9 feet of sheer purple...

That's how she went to bed. Nine feet of sheer purple fabric hanging off her head. Kaitlyn is obsessed with having long hair and finds that wearing mommy's scarves or as of tonight, scrap fabric is the way to fully enjoy the frill of Rapunzel like hair. It's been a good bribe when having to brush her tight curls-I often say, "If you want long hair you must take care of the hair that you have so it can grow; otherwise I will just cut it off". No matter the attitude of the moment, she will snap into a submissive daughter fully ready for me to tug and comb through her knots (which are abundant no matter the time of day...her hair is THAT curly)!

Dylan has become possessive. Of course possessive of me but that's been going on since birth. Now it's all about his pillow. When laying down to bed or nap time with him he gets real serious about your positioning and will literally by use of his hand, draw an air line of a boundary indicating where his pillow ends and where you may lay your head. It's funny and quirky at the same time but a very serious issue for him. I like the strength in his ability to set boundaries already at the age of two...

And speaking of two, this boy acquired another year and another reason to further cling onto me. He woke up on Friday, the 28th of October and has been in a hyper Mommy Hold Me mode that often plays out like this:

Drags his body as he makes a monkey hold around my thigh begging for me to "Hold You, Mommy, Hold You"

or my favorite,

Grabbing the bottom of my shirt and tugging, pulling, tugging more, not letting go as I walk around.

C'mon boy, I'm two inches from the little one and it's not close enough. There really is truth behind the phrase, "Mommy's Boy". One day it won't be so cool and he'll be begging to be dropped off on the corner of the street as to not be seen with me!

Kaitlyn continues to be Miss Bossy, Miss 'Sours' (her word for my word, Sassy), and borderline obsessive compulsive with how she wants her bedding to lay upon her. She will spend a few minutes tossing her blanket into the air over and over to get the right positioning onto the bed and once under she is known to kick and scream to only start the process all over again. No-in case you are wondering, I cannot help with this. That is yet another cause for tantrum. We have our hands full with this girl. She's been knee deep into wailing these days and I'm not talking about a developing interest in whales...but rather, a developing issue with wailing requiring a great deal of P A T I E N C E.

Kids require PATIENCE I never knew existed within me. Actually, I think patience was a word defined by a mother for truly this word has great application and gets maximum usage daily. My patience is often tested within the first 30 minutes of rising from a slumber. While the initial hello of Kaitlyn's morning is generally very soft spoken and sweet, maybe includes a kiss or hug, once Dylan is over his morning bear attack, umm, I mean bear hug on Kaitlyn, the sibling rivalry begins and is ever so loud. Forget it, I'm going public. Sorry Dear Husband, I can no longer keep our children quiet so you can get sleep (thank God Steve typically sleeps through all lion roars and Princess pitches).

It's been a fun few weeks of adventure. To capture a few great moments...take a peek at the following:

Post Halloween, trying out all the candies!

Mr. Fisherman

(Steve followed the kids with Kaitlyn's Barbie fishing pole

and would say that he was fishing for Mermaids and Sharks-huge hit).

When answering the door. Well, okay, maybe not.

Super Star.

That face!

Surely they would win 'Best Spirit' on the block for themed family trick/treating.

Their 1 year old daughter was Horton from Horton Hears a Who.

Backside of Fairy Princess Mermaid and Shark.

Frontside of costume-Kaitlyn had to carry her tail!

In line to see Sir Topham Hatt from Thomas the Train.

Dylan was glued to him from the moment we stepped into line.

High fives were exchanged, holding hands was favorable...

and still for the camera these kids looked miserable!

Look, it's Thomas the Train!

Off he goes....!

Uncle Benet chilling with Super K!

Great face 1.

Great face 2.

Ahhh.

In line waiting to board the train.

His great face.

His great lips.

Post train ride. Not sure who was most happy...me, Unlce Benet or the kids.

...and there you have it.

It's another report of random notes, rich with personality and obvious highlights in our life! Enjoy the cliffnotes...

Our sweet Kaitlyn has no fear. Snakes, reptiles and the like were a part of her summer program at school in early August. She was quick to volunteer for holding one of the visiting reptiles! (Photo was taken by a teacher and sent to me as she was overly impressed by Kaitlyn's curiosity)!

