enjoying the final fun days of fall

it is nearly winter (in fact i am writing this while enjoying the view of our snow covered yard... and to think last time i wrote it was sunny and warm!) but we are soaking up the remaining fall time while it's here. after the leaves were raked up, we decided to go have a jump. it was cold and somewhat wet (not a great combination especially for frolicing in the leaf pile) but james certainly was unaware and having a blast. sean... well, we walked through the leaves hand-in-hand once or twice, but he didn't seem to enjoy it when i laid him down in them... oh well, maybe next year. seriously though, no sooner did we get our group shot in the leaves, then the leaf picker-upper came by while we were out! so, we climbed the tree and had front row seats for watching the giant leaf vacuum in action.

i have also captured some more luscious photos of my princess phatty. she is quite the cheerful chubster. james and sean are quickly becoming her favorite entertainment, and they love having an easy laughing audience. she is getting a loud voice, which i hope you can witness on the picasa videos (you'll have to double click on the slideshow to find the movies i made.)

oh! and our eldest is really growing up. he has a girlfriend!!! james and isabel are as close as they come (said his teacher at his PT conference.) i was lucky enough to witness them in action as they played in the snow on the playground (again, you simply MUST check out the videos on picasa!)

happy halloween!

october flew by, and as i am writing this, the windows are all open and i am listening to the birds singing happily in 70 degree weather! you can't beat south bend for curve-ball weather. anyway, halloween was a blast. we had fantastic weather then, too, probably to the detriment of poor seanny's elephant fur... he did seem to get a little overheated about an hour into trick-or-treating and so we headed for home. we were happy to have little tootsie roll, claudia, and her "mad men" parents with us. james really got into the spirit of things this year and was running from house to house and both he and sean seemed to think that they had to finish all their candy as they recieved it! 2 houses into it and sean had chocolate fangs drueling a nice brown onto his elephant chin strap. a week ago i honestly don't think my kids could've given you a straight answer as to what candy is... oh boy, can they now! jeanne was a trooper in her little hand-me-down pea-in-the-pod costume (thanks aunt katie!) just wish i had thought to bring a bjorn or stroller with us. i'd forgottwn how heavy they can be when they're asleep!

the other pictures are of sean and mr. kitty. he is a stray neighborhood cat that is in love with sean and will follow him anywhere. they have a blast together, but, as cute as it is, i still hate cats. mr. kitty has taken to sitting outside our window all night just meowing, wanting to come in, i assume, but, man, does that sound get grating.

oh! and i need lots of props for my pumpkin this year. it is an image of our house and while not the best representation of my work, i did it with freaking salad tongs and nothing else!!!! i thought the boys would help me at least dig out all the goo inside it and help make some yummy pumpkin seeds, but no sooner do i have the paper covering the table, the shirts off the kids and the top of the gourd cut off, then sean takes one look at the mess inside and starts crying and i force james to just at least touch the fun slimy stuff and he, too, says, "i don't think i want to do this, mom" and proceeds straight out of the kitchen. SO, needless to say, i ended up having all the fun by myself at naptime. ENJOY!

starved rock

so corey and i (& jeanne!) went on a little getaway to starved rock state park in utica, illinois! mimi and papa stayed and watched the boys while we went hiking. we had lovely fall weather and really enjoyed ourselves although we kept seeing things that would make us think of the boys (note the pix of the barge heading into the lock... james would've had a heart attack to witness such an event!) jeanne was a real trooper. she does love the bjorn and, as a result, (unfortunately for her) slept through most of our hikes. anyway, we're back and feeling rejuvenated!

october is here

i have no catchy title this time. our pictures are from a variety of outings and home life, so i could not come up with a unifying slogan (any thoughts, anyone, after seeing all the pix?) anywho, jeanne is growing... BIG time... literally. she is by far my biggest babe yet (and that's saying something!) she was 15 lbs. at her 2 mos. checkup, and i guarantee has put on quite a bit since. and while she is off the charts with her weight, at least she is also off the charts with her head size and in th 99th percentile for height. all this to say she is at least proportionally large. and what a sweetheart. she gives the best smiles and has even started laughing when i tickle her! 2 nights ago was her first night in her crib in her own room and she did just fine. before we'll know it she'll be sleeping through the night (fingers crossed!) james is a pro at this whole school thing, and he has been a big help on mondays and tuesdays, holding sean's hand as they get out of the car and walk up to school. it is quite a cute sight to see them walking hand in hand up to the door and out again when school's over. he has been taking swim lessons once a week, going with papa to knollwood and the reports have all been good (not that he has actually put his face in the water yet, but we're making progress!) seanny is still our little seanny. we're so happy that he has taken to school well, and he has become quite sweet on jeanne, his favorite activity being pointing out all her body parts (especially her nose- check out the photo.) corey and i are definitely staying busy, but loving the fall weather. love you all.

family fun

so, this past weekend found us outdoors quite a bit. as many of you know, fall is by FAR my FAVE season, and the weather is finally starting to turn!!!! campus was great and festive as only it can be on a home football weekend. then it was off on a wild goose chase trip to the apple farm (thanks jim and e! i know, we deserved it after the trip to the pumpkin farm last year!) a blast was had by all. james even ate an apple (a truly happy shocking feat.) we are now, however, all paying the price for our time outside. suddenly our whole house is full to overflowing with tissues. allergies are upon us all. major pain. but worth it foe-show.

seanny boy turns 2!

so, even though we technically celebrated sean's birthday (complete with a wow wow wubbzy cake co. mimi) on sunday, we had to do SOMETHING on his actual birthday as well. and what better way than to open gifts and eat cookies (sean's actual favorite- poor kid, if you can believe it, is not really a fan of cake OR ice cream!) thanks, aunt kiernan, for his cool "i can do it myself" basket! james seemed to get almost as much as sean out of the celebrating (maybe more? he's still asking if sean can open some more presents...) and while jeanne was technically present, she had her eyes closed and was snoring peacefully so we didn't include her in the photo ops. SO! we now have a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 2 month old! we are doing good!!!

baptized beauty, pagan princess no more

so, our girl is good and blessed. it was such a joyous weekend filled with family and fun. nonnie and grandfather even flew in for the special occasion. thanks to godmom, kiernan, for hosting such a great afterparty, and to godpop, michael, for coming in for the weekend!