A First Grade Party!

Yesterday, Deacon's class had a party!

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Since Maren's ballet class was canceled, she got to come, too! She even got to sit next to Deacon, thanks to Vincent, who offered her his desk.

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Ready to play a game -- Pass the Pumpkin.

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Maren tries to pass the pumpkin to Deacon, who distracts himself with his own silliness.

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Not surprisingly, Deacon was "out" shortly thereafter.

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The group gets smaller...

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...and smaller...

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Vincent and Maren vie for the championship!

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Though it was technically too close to call, Vincent valiantly declared Maren the winner! So Maren shared her prize with him, and everyone was happy!

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Meanwhile... Deacon decorated a cookie and put stickers on his face.

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It seems like this month has been a non-stop party. Stay tuned for full coverage of today's festivities!

This Day In History: October 30, 2004

Derek and Terri as the Captain & Tennille on October 30, 2004.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch!

Mommy and Maren enjoyed a trip to the Pierce College Pumpkin Patch today with Maren's preschool!
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Naturally, Mommy forgot to take the camera. So we have cell phone pics!
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Maren and a friend on the bus!

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I followed behind in the van, because Maren and I had to leave early for music class. So I took this picture. Maren's in the bus somewhere.

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Enjoying the Spookley show!

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I took a picture today of Maren holding a pumpkin in the pumpkin patch, but I must have erased it, because I couldn't find it later! So I was going to try to pass this off as a picture from today, but I decided not to compromise my journalistic integrity. Here's Maren in the same pumpkin patch last year!

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Maren and the TALL corn!

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And since I was looking at last year's pics, I couldn't resist including this one. She was NOT HAPPY to leave the pumpkin patch!

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This year's departure was much less dramatic. Maren was happy to get out of the heat, and she couldn't wait to get to music class, where she got to wear her costume! Here's Ms. Sharon, Maren, and Christopher the Clone Trooper.

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One more: Maren and Ms. Sharon, the flower and the bee!

This Day In History: October 26, 2002

Deacon and Derek, as an Oscar and its recipient, at Susie's Halloween party on October 26, 2002.

TRUNK or Treat!

We had a lot of fun this evening Trunk-or-Treating at St. Paul's!
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A hybrid of tailgating and trick-or-treating, the first annual St. Paul's TRUNK-or-Treat night was a big success.
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Some dinner to start things off...

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All of the cars were decked out!

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We were particularly appreciative of the Star Wars car.

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Here's Maren in her new flower costume... we'll have to keep tinkering with the bee, which is supposed to stick straight up from the middle of her head.

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The Alff kids came back to their own car for candy many times!

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Our car

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Mommy passes out candy.

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The transformation from a mild-mannered St. Paul's student...

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Into Cinko the Uglydoll! Unrecognizable in his costume, Deacon had the added benefit of going to every car twice for candy, once in the costume, and once as Deacon the Student.

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Declaring that she'd had enough candy, Maren got into the car and asked to be driven home. The only one of us not under the influence of massive amounts of sugar, Daddy was the designated driver.

2008 School Pictures

School pics are in -- here they are!
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I didn't realize Maren's green background would be such a lovely shade of BRIGHT GREEN, so I might photoshop a little subtlety into it... but for now, it's just very Incredible Hulk-ish! And we all know... we don't want to make Maren angry... :)

Fall Festival 2008 - Part 2

After the serious business of the costume contest at St. Paul's Annual Fall Festival yesterday, it was all fun and games!
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Derek enjoys a well-deserved chili dog.

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Time for a performance by the Choir! Deacon got to say something in the microphone. I can't remember what he said, but I remember that it was actually relevant to the situation and not just something about dinosaurs!

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A movie! The kids LOVE this song, called Chocolate.

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Maren enjoyed playing in this bouncer thing.

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After a long wait in line, Deacon got his face painted!

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Maren and Mommy, waiting in the face painting line...

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All tuckered out. And Maren was tired, too.

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She woke up (sort of) in time to have her face painted!

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Happy with the results!

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And finally... saving the best for last... the big raffle winner of the day was Susie, whose won a $100 dinner at a swanky steakhouse in Encino! WAY TO GO, SUSIE!!

Fall Festival 2008 - Part 1

We had a blast at St. Paul's Annual Fall Festival today!
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First things first... Deacon managed to go down the Super Slide without incident this year.

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Reunited with good friends Sawyer and Carlo Andre!

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Maren with best Preschool bud Zoe!

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Time for the Costume Parade... Despite the fact that Mommy and Daddy have worked for weeks on a flower costume, Maren decided she wanted to take her Artoo-Detoo costume out of mothballs for one last hurrah. (The flower costume will make its debut this coming Friday.)

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As for the other guy... Deacon transformed convincingly into Cinko the Uglydoll for this year's event.

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Terri works at the Preschool bake sale booth with Lucy, aka Miss Cynthia, Maren's teacher!

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For some reason, the kids with lightsabers immediately started pounding on Cinko a bit.

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Walkin' around

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Cinko keeps a safe distance from the many Jedi Knights, Clone Troopers and Sith Lords in the parade.

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Daddy gets it all on tape!

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Deacon got mobbed and had to take a break after these pics were taken...

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Going before the judges...

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Maren was excited to get a prize!

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Ah, Cinko looks so much more relaxed now.

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Deacon and Mary Jane, First Grade Winners!

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We'll finish up our Fall Festival coverage tomorrow!