Whelp, Adios September!

I can't believe it's snowing--yes, SNOWING--outside right now.  September rushed by without even stopping to say hello and again I have found myself staring in disbelief at the October page of iCal.

There are too many things to expound upon, so I'll try to sum up with captions.

SEPTEMBER!

This little guy started NURSERY!  His current obsessions: cars, balls, Max and Mateo, being outdoors (he tries to escape anytime a door opens,) and bananas.

All da guyz

I received tickets to the General Relief Society meeting and got to go with my sissies.  Totally awesome, despite the miserable traffic getting there.

Took the girls to Provo City Library's annual dollhouse festival.  Their expressions say it all.

Sandra put together this great UVU-wide local music (City Sounds) fest with bands like Fictionist and Midas Whale.  Clearly, Ilse was stoked.

We received some free bookshelves that were sorely needed, but since they came from a fabric shop, they only had two shelves each.  I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of shelves cut and with the extras, I decided to play "carpenter" and built a bookcase for the kids' books. Somewhere along the way, I decided to add a few dividers and made it into a multipurpose bookcase--one which could also be used as a dollhouse.  Impractical, but fun nonetheless.

See... cars!

Since Siena's been in school, these two have found a lot of time to bond together, especially now that Ez is just down to one nap a day.

Siena's favorite things lately: planning and setting up a Barbie Club with Qiana and sometimes Ava, playdates with classmates, plans for all kinds of machines (see previous post,) and sewing lessons.  The sewing lessons are in addition to her piano lessons, but it isn't too formal so both of us can keep our sanity.

Qiana's favorite phrases: "I don't love [insert whatever chore, outfit, or healthy food here]." At least she is somewhat polite about it. :)  "Yes, of course." She's got an hilarious way of responding to a request when she's in a particularly good mood.  I love it!

Ez's 18 month check-up went well.  He was in the 37% for weight, 45% for height, and 87% for head circumference.  Oh, that cute little noggin....

Juan has been busy at work, but doesn't stop even when he's home.  He's always trying to come up with more effective management, more office efficiency and goals.  When he's not working, you can probably find him searching online for a home for our family.  We're trying to get back into the purchasing process.  Blah, but Yay simultaneously. 

Qiana wanted to have a tea party for her 4th birthday, so we threw this little shindig together.  It was pretty low-stress and highly entertaining and effective.

Thanks to DI for the tableware, and the Dollar Tree for the rest.  Best $15 I ever spent on a birthday party the night before.

I am not sure who had more fun: the girls at the party, or me preparing for it.

Qiana got to go swimming at the Rec Center for her birthday and decided to try the rock climbing wall while we were there.

Ez is starting to pay a little better attention to cartoons.  Yes, I'm turning into that mom who lets the kids watch a show nearly every morning.  At least I'm trying to get stuff done instead of shopping online, right?  #justifyanything

The garden proved to be extremely fruitful and not just another chore.  We even got to reap the blessings of the previous tenants' labors.  The grape vines produced like crazy, as did the peach trees, apple tree, plum tree, nectarine tree and apricot trees.  Sadly, the tomatoes were outta control, but since I planted them too closely and overwatered often, the millions of tomatoes didn't ever turn red.  We got a good 20 or so that we were able to use.

This apple was too cool not to mention. #yesitwasmytwin #bigfatgreekwedding #whyamIhashtagging?

 Siena took a community education ballet class again and I have to say, it has been my favorite one.

On to the San Diego Trip:

Sierra's misfortune in a relationship ended up turning a bad situation into a fun girls trip.  My mom, Tristan and I accompanied her to San Diego for a long weekend so she could give a toast at a wedding.  We took a heck of a vacay, considering we planned it only three days in advance.  We drove to Vegas on a Thursday night and stayed at the Luxor.  Then we drove to La Jolla Friday morning.  We had to hit the beach the first thing, then ate at this cute restaurant called Piatti near the shore.  The next morning we ate at The Cottage (best breakfast ever!) then walked the coast of the Marine Preserve at La Jolla shores.  Next, we dropped Sierra off at the wedding at the San Diego temple.  It was a gorgeous day and the temple couldn't have been prettier.  After that, we went to eat fish tacos at a taco truck in South Park and shopped at a little boutique nearby.  Little Italy was up next and we were able to catch the tail end of the Farmers Market they have there.  (Bought some amazing local wildberry balsamic vinegar and some infused salts!) Then we went to Balboa Park and soaked up the sights and museums there for a couple of hours.  The wedding reception was held that night at the San Diego Zoo right there near the park so Sierra skipped off to be with her friends at the zoo before the wedding reception started.  Meanwhile, the rest of us drove through the Gaslamp Quarter then went off to pick up dinner at the famed Burger Lounge (really yummy for us yuppies.)  We got our food to go so we could eat it at the beach as the sun set.  It was quite a relaxing evening.  When we left to pick up Sierra, we decided to take her to a little outdoor shopping mall near the hotel to cheer her spirits.  It sort-of did the trick, as she was pretty happy to see the Tesla store and we caught some pretty awesome sales at other stores.  The next morning we left for Utah, happy we got as much time relaxing as we did.

 She's his protector against his other older sister. :)

I love when kids discover how to make themselves dizzy.

The evolution of a smile for the camera.

Grapes!  I still have too many to deal with out on the vine at this very moment.

Showing off his haircut

Juan got a bunch of these Sports Clips coupons for free haircuts for new clients, so we decided to take advantage of them. :)

Cuddle or huddle, it's still cute.

 The last picture Qiana got before we chopped her hair off.

Siena's new "do".

Qiana's not so sure about her new "do".

Oh Sienita, you make me laugh....

Baby Lucas was born!  Definitely belongs in the family.

A mix from our garden and Grandpa Wood's garden.  So much variety!

 ...because sometimes a girl just needs a nap!

Siena and the Machine

Siena's first week as a first grader has gone pretty well.  Her favorite things are school lunch and... well, that's pretty much all she can talk about for the first half an hour home from school.  I love that she's a foodie first grader in a non-hipster way.

Recess is her second-favorite thing.  She came home from school the second day and told us that she proposed to a group of budding inventors (a.k.a. her classmates) during recess that they build a machine.  This is to be an extraordinary cleaning machine, as they have poured over the details for 4 lunch recesses now.  I was proud of her initiative from the second I heard about this machine idea, but the day she brought home a "blueprint", my heart swelled.  Since then, her classmates fellow scientists have brought her needed supplies.  For example, in the picture above you will see, alongside her blueprint, a diamond, a bobby pin, a few Q-tips, and a bag of grass.  I have asked her to label the parts of the drawing so everyone is clear, but she told me that it's really easy to know what things are just by looking at them.  :)  For the "dummies" out there, here are the names and uses for the parts, starting with the bottom left corner going clockwise: stairs up to the trash bin so responsible students can walk up to throw away their own lunch trash, a monitor for something science-y, three chairs for the trash supervisors to observe the lunchroom from above, a grabber used to pick up trash from irresponsible students, a time clock, and a slide (which I will explain in a moment.)  The center of the machine (which is on wheels, by the way) houses the control panel with which supervisors can push cool buttons.  It also contains a small bagging area where the grabber puts the irresponsible students' trash.  After that trash is bagged, it slides down the slide into a final trash resting place.

I know, I know... my child is a shining star in a sea of sickly, boring 1st graders.  We really need to get her into a science protégé group. (I wonder if I still have Bill Nye's phone number....)