Trick or Treat

Parker carved the face of this jack-o-lantern all by herself (except the right half of the mouth). I couldn't believe it!


Georgia was so thrilled to be a ladybug. I wanted her to be Snow White (because we have the costume) but when my mom gave her some ladybug wings from the dollar store, she was so thrilled I knew we had to come up with a costume.
The thrill of being a bride wore off after PJ wore her costume to school the week before. Kids asked her if she was getting married and she didn't like that. I told her to tell people, "I'm just a bride but I'm not marrying anyone".

Maybe we'll show this picture at their wedding some day.

It took Georgia a few houses before she got the hang of trick-or-treating. Peyton seemed to know what she was doing.

Best Friends

This picture was taken at 7:45 on a warm east-windy morning. Jack was leaving for school when the girls saw him through the window. They ran out to wish him a good day at school.

Costume Party

I never dress up for Halloween. The last time I did was about 8 years ago when I glued some pennies, safety pins and other metal objects to my face because I was too embarrassed to go completely costume-less in the flamboyant Castro district of SF. I did get compliments for being "Magnetic Personality....so witty" (little did they know I was too unenthused and lazy to put a costume together).
This year my sister, Julie asked me to go to a costume party with her, Cathy and Loren. It was mostly Ventura College faculty there. They wanted to do a group costume and came up with the elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. I would be water. I should have known better than to go with a bunch of artists to a costume party. Of course they'd want to be something all "abstract". I wasn't sure I could pull off a water costume, but with the help of Cathy and my mother, we were able to come up with this.
The others costumes turned out great too.

And wouldn't you know it, we won second prize in the costume contest!

Loren really looked windblown.

Cathy's costume was amazing!

Julie put so much work into her seasons.
But next year I want to be Esther Williams or a synchronized swimmer!

The Corner of Sunset and Seaward

Dinner at Duke's always leads to some face time with the beach.

Birthday Ice Cream Cake

As usual Laura concocted another delicious cake for my birthday. She gets it right every year. This one is a baseball theme and includes little baseball men that my mom gave to us. She's owned them all of my life so it's fair to assume these guys were used on my cakes when I was a young'n.

I have an announcement...

In order to make ends meet I have started a new and different type of financial consulting/self help/life-coach operation. I know I look different in real life but it's well known that photos uploaded to the blog tend to make you look like a soap opera star.

The inspiration comes from something my father said to me..."Son, if you're planning on giving financial advice, make sure it's Rockstar financial advice!"

Rule number one: Always...protect your ASSets!



www.scott-powers.com

I hate rats

Recently we sublet our attic to a couple of rats. We named them Dick and Cheney. They were in our attic for about 2 weeks or so when they started venturing out at night and discovered a path into our kitchen. We’re still not sure how they got in the kitchen but they left us a few mementos to let us know they were there; “thank you notes” of a sort. We tried everything to get rid of them. The old school traps, glue traps and even a water trap device I crafted but I tell you they were smart.

These rats started getting to me. I found great solace in visiting youtube and watching people set up elaborate traps in their house and filming the rat dying a formidable death. My favorite one is embedded below...it's not very gruesome but DO NOT WATCH if you are some sort of "people for the protection of rodents" person. Turn up the volume!



I never thought I'd get so giddy over a dead rat. It's quite cathartic.

So, none of our traps were working. For about ten days Laura and I would set up traps all around the house and nothing worked. Dick and Cheney were two smart rats! Finally, we succumbed to poisoning them. The only risk was that they would die somewhere in the house between walls or in the attic and we wouldn't be able to find them. We knew one of them died (probably Dick) because we could smell the rotting corpse above the music room. Luckily, Cheney appeard out of nowhere; our nephew Ethan spotted him.


Ain't he cute?

So lessons learned.
1) Inspect your roof and make sure there is no place available for a rat to sneak in. They do not like the cold so they'll come looking for shelter in the evening.
2) A mouse can squeeze through a hold the size of a penny, a rat can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter (half inch or so). Sounds crazy but it's true.
3) If you use traps, make sure they are set up to be very sensitive.

In conclusion I'd like to say that rats suck! Kill them any way you can, don't think twice about it.

Goodbye Dick and Cheney.

