Halloween decor

The morning light just happened to shine on our spooky window display. 

Sweet Olivia

A goodnight conversation:

Olivia: Mommy, will you love me forever?

Me: Yes, I will always love you.

Olivia: I will always love...(long pause) Daddy. And I will always love you, and I will always love Sammy and I will always love myself.

Me: That is really wonderful.

Olivia: I am giving myself a hug.

Funny Chris-ism

"No one ever thinks, who should we get for this part and then thinks Keanu Reeves."

Sammy loves the park

This boy loves the park!

Pumpkin Patch!

Olivia's class of freaking adorable friends went to the Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island. Here are some highlights:

So much fun. I love these kids so much and I already know that the end of the school year will be tear-filled.

Olivia is 4.10 and has deep thoughts

Ms. O is a deep thinker. She ponders the big questions about life and death. We have conversations about what happens when you die and if you become a spirit are you still in the same body? I told her that I didn't really know, but I thought that when people died they became the sky and the sun and everything we can see and feel. That satisfied her for a few days.

She frequently asks for reassurance of permanence: any time she has to leave a toy unpurchased or stick left outside she has a mini breakdown. "Will it always be here?" she asks. We always say yes. 

The memory of things that were lost years ago, like the sparkly pink shoe she kicked into the John Day River will spring to mind and make her cry. I never say the right thing. What is there to do but let her feel loss, even if to us it seems crazy town.

This is 4.10.

More bath time sweetness

Olivia in charge

Here is Olivia being a helpful big sister at the zoo today. I am not sure Sam appreciated her technique of holding him by the hood of his jacket, but it worked.

Silly baby

More bath time shenanigans:

Summer in the city

Olivia and the white mushrooms

Our new family member

Olivia has been asking for a pet for ages. Neither of us want a pet that needs walking, litter box cleaning, or any care beyond dropping food pellets into a bowl. A fish! Perfect! Meet Rosa, the fish.

Bath time