A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

We spent a lot of time celebrating Fall this weekend. Before we get to the weekend, Lily had a visit to a pediatric dentist which went really well and will need some cavity work next week - Lily has always been good about brushing her teeth but in light of her two cavities we are vigorously assisting her morning and night! Jack finished his first week in the care of Beatrice by himself. He asked for Jonah a few times, but otherwise kept very busy going to the library, community center, and park - he has lots of friends around the neighborhood.

On Saturday, we the neighborhood Halloween Fall Festival organized by Mom and neighbor Annemarie - we put a lot of work into it - and then were greeted early Saturday morning by clouds, wind and a forecast of rain - but we decided to forge ahead and had the halloween parade and festival at a field in the neigborhood. Fortunately, we managed to have the festival and clean up before the torrential rain came in the afternoon. Lily dressed up as Tinkerbell and Jack dressed up as Batman. Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom joined us for the festivities and were very helpful with the actual event and keeping track of Lily and Jack. The kids had a blast in the moonbounce and playing ghost bowling and a duck pond game. After a nap for Jack and some play time for Lily, we celebrated Daddy's birthday by carving pumpkins with both sets of grandparents and we had chinese food, cake made by Grandma Gail, and bread pudding. On Sunday, we went to Butler's Orchard and went through the corn maze and the slide and went on a hay ride. The kids were thoroughly exhausted and we ended the day with a trip to the playground, some baths to rid the farm smell, and a good night sleep.

We have some more pics courtesty of Grandpa Tom, but Dad is at the Redskins game - (insert half-hearted Go Skins!) - and Mom has not idea how to post pictures so Dad will take care of it tomorow. Have a good night!



Jack starring as Batman.


Tinkerbell.


Starting off the parade.


Batman fighting some crime off by himself.


Pumpkins galore.


Jack in a cooler


On the train at the fall festival.


On a hayride with Marcy.


One with eyes open is not too bad :).

Ring of Fire

Let's just say that after last week, we are happy to begin a new week in good health! Dad left for Toronto on Wednesday morning and as of Wednesday afternoon Lily was not feeling well and had a high fever. The pediatrician thought she might have a mild case of the H1N1 flu but we aren't really clear that was the cause of her fever. In any event, due to the possibility of the flu, we were housebound Thursday, Friday and Saturday - combine that with the rain and frigid temperatures, it was a pretty miserable three days - thankfully Jack and I did not pick anything up but we were all going crazy by the time we took a trip to pick Dad up from the airport on Saturday. On Sunday, we were happy to finally leave the house for a marshmellow roast at friend Pierce's house.

Lily and Jack want to send out special birthday hugs and kisses to Daddy who is celebrating his birthday on Saturday!


Lounging in the ball pit.


Double trouble.


Playing with cars.


Game time.


Roasting marshmallows.

This Wheel's on Fire

This week Lily ventured to a local farm for the annual school trip. Grandpa Maurice accompanied her, thanks GM! Lily rode the bus to the farm, rode a pony, saw/fed some livestock, and managed to choose a pumpkin without a stem - she said it was otherwise "perfect." Jack had a good week with Jonah playing soccer at the community center - the last full week with his friend. We had a difficult time finding another toddler to fill Jonah's spot, so Jack will be cared for by Beatrice alone until June and then he is off to Lily's school. Although we know he will miss having a friend, he will have fun when he sees other kids at the playground, community center, and library.

On Friday, the kids had gymnastics (firehouse theme) and then went to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's for a sleepover as Mom and Dad had to go to Baltimore for a running event - Mom ran the Baltimore 1/2 marathon on Saturday and Dad ran the 5K! Lily and Jack kept quite busy over the 24 hours they spent with G&G. On Friday they went to the local fall festival and had a blast on the big slide. On Saturday morning, they went to a fire station open house - they practiced 'stop, drop and roll' which Jack apparently loved since he had done a lot of similar rolling at gymnastics. Lily described a mock run where they pretended they were sleeping, heard the fire alarm, so they checked to make sure the door handle was not hot, and crawled out of the room to escape - she seemed to take the drill very seriously. She also loved spraying the fire hose, and both of them spent the rest of the weekend in their fire hats and spraying pretend hoses. On Saturday evening, Lily went to Audrey's birthday pajama party where they played freeze dance, had their nails painted and played other games - she had a blast!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day, with some playing with toys and watching the Redskins choke. Later, Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis came over and we went to Lily's favorite - chinese food!

At Lily's school, they read the book 'Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?' which is a book that talks about filling each other's 'invisible bucket' with kind words and deeds. Lily has been talking a lot about the invisible bucket and seems genuinely interested in making sure she fills our bucket and her own bucket each day.
She made a bucket at school with these thoughts: I can help my brother and share my toys. I can help Mommy and clean up the house. I help Ms. Linda button her buttons. I hug them.
Our sweet little girl who loves her little brother - even if he drives her crazy!


Lily and her classmates checking out an emu.


Lily and Grandpa Maurice at the farm.


They were still willing to sport their Redskins' gear before the game.


At the fall festival and riding down the slide.


Jack playing.


With Grandma Gail on the hay ride.


Lily learning about fire safety.


Checking out the fire hose.


The two junior firefighters.

An American Girl

On Tuesday, Lily had her 5 year appointment. She is in the 80th percentile for height - 44 inches - and 70th percentile for weight. Her hearing and vision were great. She avoided shots and only had to get the flu mist.

Lily and Jack spent the night at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's on Tuesday night while Mom and Dad went to see U2. On Thursday, Jack was home sick with Mom with just the sniffles, he still has a runny nose but is essentially recovered. On Friday, Lily and Jack had gymnastics - Lily loves every moment, while Jack gets a little tired after about a 1/2 hour but still has fun. Lily then went to school while Jack accompanied Mom to the office for a quick visit.

The weekend was pretty low key, with a visit to Mom's friend's house on Saturday. Lily and Jack had a great time hanging with the other kids - Jake, Katie, and Connor. Lily and Katie even watched Beauty and the Beast, although she found it a little scary.

On Sunday, we ran errands and the kids played inside and outside, and were happy the Redskins managed to win.

On Monday, Grandma Gail came to spend a few hours with Jack, and Lily had a good day at school. She started ballet today and also had her first day of a special music class just for the 5 year olds (pre-K) at her school - she learned about the guitar. She will have a special class on different subjects for a half hour to an hour each day for most of the school year - tomorrow is science. Lily came home to find that her American Girl Doll - Julie - had arrived, a birthday present courtesy of Aunt Donna and Uncle Stephen - she was very excited and has proceeded to change her clothes several times and read books to her tonight.

Lily and Jack want to send out a special welcome to Baby Girl Sowmya who was born on Wednesday to friends Purnima and Selvan - hopefully Sowmya will be making a blog appearance at some point in the future.


Working together on an Aqua-Doodle project.


Jack eating a quesadilla and hanging with the grown ups.


Jack working on some construction with friend Sarah.


Lily & Katie taking in Beauty and the Beast with Lauren and Jen.


Lily and Julie posing for pictures.


Lily, Julie and Jack with Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin.


Lily discussing Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin and the new addition to the family.