halloween plus

Halloween was great - the kids were adorable in their costumes and there were no meltdowns despite the candy and chocolate bars at bedtime. Hendrik wasn't super into the trick or treating thing, but gladly answered the door at Zella's... and gladly sampled the candy too. Both costumes were outstanding - but the Franklin getup really takes the cake; with the exception of the hat, it was entirely Steve's creation, so the kudos go to him. We put our outfits together at the last minute, and managed to all seem Halloweeny for our mini tour to Vince's, Gavin's and Zella's - where, despite the three-stop-shop, we amassed a sizeable pile of candy and chocolate. Hendrik's favourites are the Swedish Berries, and I'm eating Coffee Crisp. Yum......

the first dress-up at halloween!

hey it's franklin :)

answering the door

Yesterday was the mildest of fall days, with temperatures in the mid-teens - it took me back to the fall that I like (no cold business). The wind was pretty strong, so leaves were whipping all over as we made our way through the park, back to the car post-Rockliffe Book Sale. We showed up not long after they opened the doors, and the line was just closing in on the gym; this means busy busy busy, and for me, with both kids (and book temptations evvvvverywhere) we couldn't stay too long. I found the Complete Adventures of the Mole Sisters (which I felt so-so about at first but now enjoy), and that made the trip and busy-ness worthwhile. Hendrik talked me into some Franklin books and another dinosaur book - at at 50 cents I couldn't say no. I loved the books, and as you can see, the kids loved being outside in the wind and woods....

fall and sunshine and wind and leaves and happy kids!

 And our girl... how cute is she?!

14 months

I love her!

Sleeping has been a bit of a mess lately: if one of the kids sleeps through the night, the other is up multiple times or for multiple hours, and it is getting painful. I was up FIVE times last night with Hendrik, and for two hours the night before with Alana. I know that it could always be worse... so I'd better can it and count my blessings. And go to bed early. Zip!

(I have to add this: Steve just got his itinerary for the team's trip to Mexico - they leave Monday (for six days I think), and he's shaking his head and laughing because of the messy, messy, messy job the Mexicans did of getting them flights down south. The team is not traveling together and they have a ridiculous number of connections ("I don't know why I'm laughing because it's going to be hell" he just said. Ottawa-Washington-Houston-Mexico City-Monterrey - that's his itinerary, and he's still laughing). Ugh. Still, whatever - he's going to Mexico to play volleyball. Oh, and I also have to add that Hendrik was not at all interested in staying at preschool by himself on Thursday; there were tears. We stayed and then stayed some more and then finally managed to get away for just over an hour. The report back from the teachers was that he was just fine while we were gone, as we knew he would be. That being said, I'm not looking forward to the teary eyes and quivery bottom lip on Tuesday, poor feller! And now, that's a wrap... zip zip!)