Ready for Halloween!

The house has been decorated,

(the kids' bedroom doors)

(the black pumpkins are a craft I did with the kids this year)

(Julianna's "Mr. Skinnybones" from Kindergarten is waving at Katie's "Mr. Skinnybones" from Kindergarten!)

the pumpkin patch has been visited,



pumpkin goop has been scooped,



jack o'lanterns have been carved,





the school's pumpkin carving contest has been entered,



and Nick has baked cupcakes for his preschool class party!

(yellow cake, white frosting, yellow sprinkles, red fruit roll, scissors, and Mommy's help!)

We are ready for Halloween!

Letter-obsessed

A new discovery: Nick knows how to write his letters! WOW!

He has been asking how to spell things for a while now, and the other day he took a piece of paper and wrote his name, then asked how to spell "sure."

Next thing we knew, he had written "sure" on his paper! Whoa!


This was followed by a whole series of words. Yes, these were really written by Nick!








And not only that, he told us last night that "Dino starts with D, because it sounds like Da, Da, D!" You could have knocked me over with a feather. Katie exclaimed, "Did you guys hear what he just said?!!"

The glasses have arrived!

On the drive home from the optometrist, she kept looking over her glasses, through her glasses, over her glasses, through her glasses, marveling at the things in the distance that she suddenly can see!

This summer, at the Clackamas County Fair, she asked me a question about one of the cows. I said, "the answer is right there on the sign at the top of the stall." She told me she couldn't read it. I asked her several times if she was just pulling my leg. I made a mental note to pay attention to whether she can read at a distance.

After the school year started, I asked Katie if she could see the board in the classroom, and she said "not really." I told her that I thought she should see an optometrist and find out what's up. She had to remind me several times to make an appointment, and last week I finally remembered during business hours.

She was very excited and hopeful that she would be leaving with glasses. She seemed to think wearing glasses would be cool. The doctor said that she was testing at 20/60 to 20/80, so I decided to go ahead and get her glasses for those times when she needed to see something far away. She was very excited and wished she didn't have to wait for the glasses to be made.

Ahead of schedule, they were ready today! What an exciting errand to run!

Halloween costume has been found!

Rawr says the lion.

What's that saying about curiosity?

I am telling you, this cat is Naughty.

Just look!



and in other news....

Big News Today

I went to the Eye-doctor today because I can't see the board at school. Even when she uses a bright red marker I still can't see the bord. I have glasses to see things that are far away. Except I won't wear them all the time, just when I need to see things that are far away. They are dark brown on the front and dark brown with a orange and white design on the arms. Well that's the BIG news! I hope you're excited I surely am.

Sincerely,
Katie


(She has to wait 7-10 business days for her glasses. -Ed.)

PR5 has come to an end.

Watching the finale of Project Runway 5...

I cannot help but remember how I felt going into Project Runway 1's finale. I wanted Jay to win so badly! I watched nervously, I loved his collection, HE WON, I whooped! Whoo! I thought I would be wearing his clothes by now, but the fashion business is harder than I knew.

Having seen that, the PR finales feel a bit different. Winning PR doesn't guarantee you anything: if the winner does become "the next great American designer," it won't happen for a while. The finale is still fun to watch, having gotten to know the designers during the season, but their careers remain to be seen!

_____________
Kenley's Collection.
I pick out these two as my favorites:

I would LOVE to wear this dress!

This look is not that feasible in the "real world," but what a pretty look. Beautiful shape.

_____________
Korto's Collection.
These two are my favorites:

I would totally buy this dress (if it were a bit longer).

This one was very striking on the runway!

_____________
Leanne's Collection.
Watching this collection, I think to myself: "this is the one that seems to be inventing something new, imagining a new direction."
These two are my picks for favorites.



____________
Announcing the Winner.

It's Leanne!
(Eric and I have been referring to her as "Portland Girl" this whole season -- YEAH! Go PDX! Rip City! Stumptown! The City of Roses! Bridgetown!)

I wasn't really rooting for any one of the THREE WOMEN finalists - I liked Leanne and Korto all along - but I do agree with this decision. Well done, judges!

Portland must be excited tonight!

written by Julianna (some in third person)

Julianna has fun at school because she is good at reading.

And the new kitten named Turbo is fun. Two times he fell asleep on me. Now he has a collar.

Today we were working with Q. I drew a picture of a queen. I got finished just in time.

At recess the boys who were mean the other days decided to play our game today. We played dogs and owners. The dogs crawl around and the owners feed them using play food from the play house. I was an owner. I had lots of dogs: David, Marshall, Eric, and James. They were not as well behaved as the other people's dogs.

We went to music and we sang a song I love called "Alleluia."

I saw Marshall's new puppy with his mom picking up Marshall. She was a French bulldog named Coco. I got to hold the leash and walk the puppy.

At home I made lunch. Carrots, yogurt, and of course raspberries. Grandma will say, "she ate raspberries? Mmmmmmmmmmmm."