Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping

Sigh...where does the time go?  While so much less stressful since I decided to exit the working world for a bit, life just keeps getting busier.  It's all good - finishing our basement...catching up on silly things that we've ignored for 7 years like oh, finances...keeping my munchkins happy and healthy and fed and where they're supposed to be (I now fully understand why moms say they feel like chauffeurs)...and now a little elfwork thrown in to keep things interesting.  It's all so fulfilling (ok, maybe not ALL of it) and I'm loving the new rhythm of my days.  But my blog updates have been bleak.  So now for some catch-up on what's been happening over the past couple of months.  

Well once upon a time (it seems oh so long ago) we had weather like this.

And we soaked up that sun with a long bike ride that ended in a gigantic sand pit.  And then we cleaned sand out of our ears for days.

And then we had our first frost, and that was pretty exciting too.  

Before the frost hit, we had our very last harvest.  Believe it or not, we are still eating garden tomatoes - we had some on our nachos tonight!

And with the cooler weather came more days filled with activities like snuggling up with some good books.

 Or creating elaborate art/science masterpieces.

We did manage to squeeze in one last fun fall activity - a day of cider making with Grandma and Grandpa.  First we shook the trees and collected the apples.

 Then we used an old-fashioned press to turn them into delicious cider.

 It was hard work.

 But the cider sure was delicious.

Let's see...Halloween fell in there.  Although the boys dressed as the Kratts brothers on Halloween night, Adam decided to be a giraffe for his school party.

 It could have had something to do with the fact that his best bud Eli was also going to be a giraffe.

What else happened...well the Red Sox won the World Series!  We woke the boys up to see the final two batters - not sure they really got it all but they thought it was cool to be awake at midnight.

 We also went down to Needham to celebrate Jack's birthday with a Babson hockey game.

And Mom got away for her annual ladies weekend (hooray!) while the boys had quality time with Dad and Grandpa.

We spent Veterans Day at the Portland Childrens' Museum...

built our first snowman of the season...

 had successful teacher conferences all around...

 and enjoyed our very first Thanksgiving in Rockport.

Watching The Grinch on Black Friday night.

We loved being in Rockport for Thanksgiving - the (much!) shorter drive, the cozy house, and all the fun post-Thanksgiving activities!  As an extra treat, we caught up with the Lees and explored the Rockland activities together on Black Friday.

Ethan and Oliver sparring like reindeer

Cookie decorating.  Whoever designed this cookie decorating station was obviously not a parent - the cookies were as big as my head and the array of sugar topping options was unbelievable.

And now December is here and holiday fun is in full swing.

Baking cranberry bread with my littlest elf

And Jones has returned to our house, bringing with him all of his elf-ey mischief.  Instead of hearing the boys whisper their holiday desires to our elf, I now find these adorable hand-crafted and misspelled notes to Jones, reminding him that they've been good and trying to buy him off with rainbow loom bracelets.

Oh what fun this time of year brings!