Anniversary weekend and visitors

We ended October with a trip to VT so the kids could stay with my parents while we had a few nights off in the area. It was the kids first time ever sleeping away from us, and by all accounts it went well (except for the 4:30am wake up time..) although I think the folks were glad for the quiet once we left. Payte came home with us to experience (the suburbs of) Boston and I think she had a good time. Unfortunately the time change meant the kids were up for the day at 5, and that was pretty rough on everyone. She braved the subway system on her own on Thursday and made it home safely, and then Sue came on Friday for a long weekend to celebrate David's birthday. We "hiked" on Saturday, ate out, made David buy his own birthday cheesecake, played games. It's been a busy but fun few weeks!
Pretty typical this week although Steve had today off for Veterans Day, and then the weekend is taken up with a conference at church (all are welcome to attend! they're always fantastic).

Hiking around Arlington Great Meadow. Perfect for little legs

Some really pretty swamp views

Family selfies

Getting ready for a Sunday School object lesson

Still adore my LilleBaby. The AGM trail has a portion on the road and the kids didn't want to walk at that point. Never expected I'd be the granola crunchy extended breastfeeding, baby-wearing mom, but here we are. And it seems to be working out fine. 

Attended a Days for Girls sewing event. Most awesome organization ever, I won't go into it here, but PLEASE check it out and support in any way you feel led. Days for Girls International

My role; trimming the liners and flipping them to be ironed and topstiched

The thrift store has been very good to Hudson the past few trips. Hard to resist a $1 digger.

Just cozying up with a friend at church. Hudson is the youngest of the 2013 group, and they are so much fun together. There are 6 of them, and they're all talking (except Hud) and their conversations are hysterical.

So the thrift store in October is also a great time to stock up on dress up, Henri fell in love with a Tinkerbelle costume which has been on her pretty much every day since, and Hudson was unreasonably attached to the Wonder Woman one. 

Stopped at Happy Valley Farm for our annual splurge of cider donuts. They didn't disappoint.

Gorgeous weather

And then there were two, and we pretty much just reveled in the silence. And being able to wander wherever we wanted (which meant cemeteries, because we love them...)

Finally got to try it! And was a bit sad. The portions were small and my burger tasted mostly of the over toasted bun. But again, silence. Or at least, we didn't have to attend to anyone else's needs during dinner. Bliss.  

Then we played mini golf in the dark and freezing and came back to read.....and were asleep by 9. It was great.

Up bright and early on Saturday to not waste a minute of our time, we headed out to hike and had the waterfall trail completely to ourselves.

As always, much more impressive in real life

And then we went up a mountain in Stowe that the website said was only 2.5 miles but ended up being 3.5 which was demoralizing when you were only halfway and discovered this

The view at the top more than made up for the icy climb

Incredible views of all the mountain ranges

Did I mention it was cold and we were a tad underdressed?

Then out to dinner where I blended with the locals in plaid. Seriously, there were folks wearing plaid shirts with plaid shirts and jackets over that.

Oh Burlington, how far you have fallen

Had the waterfront to ourselves on Sunday morning. Grabbed some donuts and coffee, and picked up the kids at 10. Who weren't in the least enthusiastic to see me. When I told Henri I'd missed her, she patted me sympathetically and said "That's OK, Mom. I didn't miss you.". Kids,

Room progress. Found a side table for Steve in good shape that just needs a paint job, need new shades and mirror for the North wall, working on a art project to go above the piano. But it's coming together. 

Payte enjoyed the scooter

We had perfect weather with some gorgeous sunsets

Checked out all the playgrounds

Haircut! She looks like my mom so much it was scary.

Went to the Aquarium. Normally the eel hangs out in crevices and just peeps out, but this morning he was seriously pissed at the diver and kept charging her with open mouth, She'd play dead and he'd back off, but I'd be terrified if I were her!

Identifying the fish

They were actually having a great time, they were just focused on snacks at the moment

Tried a new Italian spot and brought the pizza down on the wharf. Ended with dessert at Mike's.

The garden stakes got a good workout. Hudson was golfing, and Henri was "churning butter" like Ma in Little House in the Big Woods.

Steve had this made for me :)

Boxes are the best

Hung out for a bit at David's so the boys could play video games

Treated myself to a mani/pedi. Nothing fancy about the place, but they did a great job.

Probably our last picnic lunch of the year. It's been so warm for so long!

Headed to the parade today

Hudson took his job of flag waving very seriously, and clapped for all the veterans who paraded. 

Veteran's Day selfie

Peak fall

I think we just had our last warm week before the cold really settles in. Considering it's the end of October and that today was the first I made the kids wear winter coats on our walk, that's a lot of heat! Most of the maple trees are peaking right now. Unfortunately it rained a lot this week so the colors are more yellow, but around the ponds it is gorgeous.
We haven't done a whole lot. My cold continues so playgroup was cancelled on Tuesday. We've been out for the library and a Target run (where I forgot the one thing I'd gone for and came out with 15 other things....), and on Wednesday Steve had his birthday. The kids did a great job of keeping his gifts a surprise, and Hudson was so excited about everything. The boy loves birthdays, he doesn't care whose. Steve got his baked potatoes, and I made him the requested pecan pie (although the crust was horribly tough. Sorry, Babe). The kids don't like nuts so I also made carrot cake as cupcakes that they decorated licked all the frosting off of and put sprinkles on. We have a fairly unscheduled weekend coming up, might try out a new path through some woods and look at the colors :)

I was looking for an appropriate sentiment for a "get well" card and stumbled on this jewel. I re-read it every time I need a laugh. Would you feel better if you received this in a card??

