photography, couches, apples, and mulch.

this is a picture of isaac taking a picture(backwards, mind you) of his rendering of a horse on his etch-a-sketch.  awesome.

that adorable settee that barbara(momma-in-law) and i reupholstered when i was very pregnant with isaac went back up to new york to adorn my sister's apartment.

holly(o'neill)'s trash-picked pew, isaac, millalin

holly(sanchez) and sayen and the most beautiful green baby sweater ever.

this plus this equals...

apple pie filling!

an i-already-dumped-that-pile-of-mulch-over-my-head grimy face only a mother could love.

we like to eat eapples

sweet thrift store stash of wooden spools

our(isaac and ezra's) birthday(isaac's) slippers arrived

 

and a bit of dressing up(thanks to angie's generous donation of her childhood dress-up box!)

wednesday we went apple picking with holly at Larriland Farm(killer name, i know) and came home with 30 lbs of apples(!)

ezra also picked some leaves that he thought we should take home...

apple picking is a careful science for this boy

rejoicing in the fruits of their labor

and a little birthday knitting for kate(modeled by the lovely adam)

it's beginning to look a lot like autumn everywhere we go!

pencil roll

complete with embroidered pencil

i was so happy with the way it turned out...

that i made one for ezra too

(who is currently in a phase of "i want everything isaac gets even if i don't really use it yet")

first time on the metro(how is it that OUR children hadn't yet done that?!)

yay for birthday cookbooks!

 

and my new little green friend in the kitchen that happens to make some awesome oatmeal...

sweet brothers

i don't think he was this big yesterday.

 

a bit of yellow i saw on my date sunday night(during which we walked by the aarp building at which my husband shook his fist and yelled "stop sending me stuff!")

 

sunbathing turtles

friends don't let friends walk the boardwalk alone...

 

 

baby sayen

fall is on its way!

sending birthday invitations(isaac walked them all the way to the post office with quite the spring in his step!

gleaned during the daily leaf hunt... it's a beauty!

the last 24 of 24...

two enormous grasshoppers doing it on one of my tomato plants.

may i introduce you to all of the socks that ezra has been taking off and stowing behind his crib!

pre-birthday dinner with my three handsome dates

i also happen to share my birthday with my wonderful mother, for whom i made a gratitude wrap(free pattern in amanda's "Favorites") for her journal(she is a very faithful journaler) and took her birthday lunch and brownies in bed(she has been suffering from severe headaches and was in the hospital last week).

embroidered initials

birthday wildflowers picked by my honey(and incidentally a bit of yellow to share with you!)

a work-boot-search visit to bass pro and of course a visit to see the giant catfish

peekaboo ezra!

thank you laurie, janna, andrea, angie, and adam for the lovely birthday gifts!  you all know me so well!

apprehended at last!

this jerk-of-a-groundhog has finally been removed from my garden!

 

adam trying to need a rabies shot

adam took him wherever he took the other one(~5 miles away near the patuxent).  he has been our garden pest for about 2 1/2 years.  i will not miss him.