So Many Good Things

October for us was filled with all kinds of good things. First, we had good intentions of celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving but it kind of crept up on us. Instead of our traditional turkey dinner we spent the afternoon having family pictures taken, and with the knowledge of low lobster prices had an impromptu lobster feast with some friends. It was great! I would choose lobster over turkey any day, and who needs three turkey dinners between October and January anyway?

Here's all the critters, completely unaware of their fast approaching fate.

We unfortunately missed out on apple picking this year as we set a day to go and got rained out, but we didn't miss out on caramel apples. Mmmmmmm. As we all enjoyed and got much caramel stuck in our teeth, I suggested to John that as a dentist he could insure the return of patients by handing out these delicious treats after each appointment:)

Though it saddens me that the weather is changing (I'm sure most of you know how I feel about cold temperatures) the New England foliage is incredible at this time of year. John is so busy lately but did have a chance to get out to take a few pictures. He couldn't find the place I suggested but instead found this cemetery bursting with color.
Finally, on to Halloween. This holiday became a bigger deal for me when I married John. He LOVES Halloween as it's filled with so many happy family memories. Because of this love of all things Halloween, we generally go all out with costumes. Normally we would also spend hours on carving pumpkins but there didn't seem to be time for that this year. It was either pumpkins or costumes. Not to worry, I don't want to deprive my children of carving pumpkins and eating toasted pumpkin seeds this year so it looks like we'll be taking advantage of the post Halloween pumpkin clearance sales.
Our festivities began with our wards Trunk or Treat party (sorry forgot the camera) on the 30th. We followed that up with gathering at a friends house on the 31st for apple cider, scones and trick or treating. These friends of ours live in the historic Boston neighborhood of Beacon Hill. For a reminder of this amazing neighborhood, see this post of last years family pictures. There are a couple streets that get closed off to vehicles and the residents go all out with decorating. The temperature was wonderful and required no more than a hoody for warmth. It was very windy but being on the narrow streets with the buildings to shelter us from the wind we hardly noticed. Aiden wanted to be a planet this year and decided on Earth. The decision was then made that Abby would be the moon, John Jupiter and my belly the sun. John started the paper mache a month ahead of time and he gets full credit this year.

Waiting for us to unload the costumes from the car.
Look how cute they are!
The effect wasnt' the same with the use of a flash, but I'm not the photographer John is.

A little help required for stairs, thanks friends for helping with the kids!

Our little moon got tired out about half way along.

The crowd.

Mom got a toe cramp.

Abby helping out.

Dad and Aiden, real troopers.

A little tough bending down.

SO DONE!

Still one more stop to make, Abby would only put her costume back on if someone was holding her. Melissa was a lifesaver.

A slightly better family shot.

The kids trying to sit, the result, Abby toppled back. She wasn't a fan of being stuck.

Aiden's already thinking about what he wants to be next year.

Baby Belly

So I had big plans to do a big post filled with summer pictures but I think I need to start fresh and keep it current so if you want to see summer pictures you'll just have to keep an eye on facebook (if you're a facebooker:) Not that I've put them up yet, but soon, I promise.

I also had big plans to snap a picture of my growing belly every 4 weeks with this pregnancy to see the progression. Well here's where those snap shots began.

12 weeks

Every 4 weeks was a good thought, unfortunately here's the next belly shot taken.

29 weeks (sorry it's so dark, the lighting in our place at night is not ideal for photographing)
Abby showing Dad where the baby is (for some reason, she can't point out where the baby is without lifting my shirt)

Happy Birthday Aiden!

I can't believe my little man turned 5 today! We adore this little guy. He is sweet, sensitive and thoughtful. He has a great sense of humor and makes us laugh everyday. We feel so blessed to have him in our family. We celebrated by having his first real party with party games and everything. I put more into it than I've told myself I would ever put into a birthday party, but he was ecstatic and he and his friends had a great time which made it all worth it. We gathered with his buddies from church at a playground for some birthday fun. It was a beautiful day until shortly before the party when the wind picked up. The kids didn't care though and it didn't even bother Aiden that we couldn't keep a match lit long enough to light the candles. We got through with only a little sprinkle of rain, not even worth mentioning really. When it was all over the wind stopped completely and the bright blue sky returned. Our luck with weather has never been real great. The verdict though, it was a very successful party. Check out the pictures, to see for yourself. A big thanks to Marie for several of the ideas for this party!

