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 beautiful autumn sunset

 baby Amelia- 1 day old and loved by many

 she is starting to play more and more on her own

 first fire of the season

 they were inspired to create more decorations 

 everyone helped cook dinner that night- unprompted!

I am pretty sure I will be cleaning up pumpkin for days

Well, Hurricane Sandy kept us from traveling up north as we had planned.  But another visit is on the calendar and hopefully, a snowstorm won't keep us away.  It was a good weekend anyways.  I like unplanned, relaxed weekends.  We have been so busy, it was great to not have to be anywhere.  I was able to visit my very good friend and her new baby, Amelia.  She is about the sweetest thing...so perfect as all babies are.  I am thrilled to be able to watch her grow up and into our little clan of small people (9 kids between the two of us!).  

It has been blustery, grey, and cold so we have been cozied up inside for the last couple of days.  We gathered some wood and lit the first fire of the season.  It doesn't really seem like fall until there is a fire in the fireplace.  We all tend to gravitate to the hearth throughout the day...reading, knitting, playing.  The kids are great at bringing in more wood and keeping it going.  A most welcomed "chore"!

I had to do a little bit of last minute planning for school this week.  Blake and I started a long, 6 week block on Ancient Civilizations today, starting with India.  Right away I can tell we are going to enjoy this block!  It will be a bit heavy on the writing which will be a bit of a push for Blake, but I know he can do it!  I will try and post some pictures along the way...he has come very far in his writing and drawing abilities since last year!

Tomorrow we will finish carving those dang pumpkins- did I mention 4 carving knives broke in the process!  We will hear more stories about Halloween, pumpkins and (not scary) witches.  We will enjoy a warming dinner and then the kids will finally be able to trick or treat.  I told them that when they come home, they need to ring the doorbell and I will give them candy.  For some reason, they thought this was hilarious!  Ah, my funny children.