The sun was beating down with great intensity. The MOMS Club took a hike in August up the street from our home to really just wear out the children. We didn't get too far, maybe a quarter of a mile...but the energy expenditure did the trick! Naps for all, including myself!

Sassy by daylight, and even sassy by nightfall.

Driving by my brother's neighbor, and here you go, the community Bison making his friendly way to the front garden for mid-day grazing. West Yellowstone was such a highlight to our summer, this is just one of many photos...the wildlife is surreal.

She drew this mermaid and said Grandma would like it because of the blue and peach. The hair is supposed to be long and flowing like Rapunzel (her latest craze....it's lasted well over a month, an obsession with wanting long hair).

Us girls celebrating our friend's daughter, Brylie, first birthday.

Hanging with Papa for National Grandparent Appreciation Day...

And here is Grandma...

Great Grandma, we love you! PS. The monkey body art is from the earlier celebration at our neighbors party!

Dylan at the LA County Fair-a bit serious for this riding horse!

Raspberry picking with our friend, Daniel, at the end of September up at Riley's Farms. Not one raspberry made it to the car. We were at the end of the season, but still picked quite a few!

I thought they were in bed, sound asleep. I heard laughter and when I peeked in, this was worthy of a photo. Notice Dylan in a tutu? Real fun night, for them at least!

Kaitlyn is our house artist, she crafted this one fairly quickly and titled it Bread. Must be influenced by Grandma's bread baking!

Can't let this go unnoticed! 80's night for Steve's CEP conference in Vegas, early October. He went preppy, complete with the pegged pants (see below). I went classy 80's if there is such a thing and sported the worst ever rayon pleated & tapered elastic waisted pants. But, make up and hair....not so bad despite how bad the photo is!

Hanging at the park in God's biggest tree in Rancho Cucamonga, for sure!

So, there you have it. A few highlights of the kiddos and even a shot of me, despite the transformed blue eyes! I will leave you with a few statements made by Kaitlyn today:

"I won't pick my nose and eat my burgers any more mom." She said this as I was painting her fingernails. It was always my rule, I won't paint her nails if I see her eat her burgers. I've noticed a great improvement, so I offered to paint them tonight. This is her style: Big Toe is hot pink. All four other toes are purple. Fingers: Thumb is hot pink. All four other fingers are purple. Interestingly enough, her 17 year old cousin, Talia, paints her ring finger a different color then the rest of her fingers. I just learned this last week...are these two girls related or what!

She came whimpering out of her bedroom tonight saying that no one was in her room to protect her. We go through this almost nightly. I told her that Jesus and Mary will protect her because they are everywhere, in fact, they are even in her heart. And...without a missed beat, she launches into"But mommy, my heart is broken."

Dylan is pooping consistently in the potty. He asks for it and then once situated on it, he's a pooping machine. I think having an older sibling is helping as every time Kaitlyn has to use the potty, he cries out of frustration that, he, too, has to use it and doesn't like that she is occupying it!

Krammie the Caterpillar

Kaitlyn has a love for all things tiny that slither, slide, hop, roll or crawl in the comfort of our yard. Today her adopted friend was named Bella, then a series of other names as the day progressed, until she finally was satisfied with Krammie the Caterpillar. This little bugger was given royal treatment. She carried him faithfully around the yard, made a bed for him, gave him exercise opportunities (let's just say the intention was good but the method was painful to watch-she was banging his bowl that was his 'bed' onto the window repeatedly....oh my). At one point Dylan got a hold of Krammie and this is where his life began to fail. Dylan pinched life out of him literally and so as the afternoon fell into nightfall, Krammie was found limp and already into the preliminary stages of gangrene. Kaitlyn didn't care, in fact she still held him with high regard and such care. Finally she was convinced he would be better off on his own and that she would find another friend. Well, that didn't last long, either. Within minutes she was holding him and providing him such love as if this force of energy would perk him up once again. In bed saying prayers, Krammie was included!

I wonder what will be in store for us tomorrow. My feeling is that Krammie died many hours ago so he'll probably be right where she left him.

A refreshed outlook....

