Bye Bye Truscotts

Why do I hate UHAULs? Oh that's right, it's because they take my friends away.


We miss you already Brandon, Mary and Baby Wyatt! Can't wait to see you next month.

Tot Time

We were let in on one of the biggest secrets a couple of weeks ago - the city has several very inexpensive classes for kids (and adults) through the recreation department. One of these is tot time. For $3, Sarah and Will get to attend a 1 1/2 hour preschool-ish class. There is free play in a big gym, craft time, circle time, snack time, and story time. I was a little worried they would be unhappy with me bringing William, but no problem there. The answer I got was "As long as the older sibling pays, he is free until he turns 2." Awesome!

Sewing round two

I got some helpful hints from Cyndi in regards to my nightgown making. She reminded me of the "turn the hem under twice" trick to get rid of the frays. While I would LOVE to have a serger, it did work wonders. And the real test ... Sarah LOVES her Tinkerbell dress. I think the short sleeves are adorable. Don't you?!

At the Beach

"At the beach. At the beach. The salty, sandy beach. Life is a ball at the beach!"


Our apartment was sweltering by 9:15 this morning so we decided it would be a PERFECT day to head down to the beach. We met up with Stephanie and Jenna and had, well, a ball.



William was content to sit on the blanket for about an hour. I couldn't believe it!


He eventually started digging by the blanket and then ...


He was off! He LOVED the freedom of crawling all over in the sand.


He crawled right on over to the big girls and fit right in. I had to put down my camera when he crawled into the water. He LOVED splashing all over in it.


Kenzie and Sarah had a great time playing with their sand toys, running in the water and throwing pebbles in the water. It was so relaxing just to sit and enjoy the morning!



It's days like today that I LOVE being a mommy in San Francisco!

Sunny Days

It has been so sunny lately that we just can't help getting out every day! Yesterday and today we went to the park to meet up with some friends.




While we were at the park Wednesday, we heard the great news that Addi and Angela are going to have baby boys in February! Hip Hip Hooray!

Date Night

We have joined a babysitting co-op with three families. Each family has 2 kids. So once a month we each drop off our kids at one couple's home for 4 hours. This time we got to drop off Sarah and William. Roger and I dressed up and enjoyed a night out in San Francisco with dinner at the Grand Cafe. It was lovely. We didn't have to rush and I completely enjoyed having my wonderful husband all to myself.


I admit I was a little hesitant at first - 8 kids in a one-bedroom San Francisco apartment sounds a little overwhelming. But Stephanie and Garret are super-people and all the kids had a great time. Sarah LOVED that she got to watch all of Peter Pan. Hey, at least that was one less child they had to worry about. I'm gearing up for our turn to host the little rascals in November ...

Everybody do their share!

"Clean up. Clean up. Everybody. Everywhere. Clean up. Clean up. Everybody do their share." Sarah loves clean up time and Saturday we got to help clean up some LDS-related streets in San Francisco. Brooklyn (named after the ship that brought the early saints to California), Joice (one of the passengers on the ship) and Pratt (named after Parley P. Pratt). Last year, as part of the 80th celebration of the San Francisco Stake, members got together to clean up these streets. They were in terrible condition last year, but I guess the old adage is true: it's easier to keep something clean that's already clean. It took less than an hour to get things in tip-top shape. I guess the 64 volunteers also helped the time line. It was a great way to start a rainy Saturday in the city. (Sarah got to wear her rain boots for the first time.) Good thing the rain took a break while we worked.

Take me out to Daddy's baseball game!

Rogers company had an office vs operations baseball game on Thursday. Sarah loved the Giants game we went to a few weeks ago and was so excited to go to another beese-ball game. Sarah, Will and I sported baseball caps and warm clothes in honor of the occasion.



Sarah and Will were good luck charms for the home office team. As soon as we arrived, they were scoring like crazy. Sarah LOVED LOVED LOVED the beese-ball game. She tackled Rog when we got there she was soooo excited.


Rog did us proud with a triple in one inning ...


and an awesome bunt the next. Yes, it stopped right there, but Rog made it to first.


We let Sarah run around the bases after the hour-long game ended in an 8-8 tie. She felt pretty cool.

10 Months

Really? Already? Wait a second. How did this happen? He's 10 months old!

The two most notable milestones this month are first - more teeth. Will was so excited about his first tooth that he tripled the order for last month. He now has 4 teeth (as seen in his picture). Gone are the gummy smiles - hello toothy grins!


The second milestone I am happy to report is that I am getting sleep all.night.long. (Now that I've written that he'll probably wake up tonight.) He usually has a rough night as soon as I mention to someone that he's sleeping through the night. He wants to keep me humble I suppose ... or maybe just on my toes. I have to say that the sleeping all night didn't come easy. Rog and I camped out on our sofa bed for a week while we let him cry it out. We had a system where we'd take the pillow top off of our bed and put in on the sofa bed. A little inconvenient, but definitely worth having more sleep. It is nice being back in our own room again. And I'm not groaning every morning when he wakes up for the day. Hip Hip Hooray!

For another thing to note, William is getting quite proficient with the take out and take off game. Lucky me.

Um can we say EXCITED?

Princess Book, Princess Jammies, and Princess Breakfast

As I have mentioned before, Sarah is all about princesses. Last week, when I was feeling particularly crafty (or insane) I decided I would make Sarah a nightgown. We went to JoAnn and picked out some princess fabric and a really easy pattern. (I'm no seamstress.) I will never come close to Valinda's or my mother's talent, but I do have to say these jammies turned out so cute. It was stressful and took much longer than I anticipated and I was wishing I had access to a serger ... But on the bright side I only had to ask my mom one question: How do you gather? I've learned how to gather. Check. I'm sure this counts for personal progress ... PS Sarah wants to wear princess jammies every night.


Sarah's Princess Book - it has Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella all in one. I got it at Costco for $5 and it came with 4 cardboard dolls (Cinderella, Prince Charming, Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip) and stickers. She LOVES it.


A Royal Breakfast. Yum. Yum. Yum. We love berries and cream in this house. (Yes, that's for you Kim.)

Anna

Anna is Cyndi's 4 1/2-year-old niece. Cyndi has a reputation of guaranteeing herself the position of greatest aunt in the entire universe so as you might imagine these two are the bestest of friends. Cyndi had been telling Anna about Sarah and Sarah about Anna for months. And finally, over Labor Day Weekend, they met. Of course, we had the best time ever!

Here are our pictures at Baker Beach ... The admiration in Sarah's eyes are undeniable. She was in HEAVEN.





At the Academy of Sciences ... who knew that Labor Day would be such a great day to go? It wasn't crowded at all. Loved it!








The carousal at Golden Gate Park



Thanks for all the fun times. Come back again soon!

Zoo Day

Oh how I love free day a the San Francisco Zoo!




The Gorillas




Bears


Penguins


And the swings