a new jiu-jitsu belt and the start of our Halloween costumes

Woody absolutely loves jiu-jitsu.  He's one of the youngest in the class but he just loves everything about it.  We are really proud of him for paying attention and working hard and being a respectful competitor.  

Frances climbs up on everything and messes with all things that are not toys. 

"Shuuuugaaa"

Woody was making a "classification of animals" book and we got pretty into it.  I think standard first grade would omit a "hagfish" page in the book and just go with a "fish page" but. . . we love a good educational tangent.  During our research on this disgusting jawless fish we discovered that Hagfish Day was October 17! We made "hagfish cupcakes" and talked about finding the beauty in all creatures; big, small and kinda gross.  

just in case anyone needs a quick hagfish refresher

The start of our Halloween costumes! Having young kids makes every holiday way more fun and Halloween is no exception.  Until the kids say no, I am always going to encourage matching costumes. I LOVE a Halloween theme! 

We make our costume here in Panama.  For lots of reasons, and not just because there are no good stores and shipping from the USA is ridiculously expensive. It's also fun! And educational! And the Halloween party here has a costume contest that always leans towards homemade costumes over store bought. 

So, Woody learned to sew! AND, I was the only one that stabbed themselves with a needle! Just so much winning all around! 

the kids got super into it.  By the end of the afternoon, Tohi's babies and almost all the stuffed animals had homemade kimonos. 

rainy weekends

Regardless of weather we pretty much do the same thing every weekend. Swim, garden, build a fire, grill.  Whether it's sunny or rainy just alters how much sunscreen we put on and how much time we spend by the fire "warming up." haha

Banana bread making and our first custard apple

I just think these next pictures are hilarious.  Maybe I should have been addressing the situation instead of taking pictures but some moments of ridiculous are just more fun to observe and document.  If I remember correctly, I think the drama was that the bowl was not perfectly where either one of them wanted it to be.  Which then snowballed into they both wanted to use the same spoon. . . Classic high emotion situation.  

and then the magical older brother arrived to help stir and all was right in the world of banana bread making. 

/

All smiles here. What meltdown?

my clay partner. 
she loves it as much as I do

tacos with friends

our front yard hawk greeting the sun

our first custard apple! 

one of Francie's favorite outfits: It's not just for swimming. 

Frances hasn't totally taken an interest in her baby doll like Tohi did at her age.  No worries in our house though.  Tohi is completely picking up the slack and caring for both babies until Frankie is ready to help.  It's adorable. 

Taking care of two babies can be exhausting.