Saucy Pirate and Red Skull Ninja

You all know how overprotective I am, total grizzley bear momma protective over her cubs, right? Well the saucy pirate here has enough attitude for another whole body. Any male that messes with her really gets what he deserves. Best of luck to you, menkind.

Handsome little ninja man, impossible to hide his identity in a mask that doesn't cover his precious freckles! I was doomed to try to keep up with four boys tonight around the neighborhood. Damned wooded hillside.

And these are the Kids from the 'Hood. I loved the matching pink-wigged trolls. It was the three monsters in the upper left and ninja boy that ran me 'round the 'hood. Where did all of the babies go???

Weirdest Pumpkin

I can't believe I forgot to include this in the pumpkin post below, so it gets it's very own post. Hard to believe these warty, gross things grow that way. This one smiled at me, so I took its picture.

Pumpkin Time

We bought a new carving kit this year, with a tool for thinning the walls so they glow through, but not carving. I ended up cutting the cat's eyes all of the way through, and the jack o'lantern's mouth, or the candles didn't have enough oxygen to stay lit.

Sean's pumpkin, all carved, but lots of detail. And he actually gutted it himself. Without getting grossed out. Okay, we let him wear nitrile gloves.

Rachel's pumpkin: it was her idea to mix the carving and scraping designs, so she's the one who figured out how to keep the candles lit.

The pumpkin patch with an ocean view. Sorry it was late in the day, and the fog had rolled in, so you don't get to see the ocean.

Sean's 10th Bday

Happy 10th Birthday, Sean! He came home from 2 days of boy scout camping, had to take a shower before dinner. We ate about a quarter of that monster cake and sent the rest to Ken's work the next day (no, the kids were NOT happy about it!)


We had a pre-bday celebration while the family was still in town, the Monday night after the Bat Mitzvah (sorry, still no pics of that.) Tommy, Grandma Mary, Grandpa Joe, and Papa Al all got to sing to the spoiled boy. I think they were fighting about politics with Tom the Gun-Toting Republican in this pic.

Okay, the gun-toting republican makes a MEAN raspberry tart. And Sean put that candle in just about every meal he ate all that week.

One day to Bat Mitzvah

Okay, I'm neglecting my blog because Rachel's Bat Mitzvah ceremony is TOMORROW! Heaven help me get through today... I'm not READY! The house isn't ready. The centerpieces aren't ready. The photo display isn't ready. And I'm doing laundry.

I've taken so many pictures since the last post, I don't know what to put here. So I'll add a couple of old ones that I scanned last night for the photo board.

This one is proof that Rachel was at Grandma Judy's Bat Mitzvah.
Rachel being eaten by a dalmatian puppy.

Rachel's great-grandma, who can't come to the Bat Mitzvah because she's in an Alzheimer's Facility. We'll go see her at Thanksgiving.

ThirTEEN, heaven help me

Well, I'm the mother of a thirTEEN yr old. How did that just sneak up on me so suddenly? Few things have made me feel this old so far. So this is what thirteen looks like on Rachel.

The picture above was taken at temple, right before their Hebrew naming ceremony. The picture below, with Rabbi Paula, is in the temple library where they were named. Now they are Rakhel Nitzanah and Shmuel Yakov.

Another Soccer Season

It's my favorite time of year again, soccer season! Sean is playing on a rec U10Boys team, coached by my dear friend Vicky. Here he is stealing the ball from the other team! Love the red flame jerseys, and they named themselves the Red Hot Chili Peppers.


Rachel is playing comp again, on a U13 Girls team (coached by Vicky's husband Marcus) with a teammate's twin brother on this U13Boys team, so they had a scrimmage the other day. I think the girls outplayed them in the first half, but the boys definitely had more speed left in the second half.

Rachel strips the ball away in her standard NONE SHALL PASS stance that scares most boys away. : )

Poor guy still doesn't know where the ball went, as Rachel has already passed it up the field to Lena so she can score.
Rachel's team had games on both Saturday and Sunday last weekend, so now they are 2-0 and enjoying their first place standing while it lasts.

Green Stripe Test

I took about 100 pictures of their forms, kicks, punches, and blocks, but I'll skip to the good stuff.

Ah, another new belt for my killers.

First Day of School

If these are my babies:


explain to me who these big kids are!!!!!!!!!!!

Where Did August Go?

I lost a whole month somewhere. Here's the last day of Guards, notice the fog and the junkfood on the surf-table.


Sean trippin' some seagulls on the last day (i.e. bad pushup form)

Blake Came to Visit!!!!!!!!!

Blake and Rachel went to preschool at CCLC in Sunnyvale together. We won't talk about how much trouble they got into there... let's just say they were two peas in a pod. Blake lives in FL now, and visits his dad in China during summer vacation. This year, he stopped in CA on his way back!

First, we took Blake to Challenge Auto Racing, but I didn't have a camera. So I made sure to get pictures of the tough martial artist after he went to class with Sean.

The next day, Ken woke the kids at o-dark-thirty and took them rock cod fishing. I think they liked it, but it was ALL DAY, so they would have liked it better if it ended a lot sooner.

Oh, I almost forgot, Rachel's soccer team had a big party to celebrate the end of their killer team camp, so Blake got to be the only non-little-brother male there. Tough job, but someone's got to do it.
Uncle John and Merlin came over for a rock cod dinner. Merlin just started chemo for doggy lymphoma, but he seems like he's doing great, and we hope to be able to spoil him rotten at our house for lots more years.

Two Mitzvah Kittens ADOPTED

Sigh, such a happy/sad occasion. It's hard to see them go, but I know they got a really great home. When a 13 yr old girl cries on them, you know how badly she wanted them!

So Shalem Tov and Nushica live with Kayla now. I hope she sends pictures and stays in touch.

Poor lonely Hishamru even enjoyed being mothered by Cassie tonight. Then he slept on Rachel's bed. He needs his own forever home, but not today. : )

Guards Day 1

Poor neglected bloggy, I didn't mean to NOT post for so long. But an event like the first day of Junior Guards on the beach DEMANDS attention!

Both kids are in this picture somewhere (click on it to open it bigger.) This is the hotel they face and count out their jumping jacks at 9am, just to make sure everyone's awake. You'd be amazed how many people come out on the balconies to watch.



Junior C's to Little Guards "Hey Little Guards, HOW DO YOU FEEL???"

Little Guards back to C's "We feel good, oh we feel so good UH!"

Race you to Tower 4 and back! (Way the heck down the beach, on the first day! And then they swam out to the first finger-buoy!)

Go Sean GO! Little stud-boy, first day of Junior Guards, not in Little Guards anymore. I think he felt the difference this morning when he tried to get out of bed for Day 2. : )

Shaver Lake

Startup Man actually took three days off work and drove 4 hours for vacation time! We stayed in a huge cabin at Shaver Lake, Walter's first experience with water that didn't attack him.

Silly Walter, I can't throw THAT stick for you!

Better hang on boys, Momma's driving the boat. Photo by Rachel.

New Reef Fish

Okay, not a perfect shot with my new camera, but you get the idea. I have a new purple Coral Beauty angelfish for my reef tank. It's nice to have a subject that doesn't care how many pictures it takes for me to get it right. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold still.

Sean's new fish, on the other hand, hovers in place all of the time. His new Long-Horned Cowfish (juvenile, no horns yet) is even eating out of his hand, after only 3 days.