Meet the author!

At the last minute I found out that Laura Numeroff, the author of children's books, will be reading her latest book and signing them at a local book store.

She wrote a few series of books that became well known, "If you give a Mouse a Cookie" set, "What Grandmas Do Best" set, "The Jellybeans" set, and a whole selection of other books.

She read her latest book "Otis & Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever", talked about her career as a writer, and answered some questions.  It was great to have kids meet someone whose books they read and hear her speak.  Everyone had a great time.

Jon found a a book called "Don't Let The Pidgeon Drive The Bus!" on one of the shelves and wouldn't let go of it. He even tried having Laura Numeroff sign it!  What a clown!  I guess I know what I should get him for Christmas...

September 25th weekend

Ah, now that kids are getting older, Tim and I can have an occasional date night.  This Friday we went out for dinner, then to a Mandolin Orchestra concert.

Dinner was not great, sadly.  We went to the same place I once had a meal at, and that time it was pretty decent, not this time though...  Waiter couldn't understand simple questions I was asking and kept telling me something completely irrelevant... I ordered a green curry dish with Thai noodles and I was served a HUGE dish of what appeared to be some green soup.  It wasn't tasty and way way too runny.  Tim's dish didn't live up to his expectations either, he swore he is not coming back to this place.  Overpriced, under-delivered.  Chef Ramsay would shut them down!  I don't even want to know what their kitchen looked like...

On a brighter site, the concert was great!

Saturday was spent taking Jon to his friend's (Jack's) birthday party, catching up on my unfinished crafts projects and trying to clean up the house.  I managed to make a big batch of chocolate fudge before taking off and when I returned I found all the kids (minus Jon who was with me) sitting at the table with an enormous size serving of fudge in front of each...  I guess they liked it.

While Jon was at his friend's house I dropped by the Crafts Warehouse for a beading event and made a couple of free crafts, which gave me some more project ideas. Noooo, I need to finish all the ones I already started!

Later that day my friend Jennifer and I held a photo session for Miranda's senior pictures.  My camera was acting weird and as a result I had some "good" pictures, but nothing "great" (in my opinion, anyway).  Jennifer took some great shots and Miranda is using one of them for the yearbook.  Thanks Jennifer, you saved me!

This is the one.

Sunday was a little slow.  Again, some yard work, a couple of movies to catch up on, cook, clean, wash, the weekend is gone.  Next weekend can't get here quick enough!

September 18th weekend

This weekend we decided to get girls' room cleaned up a bit, so on Saturday we all went to IKEA.  Tim has never been there and kids think the store is fun because you can try all of the furniture on display.  Larissa and I also like the food there, and as it turns out they also have a really good deal on a hot dog meal, which made Gabe's day!

Gabe and Jon picked a dining table they liked and pretended it was theirs.

We found that WiFi at IKEA is no go, but food is still good, especially the desert.

On Sunday I took Larissa and Jon to get fresh vegetables and fruits.  First we put our rubber boots on, since it rained all last night.  Then, I let kids pick their veggies.  Larissa found the largest zucchini ever, I hope she eats it when I prepare it, but I am doubtful...

Then, kids found a "moon with a face" shaped eggplant and just had to get it.  Again, I hope they eat it too...

Next stop, Heritage apple farm.  They had THE prettiest freshly picked apples and the best apple cider ever!  Apples were a little tough though, so I think they need to sit out and ripen a little...

On the way home we stopped at Target and checked out their Halloween inventory...  Kind of freaky, don't you think?