it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

we started the week with a wonderful package form brice and christie with the awesome playmobile nativity scene. the kids have loved playing with that.


then we forgot to go to nell's lantern walk at school, so we had our own at home with the lantern that Nell had made.


then yesterday we went and picked a tree, had a picnic in front of the fire then decorated he Christmas tree. A nice night.







Today we went to church, then off to the Elms to see Santa, as it turns out, Santa was at the Marble House, so we went there instead. We got there early and did not have to wait. Nell decided not to sit with Santa, but she talked to him from my hip.



We had a nice time.
I am headed down to help in the kitchen at the church for the Victorian Tea.

our day at the museum

because the weather was looking crummy we decided not to make the trip to nyc.
instead we headed up to amherst ma to the eric carle museum of picture book art.


it was a bit of a drive up there, but we had a great time.
it was very cool to see the original art work that created a lot of the books that we know and love.
not just by eric carle but richard scarry and others.
it was fascinating because you could see where they had placed/taped the text onto the illustrations. these were pre-scanner days i guess.
we also we able to go into the art studio and make crafts,

and read in the library.


after leaving the museum we went into town and i went into a little shop called essentials, i had read about it online. it was very cute. i got a new mug for tea.


on the way into town we spotted a local mexican restaurant and decided to go there for a late lunch. it was very tasty and fun to try somewhere new.

after lunch it was time to head home. we had a great day.
who knows what is in store for tomorrow.

Nell's 3

Nell had a great birthday.
We woke up early and made birthday pancakes.

Nell opened presents and got a birthday hug from Zaven.


Nell enjoyed birthday calls and messages from her friends and grandparents.


Nell went off to school. Then later in the day we all went to Nell's school and had a little birthday celebration.

Then we all went to Providence to the Build a Bear workshop. Nell made a little grey cat that she named Peanut. Zaven made an owl he named hoothoot.

Nell's birthday Party

We had a fun party today for Nell's 3rd birthday.
We were lucky all of our invited guests came and they were very cute.
There was not a lot of sitting at the table for tea, but they did eat some of the finger sandwiches, vegetables and enjoyed playing with the balloons and playing pin the clothes on the dolly.

When the word cupcakes came into play, the children quickly sat down and enjoyed.
Here are some photos, they were on the move quite a bit, so we mostly have shots of Nell.

warm for november

we had a good weekend.
friday night was pretty low key.
saturday it was rainy, but we had a nice time being around the house in the morning, then we counted out some change and decided to take it and go buy a board game, zaven has decided that saturday night is game night.
we got sorry sliders.
we played after lunch. then we went to providence and did around, got some dinner.
sunday we had a nice time at church, when we got home we made lunch and zaven was invited to a playdate. swimming at the health club and then playing.
when nell got up from her nap she wanted to go to the beach, so we headed up the street to third beach. we had a good time playing in the sand. from there we went to the playground before going to pick up zaven at grace's.
when we got home we made a buttermilk pie, practice for te upcoming pie sale at church and then zaven made us pizza for dinner.
here are some photos.

busy Halloween

Well, Halloween started well enough. We got up and worked on Nell's costume.


The kids got in the crafting mood and worked on some projects too.


Then it was off to Zaven's soccer game. He had a great game. Scored three goals!
It was really windy and Nell was very whiny- perhaps the first indication that she was not feeling well.


As the day went on it became clear that Nell was feeling bad, but she wanted to put on her costume so we did, although she would not use the face.
Nell was Curious George and Zaven was a Vampire.
We have all gotten sick since then but here are the Halloween pictures.

Playdoh Cookies

On Saturday the kids got the playdoh out and had a great time.
They made long worms, shapes and then rolled it out and made "cookies"


We are looking forward to seeing family in Chattanooga this weekend.