Inside and Out

Snowy NH

Pre-snow work getting done. No one likes getting "work" done like these two. Here they are assisting Chris in repairing the bird feeder. The top had rotted off, resulting in a pigeon falling in and getting stuck. It wasn't pretty. That won't happen anymore. 

With the single digit cold weather comes trying to figure out how to occupy our time indoors. We discovered a children's museum 15 minutes away. It's in an old school and is very homegrown. Here's the "store" which is cool- lots of old cereal, pop tart and pasta boxes taped up and shelved. Cute cashier aprons, shopping bags, baskets and carts. And sunglasses because, you know, sometimes the paparazzi is too much. 

Ivy has waited all year to eat snow. She's in luck. 

Santa came to town. There's Creston, waiting with his hand up. He kept it up through 3 or 4 children's turns. He wanted to make sure he was noticed. 

Then he was nervous. 

Then he wouldn't stop talking about all of the hockey gear he wants for Christmas. 

Ivy was close by decorating gingerbread cookies. She had zero interest in sitting on Santa's lap. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving!

What a lovely Thanksgiving it was this year. Family came to our place. Here are two grandmas and a slew of cousinly cousins. 

Creston taught Arthur some Irish Stepdancing. At one point I heard him say, "Come on, Arthur! Move those legs!"

Now it's just us and our leftovers. I wouldn't say it's quiet, just quieter. We really loved having everyone. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Halloween

Creston was a Dirtbiker. Ivy was our dog, Sammy. But her name was Betsy. 

With little Sawyer, smiley ladybug. 

At the end of the evening, cream cheese mixing with face paint. 

Also, turkey basters in the bathtub. 

Carrots.

Chris broke his collarbone and Ivy developed a fever in the night and kept us both up. Also, I stayed up much too late watching the Red Sox pull out a big win. I was predicting a morning of terrible moods, but things were rosier than that. 

We discovered what's been eating the kale. Kale-colored caterpillars. Disgusting and fascinating. 

I has pretty much forgotten about our carrots, which didn't seem to be growing. But Ivy wanted to pick one, so we went for it and picked all of them. We planted Kaleidoscope carrot seeds, which Aunt Catherine gave us, so it was fun to see what color the carrot would be each time we pulled one out of the ground. 

Small but tasty. 

Pumpkin Festival 2013

We hit up the festival by Grandma Carola. It's become tradition by now. 

That's what we were up to today while Chris was downhill mountain biking... and breaking his collarbone!! He's okay though, thank goodness. 

Apples & Kites

Windy fall day. Lots of apples on the ground from a big storm yesterday. We went on a search for the tiniest, cutest apple. 

When we got home, Creston decided we should make some kites. I am not at all the crafty type, but I know how to google and so we figured out how to make some kites. And they were actually awesome! These kites call for a lot of running, but Creston and Ivy were game. 

Garden tomato break. 

Corn Maze

Born and raised in NH, but this was my first time in a corn maze. Crazy, I know. 

As it turns out, there are a few things you don't want to hear when you're deep in the middle of a 4 acre corn maze. "I have to poop" is one of them. 

Sand & Ice

Here in New Hampshire there's something for everyone. You can eat donuts by the lake in the morning, then head home for a nap. 

And finish your day with some laps around the rink. 

Why not?

Fall crazies

We got married! Pictures of that to come, to be sure. I hope they capture the fun we had, it was an awesome weekend. 

Now we are home and back to preschool, which I guess means that it's time for everyone to catch their first cold of the school year. The kids and I are all sniffly and cranky and driving each other insane. We went apple picking (with no camera) today in the chilly sunshine and that did wonders for our moods. We came back and the kids were super cute. Here Ivy is "the mama" and Creston is "the baby" which is usually how it goes. Sometimes Creston gets to be the parent. Rarely. They're pretending to take a nap. 

As I type this they are actually taking a nap. I should be, too...

First Day of School 2013

Same school. Many more kids and much bigger classroom. They did great.