Everyone has to visit a pumpkin farm in October, right? I wish I had my own farm – even I could grow a pumpkin. These farms near the city make a fortune!

I bought this great fabric in Lawrence, Kansas this summer. Luckily, I remembered it existed in time for halloween and made this skirt for Julia.

Here she is with our babysitter, Ms. Cynthia.

This is what we have to do to roast marshmallows around here.

I know, I know – she’s only two. She doesn’t really need to go to “school” yet. But, if you met the amazing Ms. Dawn you’d know that she is better off at school a couple of mornings a week than with me.  She loves getting ready for school just like her big sister Ona.

Leona didn’t ask for much for her birthday – a sleepover with 3 friends, a bike for her basket, and could we please get the cardboard box playhouse back that she used to play with (old airconditioner box.)

Thanks to Carole she received her bike basket. Now bunny can ride along on her adventures to Krispy Kreme and the park. 

I convinced David to build a real playhouse behind our house instead of a cardboard box. Here it is under construction. I’ll post finished pics later.

I’m a scrapbooker. It doesn’t really go with the image I’m trying to maintain but I’m not embarassed by it.

Shannon agreed to go with me to a scrapbook convention in Nashville. I’m sure it’s hard to believe but we had a great time and got a lot of work done on our scrapbooks. Shannon looks like she fared much better than me during the grueling day of classes!

I bought this dress at a warehouse sale and was thrilled with the price. I got a steal on a previously out of my price range dress. The problem was, I didn’t realize how much I’d have to spend on spanx to wear the dang thing.

David and I went to a benefit party for our neighborhood. It was a fun night. We rarely get a chance to get dressed up anymore. My friend Tara Carignan of Genie Soul jewelry designed the cool bracelet using a stone that Dad gave me. I love it.

It seems in our house the only one who doesn’t like the first day of school is me. I still have that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that it’s the end of summer and the need to get back to a dreaded schedule. I guess they are too young or too social to really worry about that.

Leona loves being back in school. She cursed every red light we hit on the first day because she wanted to get to school as fast as possible. Following in her best friend’s foot steps from last year she decided to wear a pair of my old clip on earrings to make a good first impression. She did make a new friend so I’m guessing that was a successful strategy.

Julia started “school” this week too. She has our beloved Ms. Dawn as a teacher so I assure you she is in much better hands than she is with me. From what I can tell they just spent the day peppering each other with kisses.

Leona and David discovered an even bigger jumping rock. Apparently she was the youngest jumper and chastised the college age girls who were too scared to jump at the top.

Clearly, we’ve been back from Italy for a while but I wanted to post a few of our last photos while we were there. It was a wonderful trip and I’m already wishing we had the next one planned.

We spent a few days on the beach at Viareggio and Lido di Camaiore. The views were unbelievable with the alps in the background.  In Italy one accesses the beach via beach clubs that have playgrounds, restaurants and other facilities.  The girls loved the playgrounds and I particularly loved the frizzante white wine.

We traveled to Rome for a couple of days. We should have just skipped this step as we prefer the countryside and have been to Rome a few times before. However, ending our trip at the St. Regis was nice!

The girls made the plane ride home look easy. They were happy just to watch cartoons that they hadn’t seen in a few weeks.

p.s. Nikon did replace my lens once I returned home.