Sometimes growing pains are really just that, growing pains. I would summarize the blur of recent months as being rich with growing my two growing pains, but then I'd dismiss the actual moments of joyful expressions, the heartfelt sentiments and general tender sweetness that both Kaitlyn and Dylan possess regularly. Like so many other areas of our lives, the negative encounters cloud all blue skies. When you no longer see that beautiful monochromatic azul throughout your horizon, or even speckled here and there, you are in trouble. Thankfully I was re-grounded a couple of weeks back and seem to only celebrate the blue coming at me from all angels directly from Heaven! Lovely, really. Just lovely.

So on that over the top note, may I shed some light on moments worthy of celebrating!

Dylan has pooped a few times in the potty and lets me know daily when he needs to poop prompting the opportunity to sit on the toilet, pretend pushing as if he is really pooping, flush and say goodbye to all the make believe poop and pee. It's quite the routine. He has skipped using any potty training seat/device and sits directly on the toilet that you and I sit on. Yes, he is a big boy. For the record, there is an occasional push that does produce a poop, like earlier today!

Kaitlyn, after making her a cheese quesadilla that had a little apricot preserves spread like butter within, said to me, 'Mom, you are just the greatest. This is the best.' Is this really my child? Last week at Costco, as if struck by the Kindness Bolt, she wrapped her arms around me and said, 'I just love you so much mommy.' Makes me think some child at school does this to their parents regularly and thus she is adopting this practice??? No matter what the inspiration, the mere fact it is verbalized made me swell within...I felt like my insides just might burst from an overload of warm fuzzies.

Dylan tried putting on his own shoes the other day. Just like his sister. Today he did put on shoes, but not his own...her mini high heeled pink princess shoes with feathers and faux diamonds (along with her teal sunglasses and hot pink/silver purse)-it was a sight!

Kaitlyn can really test boundaries, and she does so frequently! However, she has begun this new phase of obedience...at least I'm classifying it as such. When I hold firm on my stance for something simple like telling her to wash her hands, head upstairs for the bath, etc...it may take three times for it to register through that I'm not succumbing to her 'pretending to not hear you mommy' behavior. She will all of a sudden state, "Ooooooooohhhhhkaaaaaay Mommy," and head to her task. I must say it gets me boiling sometimes but the second she launches into the "Ooooooooohhhhhhhkaaaaay Mommy" gig I'm fully satisfied and officially accomplished!

"I wanna help." Dylan. This is his mantra right now. It's borderline annoying so when I feel this angst creep inside me I take a breath and give thanks that I have a child who wants to be so engaged with what's happening in my world and around. His favorite tasks right now are: vacuuming, doing dishes, mixing things in a bowl at the counter, sweeping and loading the wash. Kaitlyn is completely opposite. I will ask if she'd like to help with something and very frank she will respond with, "I cannot help today. No, maybe tomorrow." I count my blessings-at least one of two is eager!

Needless to say there is much to celebrate despite Kaitlyn chucking a baby walker toy down a flight of stairs while Dylan was on the stairs; the two of them tackling each other like opposing football teams complete with bite marks, face scratches and hair clumps; the indoor screaming matches and the all time favorite....grab the toy from the other and run....run everywhere until crying is heard and either someone has a bruiser or blood is shed. It's a jolly life over here at the Patterson household. I'm lucky I somehow stay out of the crossfire-and truth be told, I am really lucky. These children are such little gifts, I'm constantly reminded at how precious they are, how beautiful they are, and how blessed I am for being their mother!

Vintage GLAM

Her school had this photo session one day back in June...I wasn't there for it, but wish I could have been that fly on the wall. These are ADORABLE!

Phantastic Photos

Dylan walking Cosimo. He's such a helper.

Summertime in the back yard. Look at air-born Kaitlyn!

Music tour with our MOMS Club, Kaitlyn gets to play the violin!

My two helpers doing dishes. Start them young...right?

Look at that concentration...and the mini Steve side profile! Steve actually does this same thing, tucks in his lips when concentrating!

Dylan was born for the outdoors...already in a Davy Crocket raccoon hat and fish in hand.

Kaitlyn's curls, up close and curly!

Kaitlyn and Kendall bumping noses during a dance at her friend, Luke's birthday party (he's the boy right behind her in the blue wet suit).