After our first frost we dug the potatoes!!! And it was pretty disappointing. But still fun. Maybe we'll plant a bigger patch next year.

Spraying the spiders for me. Guys, listen: Best thing ever!!! Spray bottles. $1 each. Fill then with warm water, establish the ground rules of not spraying each other or strangers cars, and voila! hours and hours and hours you don't have to parent. I took them away the past two days because Hudson has a open sore on his finger from using them so much and I was worried how much deeper it'd get. 

Boxelder beetles. Millions of them in all developmental stages. More dispersed here, but earlier in the week the entire curb was red. They've been lots of fun to watch. No idea why they chose this particular spot to hang out, or what they're waiting for, but they've been here all week. 

The potato haul

Never fails that when there is a decent sale, Hudson's behavior is anything but decent. At this point he was being quiet so I just let him lay (after taking a pict to show all those people who think he's just the sweetest thing ever and that I exaggerate his moods)

The spray bottles going for a(nother) walk. 

Leaf crowns!

They're a bit hick/corn husk hat but so much fun to make

Very overexposed picture of the birthday goodies

Our take on fall decorating. Rotting pumpkins and a new door mat. 

Hudson found and was allowed to purchase a little digger truck at the thrift store. As soon as we got home he grabbed a person from the dollhouse to put in, and the three have been inseparable since.

A bit more cowboy than I'd been planning (also, these are olive green in real life) but they appealed at Target. Long story (about the mess the shoe dept shelves were in and how they weren't in the system) short, the manager gave them to me for $8. Suddenly they're very very appealing :)

Henri has taken to dressing Hudson in the morning. As he doesn't object (though he likes to be a pill when she's changing his diaper so sometimes I have to wrangle him for her) I certainly have no problem with it. Bossy big sisters for the win!

More crown making

Cooperative subjects

Gearing up for the birthday

This past week was a bit of a fog. I've had a cold that's been getting steadily worse (though it seems to have broken last night, finally!) and really don't remember much. Except that Sue came down to spend the weekend with Steven as his birthday is this week, and I was a terrible hostess who laid around a lot and served things like canned soup for meals (organic fall flavors from Trader Joe's of course, but still....).
But we had great weather, and continued the annual tradition of viewing the Head of the Charles (poor rowers had some nasty headwinds to contend with), and for the first time I think ever I had the house to myself all morning while everyone went to church (totally wasted the golden silence by sleeping, but it was still lovely), and I tried out just about every home remedy there is for a cold (lots of garlic, ginger, cider vinegar, lemon, and honey were consumed this weekend!).
Given that it's on a Wednesday this year Steve's birthday will be very low key, but hopefully he still knows how loved and cherished he is by all of us. Happy start to the birthday week! :)

I raked the whole yard, wheezing the entire time. Went to get the shovel to help dispose of the piles and Hudson discovered the joys of leaf pile jumping. I haven't bothered to re-rake.

Obviously they can push each others buttons, but for the most part these two are so sweet together. There's a lot of love

The wonderful Mrs.Allen has been making Henri hair bows. She has at least one in constantly, and now her animals are joining in

Playing with power saws during nap time. Henri stood by the window ready to call "eleven nine" if I cut my fingers off haha.

The constructions begins. Once completed I'll do a post, but suffice to say I'm super excited about my bedroom redo. Somehow it's not quite as inexpensive as I'd planned, but I'm loving it already. Few more coats of paint, some more shopping, and voila! A relaxing retreat.

My enthusiastic helpers. They have loved the measuring tapes. And are surprisingly useful at helping me measure, holding up boards, leveling, handing out screws....

Oh boy. Not really the "going out in public" look I was going for, but pretty typical Henri fashion

Headed to the river! Poor Hudson hates the train. He cried till I assured him we just had 3 stops to go, then clutched the stroller with a death grip till we got there. Hen of course adores the train.

Go!

The vendors were plentiful and the samples numerous. Somehow we ended up with 10 bottles of almond milk alone. Not to mention all the coupons. 

Sheffie and Sue came along too. The wind was a bit rough here, but the sun kept it from being too cold

Lunch at BerryLine (nutella with cheesecake bites)

Dad wanted to do pumpkin carving with the kiddos. I lasted long enough to get the photo, it was cold out there!

Hud loved the process, did not love the consistency of the guts

More Henri fashion, she's big into twisting her hair as a style.

OK, nap time just ended with lots of kid yelling, so off to attend to their highnesses. Hope all of you up north are staying warm with the snow you got this weekend! We're supposed to be in the 70's this week....