Trick or Treat...

I love being a nanny because I get to be surrounded by the children's excitement at each holiday that comes along. This afternoon when I picked Sam up from school, a classroom full of Kindergartners chorused "Happy Halloweeeeeeen!!!" It put a smile on my face just as big as any jack-o-lantern I've ever seen! Sam and his siblings spent weeks making Halloween decorations so that their home is covered with pumpkins and many things orange. I also get to see them get all decked out for the "big night". Here is the littlest cheerleader ever. She is so cute! And since it is Halloween I had fun with photoshop (Jacob has been teaching me the ropes and made me promise I wouldn't do weird things to pictures...but hey, it's my little trick for Halloween!)

Wouldn't you want her to cheer you on?

And here is her brother, Sam (aka "train conductor"). He loves Thomas the Train so much that he's getting a 3rd year of use out of this costume!

(Here we go with my tricks again... :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Jacob's new suit.

Saturday we headed out to do a little shopping and find Jacob a new suit. We started at U-Village and fueled up with some Jamba Juice to start our day of shopping.

For those of you who know Jacob, you probably haven't seen him in a suit for some time. He doesn't especially like wearing a suit - he is more of a khaki pants, white shirt or sweater kind of a guy. BUT. Today we went to our "new" ward. The Young Single Adult Ward of the University of Washington. ("U1"). Yes, Jacob has been asked to serve as the new 1st counselor to the Bishop in the ward. We were in this same ward only 9 or 10 months ago before we were married. The congregation is full of amazing people ranging in age from 18-30. Some are students at the local colleges and universities, and some are professionals who fall within the age range and come to socialize and meet up with people in a similar phase of life. I must admit that after 11 years of attending the singles ward I was happy to leave and join the "family" ward we attended in Magnolia. I loved volunteering in the nursery and primary programs with the kids. I was a little bit - okay, a lot bit - sad to leave the new friends we had made. But today when we walked in we were welcomed by many friendly and familiar faces. We still know half of the crowd. I think everyone was excited to see us (we hope!) and we are looking forward to serving in the ward and having a great time doing it! The bonus is - we can go to all their fun activities and parties! Maybe even the Halloween Party - though we're still planning on the haunted organ concert on campus.

AND don't you think Jacob looks handsome in his new suit? I sure do!

Date Night

For some reason the past several days I have been craving pizza the way a lion stalks it's prey so on Saturday night when we went on our weekly date, we went up the street to our local Italian Restaurant and ordered the Margherita - my fave!

It had authentic thin crust and lots of homemade sauce and fresh mozzarella. It also happened to be a local homecoming night or something because we saw all these high school kids all dressed up. They were super cute to watch and it was quite entertaining to eaves drop on the lines they used to try to impress each other! After dinner we drove a bit north to Edmonds, and went to see some good ole community theatre...

We saw Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The cast and crew did a fantastic job! The character of Ichabod Crane was just perfect, you wouldn't believe the long and skinny legs and ankles he had! The play is running through the 28th, so if you want a little run-in with any particular Headless Horseman as Halloween approaches, go check it out!

For ticket info: http://www.driftwoodplayers.com/

A Little Art Appreciation

I spent Monday and Tuesday in Chicago with Lynn & Kaitlyn as Lynn had a business trip. Our prize for traveling half-way across the country with a baby was very warm and sunny weather. Last time I was in Chicago it was the dead middle of winter with windchill factors in the negative 40s. The 85-degree weather was a nice break from the Seattle chill we've had this fall, and it was nice to see the city in warmer conditions. So, while Lynn was in her meetings, Kaitlyn and I had a little time to appreciate the city and the fabulous Art Institute of Chicago.

Kaitlyn might as well have been our tour guide. She made all her cute baby sounds and turned a few heads - with smiles. People often comment on what a happy (not to mention cute) baby she is. She really seemed to appreciate all the different colors, tones, and textures we saw as we explored the museum. My personal favorite was a photography exhibit by Richard Misrach, titled On the Beach. But we also saw works such as...

Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte

Waterloo Bridge, Grey Weather by Claude Monet

Half-length Female Nude by Pablo Picasso

Brushstroke with Spatter by Roy Lichtenstein

I think Kaitlyn is the real Masterpiece though. Her title might be something like...
"Beautiful Child by Lynn & Matt"

We had a lot of fun wandering around Millenium Park, seeing the city skyline, and exploring the nooks and crannies of a big and beautiful green city space.

We really liked watching the morphing faces of Chicagoan people at the Crown Fountain. It was also fun watching the kids get wet in the cascading water. When night fell, it was all lit up and Kaitlyn couldn't get her eyes off these huge sculptures.

A bit about the fountain (according to www.milleniumpark.org): The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out. Spanish creator Juame Plensa adapted this practice by having faces of Chicago citizens projected on LED screens and having water flow through a water outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces, Plensa's tribute to Chicagoans, was taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents.

Though while in the airport, taxis, and hotel, Lynn referred to us, quite accurately, as Kaitlyn's "Sherpas," the moments in the park, in the museum, and in the sunshine made the exhaustion of "business travel" with a baby worth the effort. It was a successful trip for all of us!