Saturday, November 5, 2011

Our Lion & Dragon





Harvest

October was a busy month. Between the Farmer's Markets and our Farm Share, we spent a lot of time celebrating the harvest:

Chocolate Faced Girl post Pain au Chocolate at the Burlington Farmers Market
Kickin' it with old buddy I.Z in Burlington.
Oliver and Hazen reunited
Playground Fun
The foliage has been incredible this fall-- later than anticipated, but gorgeous none-the-less.  At some point during the peak of it all, Hazen's "God parents" e-mailed saying that they needed some red-headed Abbott kid time.  With exercise having sort of flown out the window lately (just not enough hours in the day), John and I took Tom and Kara up on their offer and had a lovely ride in the shadows of Mt. Mansfield.  And the kids had a lovely time with two people who adore them!

 





And for all my complaining about not exercising, I did get up to Camel's Hump with the kids and my dear friend Bo.  Bo was in the are from Boise, ID, helping his dad recover from a bike accident.  Bo is the kind of friend I am so honored to be able to introduce to Cally and Hazen.  He exudes great energy and fun. He has a friendliness and enthusiasm that are infectious and a heart of gold. 


Every Tuesday, from late May to mid October, we pick up our farm share at Arcana Gardens in Jericho.  It's amazing how exited Cally is to eat anything that comes from the farm-- especially if she has picked it herself.  And this includes brussel sprouts!  Every few weeks they have crafts for the kids-- t-shirt dyeing, gord decorating, and harvest hat assembly were all a hoot.  Below Cally is wearing one of her crafts, along with the costume that she wore almost daily this month:


After years of looking at a house wrapped in Tyvec and months of dipping shingles and listening to the drum of John hanging them, we finished the siding project!  I'm so proud of John and the countless hours he put into making our house look so beautiful.  There certainly was no rest for the weary this fall.  When the weather was clear, we didn't have guests at the house, the compressor was usually humming and John was dangling from some portion of the house or another.  Meanwhile, I put in some hard time with the kids so that Dad could "get her done".  



Looking at our newly sided house from the neighbor's fields

Next spring or summer, we'll do something about that porch..... oh, and those horribly inefficient windows.  But for now, whenever I drive up to the house, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride in what we finally were able to accomplish.

Cal and Hazen continue to be so adorable with each other.  It's not uncommon for me to see the following site when I look at the back to check on the kids in the backseat of the car.  They really are adorable and I need to document how lovely they are together, so that someday, when they aren't feeling so "lovey dovey", they'll know that there was a time......