Block Party 2 : Electric Googaloo

The second annual Hollings St. block party was held last month and turned out to be quite fun. Our sucky band did not play due to a lack of interest.


Pre-block party - I love this picture.

Parker is all over her cousin Ethan. See what I mean? And there's another five pictures that I didn't post of her hanging all over him. I know how Ethan feels, I had that same problem when I was younger.


It was a fun day for everyone. Next year the sucky band will perform...all Rush songs. Starting from 2112 all the way through their catalog to Moving Pictures. The children are gonna love it!

Laura already told me she wants to sing. It's gonna be a hoot.

Auntie Candy

Did I say "Auntie Candy", I meant Auntie Cyndi. She pretty much ALWAYS presents candy to the kids when she sees them. However, this time, she called and said, "I'm right around the corner. I have a present for Parker. I just wanted to make sure you were home".

"Parker, I have a present for you and I'm hiding it under my shirt."

Can you guess what it is?

"A set of 100 fine tip markers! Now Parker, don't let Georgia use these. You need to keep them nice."
"Come here you little cutie!"

It means a lot to me to have my sister spoil and dote on my kids.

Cousins

I never had any extended family around when I was a child so it pleases me greatly to see the bond that has developed between Parker and her cousin, Ella. When I think about possibly having another child (because two kids doesn't seem like much compared to the 5 siblings I have) I have to remind myself that my girls have lots of cousins that are kind of like sisters and brothers. I know that I'm going to stay very involved in their lives....going to their games and recitals. Our lives are very full and connected.

Rancho Oso Campout 2010

Laura was looking forward to this camping trip ever since our El Capitan experience. She booked the campsite a few months in advance and was figuratively counting the days that led up to the trip. So when we got to the site on a warm Sunday afternoon, it looked like a good time was to be had by all.

Logistically we were located in a perfect spot. Our campsite was huge and private and only 100 feet away there was a nice grassy area, children’s playground, tennis court and a campground store (with lots of expensive ice).

Then a couple of 'challenges' started to make themselves known.


Flies and mosquitoes – they had an amazing way of driving someone crazy, me in particular. They strategically would buzz around my face and ears to the point that I understood what Jack Nicholson’s character in The Shining went through. It was simply maddening, none of us could take it.
Heat – day two was at 97 degrees. That evening I spoke to the ranger who informed me that the following day was supposed to be hotter.


We all felt defeated. So that evening we decided to leave early, ‘early’ meaning immediately the next morning.
Laura slapping on a fake smile for the picture...trust me, she was miserable.

However there was one discovery that seemed to be exactly what Laura was looking for. We found a swimming hole deep in the Los Padres National Forest that was truly a special place. When we got there we were the only ones there. Within about an hour there was another 20 people or so.
A cute little picture of Georgia (post lunch break)

Believe or not, people actually climbed up that rock and dove off the top...yikes.

Two faces of Georgia

Georgia in sulking mode. This usually occurs when she gets an emphatic "No" to something she wants to do.


Georgia enduring the process of defaction. She usually hides somewhere when she has to perform the task. If you look at her too long while she's pooping she will put her hand up and say "Stop".

She needs her private time.

Scene from the Beach

All that's missing is the little table between them with two Corona bottles sitting atop.

Sorry Seems To Be The Easiest Word

She hasn’t figured it out yet. To Georgia, the word “sorry” is like an eraser. Once it’s said the act performed that caused the evocation of the word is absolved thereby allowing for her to do it again.

For example, yesterday some neighbors came by for a visit so they tied the leash affixed to their little beagle named Rufus to our front porch before they came inside. As I was working in the kitchen (I am always working in the kitchen), PJ reported to me that Georgia was ‘being mean’ to Rufus. When I looked out I saw Georgia mildly smacking poor Rufus. “Georgia stop!” I said…”sorry dada” was her response. Moments later she performed the same act and immediately stated “sorry dada”. I verbally scolded her and warned her but before I could finish my sentence…whack…”sorry dada”. After that I stepped up the level of punishment to DEFCON 4.


But if left me asking myself, “what kind of sadistic child are we raising?” Then I thought…”this must be how they make Republicans”

Lake Arrowhead

We had a nice quiet time in Lake Arrowhead. Well, as quiet as it can be with six children and six adults in a house for three days.