Sunday Soup Supper at the Sanders

Ah, such a witty name for our neighborhood party and yes, I did put that on the invitations. We had wanted to have our neighbors over for such a long time and felt that this would be a perfect time. We made three different soups and crowded around the table after appetizers and drinks. It was a truly lovely evening and everyone was quite appreciative. It's sad that life moves so quickly and neighbors don't have a chance to see each other more often.

L.O.V.E. at the Newton food pantry

Our second volunteer activity took us to the Newton food pantry which is in the basement of the Waban Library Center. We thought it would be great exposure for the girls to recognize that underneath their beautiful library there is an organization that helps the community. Sadly, demand for the food pantry is up 100% from last year, serving 200 families in Newton. In Newton! I just can't believe it. We had a fun time learning about the pantry and sorting donations.

Ava, Avery, Maddie, Libbie, Kira and Reaghan

Christmas Tree Cutting

We were running a bit behind this year and really wanted (or rather I really wanted) our tree up this weekend as we were hosting a brunch today and a neighborhood party tomorrow. We were going to go to a tree stand but found out that their trees are cut in October! So, we got up and headed out to Durkee Tree Farm to get our tree before our brunch. Whew!

We wanted the biggest tree that would fit into our house. Nathan is an awesome tree picker and found one quite quickly.

Everyone helped to saw it down.

Next year we will carry the tree to the car as I spent about an hour picking dried grass out of the tree!
She was a beauty and lasted a solid six weeks with very few needles dropping!

Happy to Get Away

We've made it a tradition the past few years to take the week of Thanksgiving for vacation. This year we decided to stay in Massachusetts and rent a house in the Berkshires, an area we'd been anxious to explore. It was very nice to have a short two hour drive for our vacation!

How can I not snap a picture of that smile?

Our house was wonderful. Very spacious with nice room for all of us, a great kitchen, wood burning stove, and an enormous yard and wooded area (about six acres) - perfect for a lot of exploring. I did a terrible job of getting picture on this trip. One of these days, we need to get a family picture.

We loved exploring the little towns - such charm. We had lunches in historic taverns, shopped in old time country stores, saw picturesque churches and rolling hills. It was a wonderful time.

We spent a morning at the Berkshire Museum. It was as you'd expect. They did have a cute aquarium area with a touch pond that the kids loved. Our favorite exhibit was the 200 community decorated Christmas trees. Though I walked quickly by the one decorated with a silver garland - made of condoms... What?
It's great fun to watch Gabriel get right in there with the big kids.
Now, when the kids were asked what their favorite part of vacation was, they unanimously agreed it was the Bounce House playpark. We spent a cold afternoon getting rid of some pent up energy.

Yes, those are pink cheeks and sweat soaked hair!

We found a really neat nature center with a large beaver population. No beaver sightings but we did see their lodges and lots of trees in the forest that had been chopped down by the beaver. We took a family hike there and the big kids and Daddy were set on returning to hike to the top of the mountain!

Gaby and I took a nice nap on that afternoon!

The hikers are ready. Even the lady at the center was surprised that the kids were going to do the hike!

They made it!

Everyone was so proud to make it to the top and down again, 3 miles total. They told me that they could see New York from the bench. A stop at the ice cream store topped off their day!

And finally, some playtime pictures from adventures in our vacation yard!

I Will Blog Again - Someday!

Sorry for being radio silent for so long! I received a new camera and I can't for the life of me find the cord to get the pictures to my computer. I think Gabriel may have recycled it and of course they didn't have what I needed at Target today. Anyhow, I thought you'd enjoy some Halloween pictures of Tinkerbell, Captain Hook and Peter Pan.

My 3 1/2 year old wasn't too thrilled about all the picture taking. He's not too thrilled about a lot lately. He did sleep for 15 hours, yes 15 hours, last night to recover from a low grade fever. It worked! He awoke at 10:15 refreshed and ready to go.

I'll be back updating the end of the month when we return from the Berkshires and I find/buy a darn cord.

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth!

It was a wiggly twisty little tooth. With Daddy's help, out it popped. He was splattered with blood and she was so excited! The very next day, Theo hit her with something and she ran toward me. I was sitting on the ground and she slid down to sit in my lap catching the other tooth. Out it popped onto the floor! Two front teeth out in two days.

So cute!

Two Boys in a Boat

There's nothing like an empty box and some wrapping paper for fun!