Polly Playdate

Ellie's friend Polly spent the day before Thanksgiving with us. The photo above is of the girls and Madeline snuggled together in Ellie's bed watching the movie Madeline.

Chicago

I traveled to Chicago - alone- the weekend before Thanksgiving. I went for Alexis's baby shower, to meet Owen Kelly and to meet Julie and Todd's new baby, Charlie. It was such a fun weekend!! The shower was great and it was wonderful to see so many friends. I was lucky to get to hang with new babies all weekend long and if I didn't have my own two big babies to return to, it would've been very hard to leave. I figure it's about time I posted about Chicago since Alexis and Mark welcomed their sweet babies on December 3rd. Sullivan Ford and Sienna Elizabeth made their debut a little early and we couldn't be happier for their wonderful family of four!

Playground Fun and Raking Leaves

Way back in November before the freezing temperatures hit us, we were spending lots of time outside. We spent lots of time at the playground this fall and James had fun assisting John with raking leaves.

Just a few...

My friends Amy and Justin took Ellie and James's photos last weekend. The photos above are just two of the ones we love.

Halloween '10

We had a great Halloween this year, Ellie was totally into it. She wanted to draw the face on the pumpkin for me to carve so she drew a face (see above) but it was a little too small for me to carve, so I asked her what shape she wanted the eyes to be. She wanted the jack o'lantern to have square eyes, so I drew them and she was able to make the nose and mouth bigger once we had the eyes done. Yes, those shapes underneath the square eyes are the nose and mouth. I think he looks like he's smirking on the side. Ellie was really proud of her work.

She likes to write her name on all of her masterpieces. Our Jack o'lantern was no exception.

Ellie and James were the butterfly and the very hungry caterpillar that the butterfly once was.

It was pretty nippy outside so James was happy to have this large headpiece on.

Ellie was thrilled that Polly was also a butterfly.

After going to a big playground party/parade, we went trick or treating with some friends. James really enjoyed this part. He not only kept up with the "big" kids but he also let himself into quite a few houses. He would squeeze by the people handing out the candy and go into their homes. I would have to go in to retrieve him.

Having Uncle here for Halloween was an added bonus!

Fall Finger Plays

Ellie has learned some autumnal finger plays at school and loves to share them with us. Click on the links below to see her in action:

I'm a Nut

Five Little Pumpkins

Buckets O' Fun

I found these great fabric covered galvanized buckets on etsy and i had them personalized with the #s 1-4 for a shelf in the basement. I think they're perfect for storing small trains, cars, books, etc. They are navy with lime green numbers (the colors look better in person). I highly recommend the seller on etsy - if you are interested in her things, you can check them out here.