Teething Biscuit

I'm fairly certain Eliana is teething. A couple days ago she started getting more fussy, is drooling like crazy, her hands are always in her mouth, and she really just prefers that I hold her. So, today at lunch, I gave her a teething biscuit... so messy! She really hates when I wipe her face, too, so you can imagine what things looked like when she had finished! Poor kiddo.

Our Lady of the Cedars Halloween Party

Our church has a Halloween party each year. The highlight is always the magician. The kids watched so attentively; this year's magician, Jason Purdy, used birds and a bunny--big hit!

Trick-or-Treating

Manchester has trick-or-treating the Sunday before Halloween each year. It's during the day, too, so it's safer for the kids. We had an absolutely amazing day! It was in the sixties and we didn't even need coats (a rarity for Halloween in NH!). Our visitors this year included Grandpa and Jinny, Sara (the babysitter), and Memere and Grandpa Marc. The little bumble bee is one of our neighbors, Leila :)

Cecilia's Thoughts on Migration

Cecilia has been asking questions about migration lately. So, as we're baking our annual Halloween cookies (Grandma's famous m&m cookie recipe), Cecilia says to Thomas, "If we were animals, we could go on migration. But we're not, so we'll just stay here."

A 3-Year Old's Affection

Last night, as we're getting ready for bed, Thomas declared to Cecilia: "I'm really good at sharing with you." Then, as they embrace, "You make me cry sometimes, but that's ok." :)

Heading out for a Walk

The weather's been getting chillier lately, but we have been trying to go out for regular walks. I finally convinced the kids that they'll get big, strong muscles if they exercise. They used to complain about getting tired when we'd try to walk any significant distance. I don't know how far I've gotten them to walk, but they will actually go for a good 30-45 minute walk without stopping every 2 minutes now :) Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago before we set off on our walk.

Pumpkins at Mack's Apples

We finally made it to Mack's Apples to get our pumpkins. It was pretty chilly this year, but the kids always enjoy it. They get free apples and apple cider. Eliana is absent from the pictures because she didn't wake up from her nap at Gramma and Papa's in time to go with us.

A Family Photo Shoot

So, here's a link to some of the pictures that Carly took of our family last week :) She did a great job and still wants to practice more on our family. Any time!

Belmont

The last couple of weeks have felt very long... The kids have been sick and at each other's throats. A little over a week ago, Eliana came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease... then Thomas... then Cecilia. It actually hasn't been too bad. No one got fevers and they didn't seem to complain too much. They just seemed slightly off and I kept them close to home, which means they got a bit stir crazy.

We still decided to head up to Belmont since Matthew had a long weekend (although we didn't end up leaving until Sunday since he had 2 weddings...). It's always nice to have some time to play outside, though--especially with the beautiful weather we've been having. I love fall!

On Monday morning, I had some writing to finish, so Matthew took the kids out while he went around taking photos for a couple hours. Then, on Tuesday, we took the kids out for a hike down to the train tracks. You can't see Eliana because she's in the pack on Matthew's back. Later in the afternoon, we set off for Meredith to meet with Carly, an old family friend who is an aspiring photographer. Here's her blog; she's very good. While she and Matthew were talking shop, she took some photos of our family. We're excited to see those when she gets a chance to process them. Then, we headed off for pizza :)

Warning: Nudity

I was talking with a professor after our yoga class and she was commenting that Eliana must not have any photos since she's our third... That's certainly not going to be a problem :) I had a desire to take some naked photos the other day. (I don't think we have any naked photos of the other kids.) I also wanted to document her sucking her two middle fingers; I've never seen anyone do this before.