Avengers in the House!

There is no safer place than the Fear household, now that the Avengers have arrived!

Natalie battled the forces of evil as Iron Man:

Bea wielded Thor's mighty hammer:

And Dexter and Calvin both wanted to save the world as Captain America:

It was a great Halloween, with a trunk-or-treat party at church on Friday, and then Halloween in Disneyland on Monday! Disneyland pictures will follow ... (don't get too excited!) Hope everyone had a great holiday and didn't stuff themselves too full of candy corn. :)

10 Things That Have Been Happening

In no particular order:

1) Dexter's cast is off! Hooray!

2) Some sweet friends thoughtfully passed down some clothes to us, so I took the opportunity to try my hand at dying ... wait, I mean dyeing, a dress for Bea. Before & after:

So fun! Everyone is now hiding their clothes from me, because I've become a little dye-happy.

3) (This was where I mentioned we were selling our old black van ("the orca") to get Jay a commuter car and then proceeded to beg one of you to buy it. But the begging is no longer necessary because we sold it! In its place we purchased a '92 Corolla... a 3 year upgrade from the '89 Corolla we recently parted with. What can I say? They are the best cars for people who are bad at remembering regular oil changes.)

4) General Conference and the Relief Society broadcast were awesome. Truly. I can't wait until the Ensign comes in the mail so I can read all the parts I missed while applying bandaids, refilling drinks, and breaking up fights over legos.

5) Jay and Cal managed to break our $6 Ikea stool. (I know, just shocking that an Ikea stool broke!) So we cut out a new seat from scrap wood, covered it in batting and fabric, and attached it back on the stool legs. Done and done.

6) My Etsy store is doing better and better as it gets closer to Christmas. I think my "grandopening" coupon code still works, so check it out! I add stuff every week, like this new Halloween outfit. (Dear Santa, please send a new camera so my pictures actually make people want to buy stuff. Thank you.)

7) The kids are doing great. Natalie started violin lessons, we need a preschool for Dex that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, Bea is just plain awesome, and Calvin is the world's strongest 2 year old. I don't know how to go about officially claiming that title, but I'll look into it.

8) I am starting to have an unhealthy relationship with Pinterest. And that's all I'll say about that.

9) The D-Land countdown chain is getting smaller and smaller! The trip is the main topic of conversation around the dinnertable, despite the fact that Pirates and Small World will both be closed while we're there. *Sigh* Oh well, more time for churros!

10) I miss you. Yes, you! All of you, including you Robin S. (and you too, Robin L., though we do have a Words With Friends relationship going.) And you, Joyce! And all my friends from SJ and various other cities 'round the state. And don't worry my Ascent/Sony peeps, I haven't forgotten about you! Let's get the band back together soon. And I miss you, too, family, even if you don't feel the need to comment on my blog posts anymore. It's ok. I will heal somehow. I suspect chocolate will be involved.

The End.

Trendsetters

Sometimes it's hard to resist my natural impluse to force my children to dress a certain way. But I have to remember that if I did impose my fashion will on them, I would be missing all this awesomeness:

And... Instagram!

Thanks for the Snoopy Halloween socks, Grandma. No, really, thanks a lot. ;)

I Was Worried He Would Choose Pink

The first Fear child to break a bone is ...

(drum roll, please....)

Dexter!

Congratulations, Dexter! You win a cool black cast and a new Transformer. Way to go!

Broken wrist courtsey of a game of "farmers and turkeys" on the trampoline. Dexter was playing the part of a turkey, naturally. He only has to have it on for four weeks, and he is being a trooper (for the most part). :)

But Who's Counting?

Just two more months until we're at the Happiest Place on Earth!

(Picture from our last rainy trip to Disneyland. Yes, Instagram has made its way into my life)

We are counting down in style: paper chain, baby!

We are all very excited. (It's possible that Jay and I are more excited than the kids...who am I kidding, we *are* more excited!) What the kids don't know, though, is that Grandma is coming with us! Shhh! It is her first time to The Big D in about 35 years, so I think it's going to be an exciting trip for all. I have a list of things to accomplish while we're there, most of which includes eating a lot of food and getting Betsy on the Tower of Terror. MuHahahaha!

Now if only I could make time go faster ...

Goodbye, Summer!

Well, the first day of school is crossed off the calendar, and Day 2 is in process. So far, so good. The only unhappy person is Dexter, who did not enjoy watching his sisters get school clothes and supplies, while he was told that he had to wait until next year. Well, he did get a Linus shirt on clearance, but it wasn't the same. Poor thing.

He doesn't look too sad here, though:

Bea is starting 2nd grade ...

...and Natalie is in 4th. Upper classman!

As for me, it's been nice these two days to have more time alone with the boys. I think we might even attempt the zoo tomorrow now that the summer crowds are gone. I sense that Fall is not too far away and I am very happy about that! Bring on the sweaters, the pumpkins, and the cool air! I can't wait!

Modern Art, Fear Style (AKA: Cheap!)

Hello friends! We're alive, we promise. :) It's just been a very lazy summer, and I haven't had much to write about. School starts in a week and I'm ready to get back into some sort of routine, though. I don't know how the girls are going to feel about waking up before 9, but we'll deal with that on Monday.

Jay and I have been playing too much Words with Friends lately, so I've been seeing Scrabble tiles everywhere I turn. During one of my Scrabble-laced visions, I told Jay we should make an art piece out of our non-virtual Scrabble board. And so we did. It is hanging up in our living room, and I love it.

(Sorry, my pictures are not great - blame it on the lighting in that corner and my old digital camera.)

The board is mounted on wood and hung with clear fishing line

The Fear family represented, and we only had to use one blank tile! (And there is only one non-family related word ... can you see it?)

Extreme Close Up!

Next on my crafty to-do list (besides more doll clothes, of course) is a version of this awesome Hardware Store Wreath. Perfect!

Ahh, Summer!

So much has been happening this summer!

The kids had swim lessons at our local rec center, and are now all nice and tan. Well, everyone except Bea. I'm afraid she got my pale French-Canadian genes.

We went camping at Whiskeytown, and it only rained for 1 1/2 days straight!

(We managed to have a good time anyway.)

Natalie turned 9 at the end of June. Jay made a solar system of cakes to celebrate. (Including Pluto ... who cares what the scientists say?! Besides, we needed one cake for each year.)

Natalie choose to eat earth all by herself

And then, Jay and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a romantic picnic, followed by canoeing on the lake. The 10 years have truly flown by. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I simply wouldn't want to be on this adventure with anyone else. Jay is perfect for me. (Notice I didn't say he was perfect....) :)

Then:

Now:

Happy Anniversary, Schmoopy.