All Hallows Eve

I love autumn. Some mornings, after it has rained, I can walk outside and be reminded of pencils and new school shoes. For whatever reason, that deep woodsy wet smell reminds me of home. Its not quite perfect, but it's close. I miss Alaska so much. I like taking a walk down Dimond Blvd in my head, trying to reconstruct the view of the gravel pits, remembering the sight of Anchorage from Flat Top. I can't wait to go back.

Halloween we had eggnog pancakes! And I happily wore my amazing new sweater I found at Target, that I call my Lucy Moderatz sweater, because it looks like hers from While You Were Sleeping.  The boys were so excited to dress up like pilots for Halloween. We ended up trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with our friend Anna and her daughter Amelia. The kids were so excited, we could hardly keep up with them! They ran from house to house, collecting their candy and then moving on. We decided we were't going to do candy this year, we were going to give out little toys instead. So they boys helped me to pick out little glow in the dark finger and bats, colorful bracelets and popping spiders. They thought it was pretty cool.

 

We also bought a couple of games to play as a family. A balancing bean game and Sequence for kids. I also bought Slamwich, which I used to play all the time with my mommy :) Tristan loves hi balancing game, because it combines math with spacial reasoning. Sequence we can all play together, and even Mis likes to put coins on the animal spaces. Its nice to be able to sit down together and play.

A couple days ago we took a trip down to Newton, for fun.  Well, first we went to campus and took our family photos ;) But Nick wanted to look at a GameStop there, and when we finished, we ran into the Walmart to get some snacks for the ride home. After walking through for about a minute, Nick and I looked at each other and he said, we are thinking the exact same thing. Its horrible to say, but every single one of the patrons was obese, dressed in holy sweats, greasy hair and face, and looked like they just crawled out of a basement. It was ridiculous. We walked past one well groomed woman in nice clothes and thought, is she from out of town too?? So I don't know, must just be small town Iowa....

Nick was super sweet, he likes to tell everyone how proud he is of me going back to school. He also got me a sweet gift, a couple of My Little Pony figures, he even got the one he hated the most, the hulky bulky Fluttershy that looks absolutely ridiculous but that I absolutely love :)

Yesterday, Mis would have had speech with Tori, but he graduated last week from the program. He is now intelligible to non normal listeners. He was pretty sad when I said we wouldn't be going to see Tori. So I asked if he'd like to take her a thank you card and he said yes. I helped him to draw some spiders, and he colored some squigles. When Nick picked me up from class, he suggested we go and let Mis pick Tori a flower. Mis picked a pretty peach colored giant daisy like flower, and then we went to say thank you. I got a picture of the two of them together as well, because she really means a lot to us. She would come to our house once a week to work one on one with Aramis. She did so much over the course of a year, that Mis went from very limited language to speaking in complete sentences. We had a few therapists before Tori, but they were switched in and out very frequently. I'm grateful Tori was able to stick with us for that long, I think it really helped Mis make steady progress to be just with her. So we really wanted to show our gratitude :) Mis was so excited and proud to give his thank you, he's such a sweet kid.

Today, I woke up from my nap to find Nick and Tristan out in the backyard. Nick had set up an obstacle course for Tristan to go around with his bow and arrows. It was super cute! I watched as Tristan went from spot to spot shooting the target. He got two while I watched, which is pretty dang good! Nick even got a video of him hitting the bullseye perfectly. That kid loves to shoot, because daddy has a bow and he shoots. I think we might take him to the range sometime to let him try for real.  We let Mis try too :)

Then tonight, we had Tristan's parent teacher conference. It actually went very well. On his first standardized test, Tristan scored well above normal (34 is proficient and he was at 41). That was so exciting for me as a mom, I was so proud of him! He's been doing better, still has trouble being crazy and following directions, but his teacher said he is always happy. He always talks about how much he loves school, and how much he loves his class. He's the first to run in and give his teacher a hug every morning. He really is such a sweet boy, and so very smart. I'm glad he has such an attentive teacher who is meeting his needs with compassion and patience.

