October Wrap-Up

We've had a very pleasant fall - nice weather and enough going on to keep us busy, but not so much as to make us crazy.

We had a birthday party for Finley at a local apple orchard - here, Charlotte and cousin Trent play with Finley's new baler.

Charlotte is learning how to ride Finley's tricycle...

...but she can't work the pedals yet, so she has to have a chauffeur (who has a bad habit of talking on his cell phone while driving).

Finley successfully blew out all of his candles - not sure if he made a wish, but it was an auspicious start to Year 5 nonetheless. Mommy made him a beautiful cake decorated with cars and a front-end loader on top (which was removed to make room for candles).

This huge tractor was a gift from Papa and Nana, along with the baler.

Charlotte is not convinced that she wants to smile for the camera.

Finley insisted on facing in this direction for the whole party, because there was a huge inflatable black cat perched on the hill overlooking the pumpkin - it was kind of freaky looking, and he was quite creeped out by it. Fortunately, cake and birthday presents make it easy to forget such things.

Finley proves the old cliche about how kids have more fun playing with the boxes the toys came in rather than the toys themselves.

A rare double smile from Finley and Charlotte!

Finley and Charlotte sharing an apple with Papa.

Charlotte likes to put on random articles of clothing that she finds lying around the house. Here, she's discovered a pair of my gloves and has decided that they'd make wonderful socks.

Like most of the Northeast, we had a good-sized snowstorm last weekend. The snow hung on long enough for us to take the kids skiing the next day. Finley is quite good on his little skis, and we were thrilled that he really seemed to enjoy himself - he stayed out for a long time and says that he'll ski every winter!

Charlotte looking like a cute little marshmallow.

More ski fun.

Mommy lets Charlotte feed herself with a spoon now (Daddy is not so laid-back) - she's figuring it out, with some carnage in the process.

Both kids are getting pretty good at brushing their own teeth, although they still get some help from Mom and Dad.

This was a very cute moment that instantly fell apart as soon as I got the camera.

Our kids run around naked a lot.

We have been subsisting largely on root vegetables and cabbage for the past few weeks as our farm share winds down with the usual fall vegetables. This is a pizza with beets, cabbage, onions, and mushrooms - I think there's a little kale or chard in there as well.