Snow Day = Pajama Day!

We're having our coldest December around here since the 1940's....brrrrrrrrr!  We got snow on Sunday afternoon, more overnight, and schools were closed on Monday.  The outside fun didn't last long, but we enjoyed being cozy inside! 

Full of Thanks...

We've had a great visit...lots of delicious food making the house smell good, lounging around,  and being thankful for our many blessings!

Chris and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on Wednesday!  When we picked him up at the airport on Tuesday evening we saw a lot of soldiers being reunited with their families.  Of course, I'm thankful for the big moments we've had over the past nine years, but I am most thankful that we spend our "ordinary" days together.  We love to go for walks with Lucy and Eli, take them to the park, watch our television shows together, and eat Mexican food...before our eyes, these actions have filled our years and made us very happy!

Lucy, Eli and Avery have so much fun together!  Of course, we had big plans for all sorts of "outings", but three young children don't move fast and they seem to be happiest being at home!  We've done lots of walking around the pond and helping Mom and Dad "deck their halls!"

And, Eli continues to be scared of people who visit in the night...we do love traditions!

Splish, Splash...the kids are taking a bath!

I don't know how clean they actually got, but they sure did have fun!  We took them straight from the dinner table (ravioli!) to the tub...

Halloween Fun!

We've had some good Fall fun around here!  The last week has been a little crazy...both Eli and Lucy have been at the doctor's office (at separate times, of course)...both have ear infections in their left ears and now have (different?) antibiotics.  So, we continue to pay tuition to schools we're not attending regularly, but this is how immune systems get built, right?  We've enjoyed all-things pumpkin lately...carving, making pumpkin-spice cupcakes, and lots of chocolate-chip pumpkin bread!

Mom visited us over Halloween weekend!  She and Kay came to Lucy's Halloween parade at school.  And, when I found out THAT MORNING that Lucy's Halloween party is supposed to be "parent-led", Mom helped me with the party that afternoon!  It was wonderful to have her here...I desperately needed some "mothering!"  We started September with a lot of back-to-school busy-ness that hasn't slowed down like I thought it would.  Mom observed our craziness, made some good suggestions, and we are feeling calmer now (except for blog-management...obvioulsy...hey, we couldn't cover all my issues in one weekend...thanks for reading anyway!)

Lu has had her butterfly costume since August and wears it all the time...especially to the grocery store!  Eli got a lot of laughs in his Elvis costume (thanks to Claiborne for letting us borrow it!)...some folks thought he was Evil Kenevil since he didn't want to wear the glasses with sideburns, but a good-sized boy in a white jumpsuit is really funny whatever he's supposed to be!  Eli insisted that Mom read "Llama, Llama Misses Mama" about 187 times during her visit...they both almost have it memorized.  :-)  Kay, Fred and Kelly joined us for trick-or-treating...it was a fun evening!