And lastly! I got my magazine today!! The one I was featured in, the for real, sold in stores magazine! Practical Photography. It is soooo exciting! They were going to pay me, but I just asked for a couple copies of the magazine instead :) I mean, I've been a few publications, and I've even gotten the cover. But this took the cake, because its a magazine anyone can buy, and they wanted to pay ME! Not the other way around. It is incredibly validating for someone to invest in you, and value your work. I'm feeling very confident in my photography at the moment to say the least :)

My Little Aviators

Being a mom photographer has it's benefits :) because I absolutely love taking pictures of my kids.
My dad and my mom had gotten my boys these bomber jackets a couple weeks ago, and I thought how great would it be to let them actually go see a plane? Of course, my ulterior motive was the photos. My grandfather, we called him Bumpa, was in the Air Force. He fought in Korea, and settled with his family in the Great Land. When I saw these jackets, I knew immediately what I wanted to do, create a small tribute to an amazing man. Of course it helped that my boys told me they both wanted to be pilots! So I called the airport and asked if it would be okay for me to come and take some pictures, and they said yes! Had to wait a week till they had time available, but it was soooo worth it! Thank you to the kind personnel at the Ames Municipal Airport for making this little dream come true for me and for my boys! 

The Park

Today I took the boys to the park while we waited to pick up Nick. It was a busy day, I picked up Tristan from school, and then we went to get the boys' haircut because they were looking shaggy. After haircuts, we went to the park on Duff and they got to play for a while. There was a pair of grandparents with their granddaughter and puppy dog. The grandpa let the boys hit tennis balls for the dog to fetch, and I got to chat with the grandma, who happened to be an emeritus professor from ISU in the English department. She taught middle school for years, and started a journalism program at one of the schools. It was great to chat with her :) Afterwards, I took the boys to Starbucks and got them spiced ciders and we went to get Nick, walked around campus while we waited for him. I think they had a nice time. They got to wear their bomber jackets my parents sent them, which they received many compliments on! It was a good day :)

Inked

So what's new in my life? Well, this past Sunday I got a new tattoo :) And it's AMAZING!!! I've always loved the look of henna, and thought it would make a great design, so I sent some ideas over to my tattoo artist and she came up with this :) Isn't it beautiful?? I didn't get to see it until I showed up for the tattoo, and we tweaked it a little, but it was just perfect! I was the only one in the shop too, lol, because there was a homecoming parade and most of the downtown area was blocked off. I had to park at a power plant a few blocks away. It took her two and a half hours, and the pain wasn't  bad, once I got into my zone. I think she did a splendid job, and I even got some compliments on it the next day at school. My favorite teacher said she loved it, so you know it's good haha! Nick couldn't stop looking at it and saying how beautiful it was, which made me feel all special since it was his gift to me.

being worked on

immediately after

close up detail

   

The Crown

I've had a bit of an eventful week. My mornings are full of classes, my afternoons with the kids, my evenings with homework, pictures and cleaning. I feel like I'm  going crazy sometimes with the amount of things I have to remember.

Dishes, laundry, clean the counters, wipe down the table, pick up the string so the cat doesn't eat it, Psych homework, English reading, education paper, linguistics exercises, client emails, photo editing, feed the dog, feed the cat, feed the kids, wipe the poop, shower, do my hair, pluck my eye brows....check the mail, rake the leaves (again and again), pick up Tristan, pick up Nick.

GAH!

On the bright side, I'm never bored. I just never have time to relax either. Which is why I am t trying to force myself to take a few minutes a day and just reflect on somethings. Like how I felt when I finished my grammar test, and saw the 91%. It was quite an achievement, because I've always done poorly on multiple choice  tests. I was so proud, I couldn't stop smiling all the way to the car. Or when I saw my 100% on my last four papers. And one of them was over 100%. Because I've been insecure about my writing abilities for so long, having my teachers recognize my efforts, and calling them good, really makes me feel happy. My education professor even went so far as to tell me "Well that's not evident in your papers, Sara". after I said I didn't think I was especially scholastically gifted. It's validating, and makes me feel like I've made a good decision in going back.

