My Sweet 13th Anniversary

We celebrated our 13th anniversary in style by enjoying locally-caught tuna steaks and homemade salsa. Holy cow was it delicious! I fed the kids early (lucky kids got spaghetti and meatballs) and our meal looked so appetizing that Toby asked if he could have some of the "sushi fish and rice" too. So we made him a little plate and he got a 2nd dinner of tuna and rice and corn on the cob. (Anyone want to guess how much that kid eats on a daily basis? These growth-spurts he goes through are crazy; they make me really fear what he's going to cost us in food bills once he hits his teens.)

We joined a food co-op within the first week we arrived in Carmel. Once a week we pick up locally-sourced fish and fresh fruit and veggies from the area. So far we've enjoyed halibut, smoked salmon, this tuna, and squid. (Yes, we prepped and ate calamari--and both kids helped out with that one! They ate more than we did, and I wish I had taken a video of Norah peeling the skin off a raw squid. She's going to make an awesome sous-chef in a few years.)

My River Otter Strikes Back

Toby started 2nd grade this week. His school's mascot is the otter. We saw this shirt in the window of one of the gazillion gift shops downtown and he couldn't believe his eyes. Of course we had to get it for him. (Unfortunately we listened to the salesperson at the store who said that he should get the child's large--which we discovered after he ripped the tags off and put it on that it's about 6 sizes too big.)
His review from his first day of school? "It was awesome! I got 4 recesses!" You can't beat that I guess.

My Preschooler Seems Excited About Something

 

Norah went back to school this week. She is going to a little preschool here that meets 3 mornings a week in a ballet studio. She is super excited--both about the school and her new backpack and lunch box. She's making a K in the second picture to show she's "Pre-K."
By the way, have we mentioned before how much she likes pink? Even though we bought her some new clothes for back-to-school time she chose to wear this outfit: head-to-toe pink.

My Western View

What a beautiful sunset we saw tonight!

My Book Problem

As addictions go, book buying is probably at the low end of the spectrum.
But there's nothing like a move to help an addict see the error of his ways.
Thanks to Larry Strawser and Doug Johnson for spreading the disease (er, I mean the love) to their children.
Trust me, we are doing our best to inspire a new generation of readers.

My Little Man

Toby is 7!
I am so proud of this little dude!
We celebrated last night with cake, today with some time at the pool, and (his favorite) Chinese take-out.

My Snaggletooth

Toby's front tooth has been getting more and more wiggly. So much so that he's been talking kind of funny because with every word he likes to touch his tooth with his tongue.

After 10 minutes of focused wiggling this morning his tooth came out!

For the last 3 and a half years Toby has been without a tooth on the top row. Now his second tooth on top is gone. Toby is getting really good at eating his food sideways. Perhaps he'll have a new tooth in there by his eighth birthday?