And thank you all for your kind words regarding my dear grandmother. It was very comforting to hear your condolences. She was a beautiful and kind-hearted woman indeed. With the best sound bytes, to boot. You would have liked her. : )

The day of our shoot quickly went from partly sunny to overcast, especially the closer we got to the beach. With a slight chance of rain, the clouds began rolling in, creating a gorgeous, foggy backdrop. The soft, hazy mountains in the background remind me of Asian brush paintings. Beautiful. And I love how the images have a quiet, subdued feeling to them. Natural lighting is where it’s at. We are so grateful for Raya’s time and talent, and are thrilled at how these turned out!

{All images by Raya Carlisle Photography. Children by Ryan and Jenn.}

A couple of weeks ago, Raya took the most incredible family photos of us. I want to keep the rest of the set under wraps until we gift them to grandparents, but I can’t help posting this outtake. Because it makes me smile.

Dax is dramatically telling us he wants more gumdrops (bribery food) and Ryan is trying to get Kai to stop shooting pretend missiles out of his hand. What tickles me is that we were supposed to be playing with the kids, and trying to make them laugh for the camera.

But no tree. Yet.

A break and extra time with my family is finally here! Because of new jobs, we haven’t had two days in a row off, and a real weekend — the kind where you laze around in bed and is a glasses/no makeup/no contacts day — in more than a month.

And be sure to check out the Poppytalk Handmade market on Friday. There will lots of Black Friday deals, for those of you not down with the idea of going to Kohl’s at 4am. Reeeeeally Kohls, reeeeeallly? But I will be offering a buy 1 item, get the second (lesser one) at 1/2 off deal. This Friday only.

Lastly, I have a guest post over at Tangled & True about a gratitude journal Kai and I have been working on.

Now let us commence carbo-loading.

Kai’s mood as of late has been feisty. Just like his artwork. Very feisty. Yet festive.

A trend I would not, could not ignore.
Full outfit here, along with more fall + tights looks.

Let’s see, we have Raphael the Ninja Turtle, Le Skunk, Filipino Riding Hood, and Teen Wolf.

And that is a closeup of Riding Hood’s basket of goodies for her sick Lola (grandma): Pan de leche and a bowl of sinigang. Sarap!

Unlike last year’s fête, we decided to celebrate the boys’ birthdays by hanging out with friends at the park, and having a mini party, just the four of us, back at our home. The party theme this year (because no matter how small the party, there must be a theme!) was rockets and robots.

Following this very hard-to-understand tutorial, Ryan built a rocket launcher out of PVC pipe, and we constructed rockets out of rolled-up newspaper ads. The entire project cost just a few bucks and the results are pretty awesome.

Back at home, we celebrated Dax’s birthday (three days after big brother Kai!) with a robot-themed setup in our backyard. I strung up lights to emulate a starry galaxy, set up a little activity table, and attempted to make tin foil robot hats, masks, and antennas with the kids. But they were much more into clearing the table and playing with the wind-up robots sitting out. These boys of mine! At least Kai enjoyed the new, and adorably illustrated Wall-E book we got him, Lots of Bots. And since I’m plugging a robot book, I might as well plug my robot invites. End plug.

We finished off the evening by singing to Dax and watching him devour his dairy-free, egg-free, sugar and corn-syrup laden Rice Krispie Treat cake. Happy birthday Dax-Man, also known as Dax-asaurus, or Dax-traction, or Dax-tronic, or Dax-atacdyl! Yes, we call him all of these names.

It was a happy, happy Saturday spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and Auntie Lindy & Uncle Jay. To celebrate Kai’s birthday, Grandma and Grandpa got us all tickets to ride on a vintage train that took us to a pumpkin patch in Santa Paula. Firsts for Kai that day included a pony ride, a carousel ride (he finally got over some fears from years past!), and getting shot in the face with a fog blower. Nice!

I was quietly, though visibly, suffering the effects of sleep-deprivation from the night before, and the night before that, but there were lots of laughs, giggles, and smiles. It was a beautiful day and I can’t tell you happy it makes me to see how much the boys adore their grandparents and aunts and uncles. Happy birthday to our Kai bug!

That evening, Ryan and I took full advantage of Lindy and Jay staying with us and went on a date to see Where the Wild Things Are. I seriously could not get through a single day without reading someone’s update on Facebook on how awful the movie was, so I was dying to see what everyone’s critique was all about.