Wednesday, I went to Des Moines to have my crown put on. Yes, my bad teeth have gotten the better of me at last and I now have a crown. But after three weeks of a temporary, having the real one put in was amazing! It feels like a real tooth, and I'm so grateful for a kind and understanding dentist. I have super horrible anxiety about dental work, and I felt like a boss when we finished with the last two fillings last month. It's so funny, when I see the dentist, its not just a cleaning. Its a cleaning and then a few weeks of going back for more treatment......so they get to know me pretty well, and begin to understand why I might cry a little.....I burn through anesthetic super fast, so they have to stay on top of numbing me as we go, otherwise I feel things, and I've felt plenty of drillings and fillings, enough to cause me to hyperventilate as I walk in the door of the office. But I hide it well, and they always comment on how brave I am. But, its nice to be able to chew and brush my teeth again without worry about the temporary falling off :)

And whilst I was in Des Moines, I stopped at one of the only camera shops in the state to drop off some film. My mom and dad got me a twin sense Yashica for my birthday, live Vivian Maier, and I have been trying it out. This is my first time, so we'll get to see how they turned out this week. I'm hoping good because I want to use it to take pictures of the boys.

My parents sent the boys bomber jackets, and they are adorable! So I ordered them each an aviator hat with goggles to go with the jackets. And then I called the airport here in Ames to see if we could take a few pictures with a plane on the runway. They said yes! They boys are super excited, and so am I. I can't wait for my parents to see, because I think they will turn out amazing :)

But other than that, things are going well. Mis is speaking more clearly and might not need speech therapy anymore. Tristan is impressing me more and more each day with the things he's learning at school, from numbers, to letters, to "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". He also showed me how to make a "b" by drawing a line and a "magic c".

At bedtime, Mis proudly displayed his snot encrusted finger at me, "I got his out of my nose!" "Gross!" I said, and wiped his finger on his pillow. He became distressed, and started searching his pillow immediately. "Uh! My booger!!"

Life is good :)

Being silly :)

autumn got here too fast!

riding his bike

snow boots and a garbage truck

digging a hole

my editing buddies

playing a "game"

fantastic hair

gummy feet from Nanny

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after bath faces

eww

Tristan's School

I had a senior session today. It was originally scheduled for yesterday, but the gloomy rain clouds forced us to reschedule. And then fall went away for a few hours and it was hot and muggy! While I worked, Nick took the boys on a walk around campus, down to campus town, and back. They had lunch in the Memorial Union, shopped at CVS, went perusing at the game store, and stalked me for the last half an hour of my session :)

Then we went up to Nick's lab class and poked around a dead cat cadaver. It was stinky and gross, but the boys thought it was pretty awesome. As a reward for their good behavior, we got McDonald's (terrible I know, and we spent an embarrassing amount of money on the food) which isn't something we do terribly often, so they were thrilled! The toy is always the best part, unless you are me, and then its the creamy goodness of a frappachino. We had some quick naps and then while the sun was still out, walked to Tristan's school to play on the playground for a bit.

I even climbed the tall tower to go down the slide. And I'd never admit it, but I was scared, lol. That playground is tall! Tristan likes to show us all the things he does, and I just have to remind myself that he does all of these things while I'm not around every day during recess. The night began with a spectacular sunset, and not a moment later the mosquitoes descend and we hightailed it home. Dinner was oatmeal....I felt like that was a good healthy option since lunch was so glutenous haha.

And before bed, I got super cute hugs and kisses. Tristan got his bed taken away because he was being the hulk and lifting it on its end with Mis hanging on...so he's sleeping on a mattress on the floor tonight. I think it might be time to move him out of the toddler bed and into a big boy bed. But they're good kids. Always sweet, always affectionate. Always full of energy and fun ideas.....and weird potty talk. But its probably the ages lol.