The invite

Playtime

Aiden can't have too much fun without a bloody nose, he's still smiling under there though:)

Pizza and cake time (for those who have been waiting for a belly shot, check out this first one. You can click to enlarge)
You can tell which way the wind is blowing by looking at the way those stars are leaning.
We ran for that distant tent when the tiny rain drops started falling, just in case.

Pin the fire on the rocket, Aiden nailed it!

Ready to munch those star cookies, no hands (my kids cheat).

UFO pinata, we had great fun making it as a family.
Stab or swing?

Gift time.
He takes opening presents very seriously:)
Train setThanks Grandma and Grandpa for the box full of craft projects!

Apartment living

I know it's summer and we should be spending all our time outside, but sometimes, I just can't find the energy. With John back in school we're back to 6:00am wake ups so we can drive him to the train and well, after a very lazy summer it's just taking a little time adjusting. I'm glad my son is always thinking of something fun we can do. This morning Aiden came to me and said "I want to play hot scotch (hop scotch)". I explained to him that we cant draw on the ground in our yard, even with chalk (yes the condo rules are that ridiculous). His reply was, "mom, you can use tape!" Why didn't I think of that?:) Here's the result, it's a good thing the apartment below us remains vacant.It even looks like she's hopping (nobody needs to know that she's just running)

Next he wanted some boxes so that he could make himself into a transformer, but when that plan didn't quite work out how he wanted, he decided that a drumming party would be just as much fun. Abby saw what was going on and had to join in as well.

Some entries of our real summer fun coming soon!

Six Years of Bliss

What were you doing six years ago yesterday? This is what we were doing.

After a nice lunch with family, off to the reception right? Nope, that would come in a few weeks. It was off to the airport for us, headed to Hawaii!


I have loved being married to John every day for the past six years. He is an amazing husband and an incredible Dad. I love you Babe, thanks for choosing me to be your eternal companion!

Campin' in Maine

We so wanted to get away during John's 2 week summer break, and camping was about all that would fit into our budget, plus we love camping. We found a great little spot in Maine about 3 hrs away. It was in the middle of nowhere (sort of, it was only 30 min. away from Portland), but had all the modern amenities you want when camping with little ones. We borrowed most of the gear from one of the dentists John worked with for his internship, and bought a 4 person inflatable boat so that we could have some float time on the lake. With an extremely packed car, we headed out for 4 nights and had a great time. We did get some rain, but most of it held off till the last night. Thanks to a good tent we stayed dry over night, but unfortunately did have to pack up in it the next morning.

Here it is!

Lots of these little guys around and some of them come really close.

Our camp site was lakeside, so there was a lot of time doing this.

Aiden was our superstar fisherman, he caught the first fish out on our boat and continued on to catch 3 more from shore, and was upset when we put one back. John caught 3 and as for me, well I'm claiming one of Aiden's as I did cast out and was holding the rod when it bit.

First catch, quite happy to hold it in the net, not so thrilled to actually touch it:)

Instead of fishing, Abby did a lot of this.

Of course there was also a lot of just hanging out.
This would be the "fine I'll smile for another picture mom" face.

And I must throw in a couple of my rugged man.

Just like any day of camping ends, why not finish off with this?

Starting July off with a BANG!!

I know I'm way behind yet again, and I do plan to get fully caught up over the next few days, so be sure to keep checking back. July started with 4th of July celebrations. First, with a small town parade in the morning. Next, fireworks, but where? We knew that the Boston Pops concert and fireworks show in Boston is close to the top and usually number 1 on any list of Top 10 4th of July fireworks shows, but I was concerned about fighting the crowds with two small children, but when friends invited us to go with them and other friends offered to take our kids the decision was made, Boston it was. Aiden LOVES fireworks so we decided to take him and leave Abby. A BIG thanks to Dave and Chris for taking the little turkey:)! We went nice and early and grabbed a great spot next to the Charles River directly across from the barge that was to be firing off the more than 20,000 lbs of fireworks. It was a long wait but at least we had pizza and speakers nearby blaring the Boston Pops concert taking place just across the river. Of course I must not forget to mention that Neil Diamond himself was there performing as well (what more could you ask for:) It was absolute chaos after the show but we safely and fairly quickly (thanks to our assertive friend Nic) got on the train and headed home. Was it worth it you ask? OH YES!! Here's a few pictures courtesy of my resident photographer John.

Waiting for the train to head up to Boston.
Boston skyline.

Getting darker.

A teaser pre show.

When I told Aiden that it was just a teaser show he responded, "Mom, it's not nice to tease." He then proceeded to fall asleep while we waited for the real show.

Of course, no pictures could ever truly show you how grand it was.

One happy boy.