Oh Sacramento. Stop showing off.

I happened to have my camera in the car the other day and I had to pull over. The color was too amazing. Now I can't stop taking pictures of all the trees, before they drop all the leaves.  This street in midtown looked like it was on fire! And I don't have a great camera. It just seems like Sacramento's colors are a lot more vibrant this Fall. It takes my breath away..

Even Big Lots looks charming right now.

We drive by this tree everyday. The kids have named it the rainbow tree.

I'm very tempted to knock on this neighbor's door and ask if my kids can rake their leaves....just so they can jump in them.  :-)

good people

Two weeks ago, it was Selah's day to "share" in Ms. Anita's preschool class. She is supposed to bring something special from home to show the class. They ask her questions about it.....you get the idea. She brought her doll that she got for Christmas last year from Grandma Summy (and friend of the family, Kathy who found it at an estate sale or something.) It's a "My Friend Mandy" doll from the late 70's. After her "share" time, Selah put Mandy in the share box as usual, but we forgot to take her home. The weekend went by and we didn't get a chance to go back for the doll until a few days later. The doll was gone. We looked everywhere. We tore the classroom apart looking for Mandy. She was lost. It didn't even occur to Selah that somebody took it, so I didn't press it. She was just confused and said, "Find her Mommy!" I told her that someone probably played with her because she's so fun, and they probably put her down somewhere...hard to find.  We'll keep looking. Ms. Anita suggested I make a poster, because the preschool classroom is shared by an afterschool program next door. I threw this poster together quickly and put in on the door....with very little hope.

10 days went by.

Today I dropped Selah off a preschool and we saw this.

No. Way.

And inside her cubby was a note.

I got goosebumps when I read the note. What a sweet sweet girl. Now I don't know if Cassidy somehow found it in a deep corner of the classroom that we missed (doubt it) or if she "found" the doll in her backpack......but it doesn't matter. She returned it to Selah. And she wrote a sweet note. And it takes a special kid to make that kind of a gesture. I hope Selah learns to have the kindness, compassion and integrity that Cassidy has shown.

But today she'll learn to make a thank you note.

My little helper

Selah Selah Selah. She's such a character. She's certainly got a strong idea of what she wants and when she wants it. She is so animated and full of energy. Lately I've been realizing that if I just relax and think of the things that would be fun for her to do with me, I can get something checked off my "to do" list and also share a fun experience with my daughter.

Selah shares my enthusiasm for the garden. When we had that summer that just wouldn't quit, my big science-experiment of a garden would just pump out tons of tomatoes, beets, kale, swiss chard, peppers and zucchini. Selah and I would pick a few things and make our "spicy salad". The arugula would get so peppery...from the heat I think. I'm glad my kids will know that food doesn't always come from a box or from the store!

Volunteer zucchini plants don't always turn out the best looking squash. And Nate is sooo sick of finding zucchini hidden in every meal and zucchini bread and cookies. So I had to pawn them off to friends.

Selah was so proud of this pie we made together. It took all the self-control she could muster up to NOT dig her little fingers in before it went in the oven. She wanted it so bad.

Today we made a loaf of bread to go with our spaghetti and meatballs dinner. I always have my little helper when it comes to kneading the dough.

Selah gets all up in there too. I love it!

One of these days we should bake a little cake together just so she can rip into it with her grubby little hands. She would love that.

Halloween 2011

It doesn't get any more cliche than this. A skeleton and a witch.....excuse me, I mean "dancing witch".

Once again the kids wore their costumes several times before the actual day of Halloween. There were school parties and friend parties and the kids and we had so much fun celebrating this spooky time of year. The costumes were left up to the kids and they went classic Halloween. So I witched it up with Selah and made Serin my little black cat. Nate dressed up in a vintage Woodland basketball uniform and put his friend's name on the back and an ugly mullet wig.

Everyone's wearing that this year. Classic....and classy.

Bobbing for doughnuts!

little cheater.

The costume that surprisingly won Nate a restaurant gift certificate for best costume. Putting the host's name on the costume helped I think.

Now what do we do with all of this candy?

Get lost traning wheels!

This day was long overdue. This bike of Finn's is probably a little too small now, and he's been racing around on it with those loud scraping training wheels for far too long. Like anything with us these days, it was just a matter of making time to get out and do it.  I thought it would take a couple of days. It was minutes!

Tear it up little dude.

Her first day.

Just months after Finn left Ms. Anita's classroom, Selah took his place. She seems so young to be in there! But she really does fit right in. She already knows the room, and a few of the other kids (other little siblings) And she LOVES Ms. Anita.

Lately she's been boycotting my camera though. Here's what happens when you say "smile."

 And here's "Don't smile. Don't you dare smile." At least she's predictable.

  I got to see her whole first day of preschool right up close because it was my day to work in the classroom. Since it was my turn to bring snack for the kids, Selah was "snack kid" and got to choose what song to sing before snack and she got to bring in a "something red" show and tell item from home, a tambourine. (pretty random)

Since I didn't ever get around to a birthday post, here's some fun facts about Selah as a 3 year old:

*Likes drama. We're talking BIG reactions. (see the first two pics) Highs are high and lows are low. If you give her the tiniest little present she's truly overjoyed and it's her favorite thing ever! And if you tell her it's nap time you've ruined her life and the tears will flow. There is no in between.
*She's so funny. I often hear her yelling stuff like "Finn! Stop antagonizing me!" and other adult phrases from me and Nate.
*She's smart! She knows her letters and letter sounds and numbers, and she's pretty good at picking up on social cues.
*She's a singer and dancer. She can't just wear anything when she dances though. It has to be a skirt. And that skirt has to move around when she twirls.
*She can shake her hips and shoulders like she's more mature than she really is. Yikes!
*She has strong opinions about what songs we should listen to on the radio. She's a big Black Eyed Peas fan. And she's been known to just start belting out Katy Perry's, Fire Work. "Baby you're a firework! Come on let your colors burst! Make 'em go ah ah ah!"
*She likes to play with my hair while I'm "computering." (and I love it.)
*She's the produce bandit. Loves to eat a whole piece of fruit or vegetable and she'll melt down if you cut it. A whole apple, a whole peach, a whole carrot, a whole tomato. It's cute and healthy and funny....until she swipes that one last tomato that you had earmarked for dinner or that one last apple you thought you'd slice up and share between 3 people.
*She substitutes a "th" sound for the "F" sound only in words where there's an "fl" like in flower, fly, float and firefly. She says "thlower, thly and thloat...and firethly"
*She is GREAT with Serin. She always has been. She already looks out for her.
*Selah has such a tender heart. This is a common interchange between us when we're cuddling:
 Me: "I love you. You're my little girl."
Selah: "I love you too Mommy. You're my lady. And Daddy's my man. My big strong man."

dancin in her new birthday dress

Granny Peg made the coolest quilt for Selah. You can dress up the paper dolls!

Selah was a little gymnast this summer.

She's my crafty kid. And she always wears the same outfit while she paints. Her "painting shirt and crazy fishy pants."