THIRTY-NINE

She dressed herself this day. But honestly this was outfit 2/10 for the whole day. My favorite part was the "cape" that she insisted "looked SO nice with my sweater!" She also posed like this when I asked her if I could take her photo.

 2016 week thirty-nine

There are very few things that bring so much joy in our lives than child-sized baskets at the grocery store. 

Bagging up cinnamon apple chips while the kids play outside in the cool morning air.

Our garden is still going. We pickled a bunch of cucumbers and banana peppers last week. And there are still several dozen peppers growing on my plants. 

The early mornings have started to cool off and Vera and Theo have really enjoyed just pottering around outside in the delicious coolness. 

On Tuesday Matthew and I got to go to a live taping of one of my favorite NPR show "Ask Me Another." We had so much fun.  

I had never been to The Majestic Theater before. It was so beautiful on the inside. We couldn't stop staring at the ceiling.

It was so ornate and luxe. I just loved it. 

Theo is so blurry like he's flying away. I melt when I see their loving eyes.

He loves his bike so much. He will zip across the yard as quickly as he can shrieking and laughing wildly if I pretend to chase him. 

The girl who begs and cries and sneaks to wear sweaters and jackets and multiple layers of dress up all summer long has now started begging and crying and sneaking to be naked or wearing next to nothing now that it's cooling down. I dont get it. 

On Thursday this week we had an extra tasty dinner. I made some homemade noodles with an eggplant tomato sauce. We had grilled banana peppers, and sauteed "orient wonder" green beans from our garden (they were almost a foot long!) and some bread and charcuterie and pickles plate. So many of our favorite things. 

Happily, this is what almost our entire weekend looked like. V has embraced the Halloween books with gusto. 

Quotes:

"I'm just over here cookin' cakins!"

When we went to Trader Joes the man at the check out gave Vera a baby pumpkin free of charge. She loved it so much. She immediately lost it. But before she lost it she went on and on about how much she loved it. "This little pumpkin is Giraffes baby sister. They are sisters and they both came out of my tummy and then I bought them at the store. I will name her Scarecrow. Giraffe will love her so much." Later she got another pumpkin and named it Pear Spices.

She's started this thing when we are in the middle of a meal she will want to get down from her chair to give me a hug. It's sweet but she's also just trying to get out of her seat and play around. So we compromise by letting our hands hug each other. "Your hand can be the mama and my hands can be the little children. Look at them hug."

"This is my skeleton. I will name him Scarrit." (pronounced like 'scare-it' I thought it was a clever name for a skeleton.)

"Papa, will you tell me a store about a dolphin eating our family?"

"In April it will be my first birthday and I will turn 4. Mama! I will be 24!!!"

"This is the biggest EVER cucumber!"