This and That

This girl is really cute (especially in her new shoes). 

That cat should not be out. 

This (half) week was rather busy. 

That orange hose is totally unnecessary. 

This post will be quite short. 

That grass is awfully green. 

This rainbow was simply amazing. 

That is all for now. 

Happy Thanksgiving, folks! 

A Week or So

Flipping through pictures as usual here and once again marveling at how many little moments and memories are packed into the most ordinary weeks, and I just love it. Does make for an eclectic blog post though, if I don't keep up with it.  Here are some themes of the last week or so - the kids have had a few days off for Veterans Day, conferences and such, and I'm never quite sure if having everyone home makes a day more busy or less. Anyway, without further ado, I present:

Butterflies:

Figs (from the tree in our backyard!):

And Beans, also from our own garden:

Dentist: 

Super-cute, Super-busy Girl, who is closing in on her first birthday.  What? 

Rainbows, three in one day!: 

Tree, Christmas, up already! Not decorated, just lending a bit of light and warmth to cold evenings: 

We even sneaked in a Nutcracker viewing. It was lovely. And later in the same weekend we tried out our fireplace for the first time! 

So just add in some swimming lessons and you pretty much have our week. I think I finished Christmas shopping today, for the kids at least, so I'm hoping to shift to a season of fun and festive making without feeling as busy and stressed as I've been with these last few busy weeks. And maybe I'll get around to blogging more than once a week! 

Inside and Outside My Windows

We've had a delightful spell of clear sunny days here, a chance for us all to soak up some sunshine and fresh air. I've spotted some interesting creatures from my kitchen window; they seem to be shape-shifters of sorts, Jedi with light sabers and helmets/head-tails one day, butterflies the next. 

The cats spend a lot of time in the windows, keeping an eye on the outdoors. 

Even inside, the sunshine has been most welcome. 

And then there was yesterday, when a commotion out front caught my eye - none other than the rehearsing high school marching band! Ha!!

I think high schoolers look younger than they used to.  Does that make me old? 

Hope everyone is enjoying their own lovely autumn weather! 

Seven. Seven?

I tend to round up, when it comes to the kids' ages. The month or two before a birthday I'm already referring to them as the next age. But when it came to picking out a candle at the grocery store the other day I had to really think hard. My first baby girl... seven already? My own seven is pretty fresh in my mind. I suppose a bit of that comes from starting this Mommy gig at the tender age of 24. And seven is a lot of years, too. A lot of moments, memories, places, milestones. Quite the little life with this pretty girl so far. I'm so proud of you my dear, keep up the good work! 

(PS, also worth noting that D and I celebrated the birth of our first on a breakfast date this morning, just us and C! Made possible by the rare weekday off for him, coinciding with a morning of school for both big kids. We haven't been on anything resembling a date since June, so it was quite exciting.)

More notes on sweater, birthday gifts, costumes, etc. coming soon - so much to share!

Halloween, the Condensed Version

Wanted to share some pictures from Halloween, before Halloween is really old news. In another post I'd love to write about how I made Amy's costume... hopefully I'll get around to that before, oh, Christmas. This year we had Star Wars: The Clone Wars characters: Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Yoda (though Yoda didn't last long at all). We stayed in on Halloween and had our own little, but very fun party at the house. 

And while we are at it, I took a picture of C the other day which reminded me of a similar picture of W at the same age, which put me on a hunt to find pics of all three kiddos to compare. I don't think any of them look like each other at this same (10-11 month) age. What do you think? 

Back soon, folks - with paper mache!!