Blue Santa Parade

I have such vivid memories of my Girl Scout troupe strutting in procession through the streets of downtown San Juan Capistrano for the Swallows Day Parade, circa 1977. Flash to 2009, I find myself on the other side of the rope cheering on our girl and her gymnastics team.

snazzy no?
ella rae fan club president and co-chair
more images of blue santa 2009

On my way

Saying so long to my kinder class was bittersweet. My student teaching assignment is complete YIPPEEE!!! but I have grown so attached to my eighteen little learners. I can hardly wait to have a class of my own.

keepsake

Hambone Halloween

That holiday season tingle struck early this year. By "tingle" I mean that special moment when you feel a volt of gratefulness for the life that you have mixed with excited anticipation for the life to come. The pomp and circumstance of the holiday season usually elicits this feeling sometime after I finish wrapping the presents and position them under the tree. Some years it requires a dose of Bing Crosby's immortalized "White Christmas" or the like to draw it out. Not so this time around. While I was lighting candles arranged around miniature pumpkins for a surprise dinner with Uncle Craig I got the tell-tale shiver. I think this bodes well for the year to come.

bat, wolf, witch
bat, ham
flaming pumpkin

More GivingCity

When Mr Mooks isn't weaving scintillating marketing and PR yarns he rustles up articles like this one for GivingCity, about the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and its new cancer patient navigation center.

Mr Mooks and Doug Ulman, president LAF

Prep Team!!!

Our little hot shot has progressed to the next level. She was proud as punch after her performance last night. We celebrated at our local pizza joint with a pie and a gazillion games of Frogger and Pacman.

Empty Bowl Project

I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning than making art with friends and family. Cheers to Mathews Art and Philanthropy patrons for bringing projects like this to life in our community. These lovely bowls will be auctioned off (and filled with yummy soup) to raise money for the Capital Area Food Bank's Kids Cafe Program.

photo credit: elizabeth breston

Camping

The Papas took the pigeons for a romp on the Guadalupe River this weekend. They came home tired, dirty, fire ant bitten, smelling of smoke and talking a mile a minute about their adventures in the wild.

bonfire
bonding
fishing

A little bit of this and of that

The unstructured moments spent close to home are often the sweetest.

bugs sewing doll clothes
fetch with new pal chubaka
fresh air before supper

Fall and Friday Night Lights

Finally a break in the heat. We sat on the porch wrapped in blankets to watch the rain. Ella wore her new hat courtesy of our sweet friend and beloved early years nanny. She brought us some delightful and unique gifts from her stint in Korea. Thank you C!

What would fall be (especially in Tejas) without football? True to the spirit of Austin the high school bands were in fine form. The back and fourth between the horn sections almost upstaged the game. Mr Mooks snapped a picture from the stadium of the gorgeous fall sky at sundown and the tower that marks our little patch of turf on earth.

Pickem UP games

Neighborhood soccer and such....
before the big kids come along
stretch jones
flirting
high

New sheriff in town

The ragamuffin quotient may have gone up a notch but the ducklings are thriving under the new regime. Exciting and long sought-after opportunities have taken me away from the nest more often, leaving daddy duck to rule the roost.

Rainy Day and Sculpey
Jedi vs Hulk
Rocket Launch

Roller Girl

If only she could sleep in them.

Sister's Stuff

Last Saturday night Cy snuck his toy saber and silly putty into my bag before we set out to see Ella Rae's BFF perform Ballet Folklorico at Zilker Park. Despite my best efforts little bits of grassy putty ended up in hair and the saber nearly blinded our unsuspecting neighbor, who also got a few fingers stomped when Cyrus joined in on the Dance of the Matchetes finale.

On Sunday Cy broke into Ella's Bendaroos stash. Bendaroos are second only to Floam on Ella's hierarchy of creative play options. In a not-so-distant past this behavior would have ended in fisticuffs but to my surprise Big Sis decided to make a Bendaroo mask for her Little Bro. And then she painted his toenails.

BOOdaroo
Blue little piggies

Changes

After the summer hiatus we've had such fun reconnecting with our school time buddies. My how everyone has grown. This theme continued as we observed the larvae/caterpillar/butterfly life cycle with the help of the Butterfly Garden Kit. When Ella learned that the Painted Ladies live for only two weeks after emerging from their chrysalises she was anxious to set them free.

School Shoes

2nd grader feet here. It gets only the teentsiest bit easier saying goodbye at the start of every school year.

Ellascapes

Ella's been whipping up hand-drawn thank you notes inspired by the recipient's environment and adorned with her signature sparkly gem in the right hand corner.

Pools & Boats

A few more summer pics to post before attention turns back to school.

not a care in the world
front flip
desert cacti, dog, ball, goggles, superman towel
on the river
sailing camp -- ready to rig
speed boat scamp on scamp