We actually ended up loving it. Full of metaphors and symbolism, it was beautifully done. Parts had me tearing up, other parts laughing. There is a definitive, tangible sadness to the movie, but an equal amount of sweetness and rough play that a mother of two boys can totally understand. And the ending is happy of course! So see it. But leave the kids at home.

Was noticing in my iPhoto library how pretty all these recent Holga shots looked next to each other.

And did you know there is such a thing as a Holga photography class? Coolness, right? But if distance is factor for you as it is for me, here are some tips to go DIY-styles with your toy camera.

Ryan had Thursday off to make up for an extra day at work this week, so we went down to Long Beach for fun. Still can’t believe everything we managed to pack into the day; Saw the ship the Queen Mary, went on an old Russian submarine, drove through the incredible Port of Long Beach as well as through Retro Row (vintage shopping galore), picked up some supplies for my Etsy shop, visited the beach, ate at Five Guys and a frozen yogurt place, and lastly Ikea, because us Venturans would never miss out on a chance to drop into Ikea if we happen to drive right by it. Plus, it’s tradition to pick up a couple of packages of pretty napkins.

I kiss his cheeks and smoosh his toes to my face probably ten times a day. It usually ends with him slapping or kicking me in the face.

Was catching up on some blog reading I’ve gotten behind on, when I came across this sweet post from one of my absolute favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen.

As much as I told myself to not go there, I couldn’t help feeling those motherly pangs for a needy little newborn that would snuggle into the crook of your neck and make teeny-tiny snorts. (If I had said the last part of that sentence aloud, it would’ve come out two octaves higher than normal.)

Looking at these old pictures helps relieve the aching a little bit.

{Newborn Kai, 6-week–old Dax}

Have you met Anna yet? She’s my sister-in-law. She’s from Russia. And she’s very pretty. If you take a picture next to her, beware. And be especially conscious of sucking it in, sitting up straight, and posing on your good side. This is important.

Over Labor Day weekend, we traveled to visit Ryan’s family, and Anna and I spent a couple of hours taking pictures in downtown Fresno. She: armed with a vintage Russian 35mm camera. Me: Holga. Good times were had posing next to trees, running through empty streets, and sitting much too long on wet grass.

This morning, as Kai was walking — correction, running — around the house, a fridge magnet, that was for some reason on the ground, got stuck to his foot. He exclaimed to me “Mom, I’m made out of metal!” I love his funny observations and his innocent view on how the world works. It’s moments like these that lighten up my otherwise stressful and harried life.

This week in particular has been particularly trying, and if it were made into a movie, I’d title it Damages. Kai’s proficiency in the use of scissors has been evident in the drapes, the living room sofa, and Ryan’s keyboard cover. When asked as to the location of the offending scissors, Kai explained that a magician used his magic wand to make them disappear. Amusing.

Sweet little Dax is our indoor hurricane. Aside from his usual hobby of pulling things out of drawers and knocking down all the books, he broke two of my terra cotta pots (soil, everywhere), and is fond of picking away at the wall paint that Kai had previously punched a hole into with my craft hammer. You may be wondering where am I during all this destruction. Maybe the bathroom. Maybe putting clothes away. But it’s very likely I was at the washing machine, throwing in yet another load of soaked bedding, as bed-wetting has been a recent problem with Kai. Between the destruction, the bickering, the rapid-fire questioning (Kai), the teething and subsequent crying (Dax), I am just beat at the end of the day.

Anyways, I didn’t mean for this to be such a long-winded “woe is me” post. But it feels therapeutic to complain a little bit instead of trying to keep my game-face on all the time. I love my boys dearly and I love that they’re still little enough to cuddle and kiss and are easily tickled. But I look forward to the day I can order them to scrub the shower and wash their own dishes.

Now dry my clothes and give my husband the tan he’s been wanting all summer.

So happy the blog makeover is finished! It’s been slowly tweaked and tucked the past couple of weeks, but it’s at a place where I can happily walk away from it. Ryan is the superstar that coded the theme, so if any of you are in need of web programming, holler, as he’s always up for freelance.

In addition to a new, super-fat footer, there is a Popular Posts category in my sidebar. Also new is a Superhero Party FAQ section at the bottom of the original post.

And thank you all for leaving comments and reposting my downloads. It really does make my day, and I always enjoy meeting new blogging friends. : )

{Above: A couple of blurry Polaroids of things in my room; mini-carnations and vintage books.}