer Bygones

Even though summer doesn't technically end until September 22 (which is when Autumn starts), psychologically it's long gone. Ellie has been in school since the end of August and Jonah had preschool orientation this morning.

So in anticipation of the official close of summer, I thought I'd finally share some photos from our beach vacay (yes the one where we originally planned to spend at a campground but ended up in a hotel after one night in the tent). Dave put together this web gallery of his shots from The Great Beach Vacation of '08 to share with our fam & friends (which includes you of course). You'll notice lots of farmer-tans, smiles and sand. What would summer be without those wonderful things?

Gingerbread Woman

Going through Ellie's school things:

Hey honey, what's this?

My gingerbread ma (catches herself) ...my gingerbread woman.

I'm glad for two things, 1. She didn't say gingerbread person because that's just too PC even for me and 2. that she's cool with calling it a gingerbread woman even though the story is called The Gingerbread Man. I have no problem with the story being about a boy/man at all! But that doesn't mean I'm not happy that Ellie is able to hear it and still envision a girl/woman being the titular character. Isn't that what we strive to teach our children? That we're all equal?

You may ask yourself, am I reading too much into the gingerbread woman comment? I think we both know the answer to that question....

A Boy Who Loves His Yogurt

Dave: Hey Jonah, you want to go to Austin Grill with me for lunch?
Jonah (sings): I hope they have yogurt there!
Dave: No bud, they don't have yogurt there.
Jonah: AAaawww

Siblings

Dave ran across this picture from when Jonah was an infant and it reminded me just how fortunate I am to have two kids who get along so well. There has been more squabbling as the children mature, this is true. Yet, somehow I am confident that my kids will end up the way they began—holding hands.