Birthday Boy!

Everybody loves a birthday!  And this guy had some snow for his.  He got to start his day with breakfast in bed, skin and skin in the morning and then head to his parents for a birthday dinner. 

Peg was sweet enough to make a delicious lasagna dinner and John had his favorite cake from an Italian bakery near his parents house. 

Meanwhile, the kids were so excited to ski on the new snow...... even if there wasn't much:

10 Years!

Ten years ago..... we became a "thing".  We moved beyond being "just friends" and turned our long history of orbiting around each other into a real relationship.  Once we crossed that line, everything happened quickly.  I was introducing him to my family by Christmas and we were engaged within 8 months.  Within a month of being married, we were pregnant and the rest is history.  I can't even believe all that has happened in a decade!  And I've never looked back.  My life became complete when John came to my apartment in Burlington that dreary night in November.  I find my match.  John is my best friend, favorite adventure partner, intellectual challenger, and more.  He loves me for exactly who I am, but invites me to be a better person by standing up for myself and communicating my needs.  He has been my biggest cheerleader through it all. He makes me a better person. 

November was a rough month.  With the election, lots of work obligations and some other yuckiness going on for John at UVM, we needed a break.  Fortunately, our dear friend and "Godmother" of Hazey offered to watch the kids so we could go on a 24 hour date.  We headed north, to Montreal. 

We stayed at a super cool/bohemian Bed & Breakfast in the center of the city, called Auberge de Bon Matins.  We had stayed there 9 years ago and it did not disappoint.  The suite was huge and had a lovely jacuzzi right in the middle of the enormous bathroom.

We hit the town for some shopping and delicious Indian food before hitting the hay by 10pm?!?!?!?  Not what you'd call a rockus evening.  But, we slept until 8am and ten hours of sleep is what we both needed.  We had a delicious breakfast, packed up our room, and then headed east to do some mountain biking.  We had no idea where we were going, but a quick google search sent us in the right direction.

We ended up running into these two guys in the parking area.  They were so nice and let us tag along for an epic 3 hour ride at Bromont.  It was a gorgeous day and the riding was top notch.

We returned home to some happy kids who were excited to celebrate us!  They made us a sign and a cake (with the help of dear Cara).

We are so, so luck to have found each other, established such an amazing family, and have such a wonderful network of friends there to help us celebrate our love.

These two...... are too cute.  John invited them to come to the Outing Club's Thanksgiving celebration.  Even though they were treated for lice prior to going, they cleaned up so nicely and were thrilled to go.  Neither John nor I had anything to do with their outfits.  They just like looking "fancy"

Halloween!

 

I'm starting to be a little less of a curmudgeon about Halloween.  It helps when the kids have their costumes all set ahead of time.  Cally decided at some point during the summer that she wanted to be an owl this year. Hazey was just fine with using the brown costume that has been utilized for the past three years to be a bear.  Costume arrangements for him involved purchasing a bear mask.  Super easy!  

I started searching for store bought owl costumes in September.  The prices made me cringe, so we decided we could do it ourselves.  I found a few youtube videos that made it look really simple......... After spending $40 at Marshall's and nearly having a nervous breakdown trying to figure out how to sew wings onto a t-shirt, it all came together.  Fortunately, Nana was able to help in a major way while she was visiting.  And Cally was really into doing the mask and the feathers on her own.  I think it turned out great!

Even John and I had a costume this year:

The kids spent the day before Halloween at Shelburne Museum (notice the last minute costume change)

Cally went with the owl theme and carved her own pumpkin, while John and Hazey carved their own little monster.

We even were able to squeeze in a visit to the pumpkin glow on Ciley Hill Road.  Below is a very big pumpkin:

And, if you can believe it, my friend Amy and I were able to ski on October 29th!

First Snow!

The bug has finally hit our house.  Cal was down with a fever and a sour stomach on Wednesday.  As much as sickness brings inconvenience to our "schedule", it also brings unanticipated time for snuggles and togetherness.  Because she wasn't feeling horrible, we managed to get out for a walk and soup at our favorite health food store in Essex.

Hazen went down on Saturday morning. He barfed at his friend's birthday party.  He was pretty much down and out through Monday.  But he did rally to see the snow in Underhill State Park on Sunday afternoon.

Because he still wasn't better on Monday, John got to spend some unanticipated time with his buddy.  They played a lot of checkers and snuggled a bunch.

Everyone is healthy now.  Phew!  It was such a bummer to see the team down.  Hazey has "share day" tomorrow.  He was looking through old photo albumsand decided he had to recreated this picture: 

It's fire season.  The animals are loving the cozy living room.

The weekend after Bumpa's visit we were lucky enough to get a visit from Nana and Grandpa.  It is always such a pleasure to have them visit.  Nana brought us chicken pot pie and they both brought up so much love. The weather perfect, albeit a little bit cold for them.  They were troopers, they came to an evening soccer game at UVM and then watched the kids play soccer in the "parents vs. kids" end of season soccer game. 

 The best part about Nana and Grandpa's visit is the quality time they spend with the kids.  This year, Cally was all about making her own Halloween costume.  She wants to be an owl.  I thought about buying an already made costume (for $50+), but instead watched a Youtube video and decided we could do this.  A $60 visit to AC Moore later, we had a huge project in front of us.  I immediately started wondering what the heck I was thinking. I really had no idea how I was going to make this work without a sewing machine.

Alas, Nana swooped in to save the day.  She was able to help with the sewing and Grandpa helped with the mask design.  John and I went out for a mountain bike ride and returned to find a house full of crafting. It was beyond cute.

In other news, John got a new yard toy:

And we are all still loving the warm weather and beautiful colors of fall:

Big truck day at Richmond Elementary: