5 on Friday

Ah, my favorite, a post with no direction!

O     N     E

Trader Joe's sells boxed wine.

GAME CHANGER

Also, not snobby wine comments here.  I'm not above boxed wine.  I have two little wild boys.  I NEED this.

T     W     O

Speaking of my two wild boys, we made this amazing music video last night.

Bech has had a lot of late work days lately (the studio has an Empty Bowls event on Sunday), which means I am finding any means possible to entertain my two little rascals!

We used the app Triller, and Jack is obsessed.  Plus, I'll admit, it's pretty fun for adults too!

T     H     R     E     E

Okay, this next item is a little dorky.  Fine, fine, every item is dorky, but this is more so than usual.

We have been singing a lot of Christmas songs around here.  While singing "Jingle Bells" the other day to Jack, I realized that, in the song, "jingle" is an imperative.  As in, "jingle" (an imperative 2nd person plural verb) "bells" (the persons/things being told to jingle).

Pretty cool, huh?

Or not...

F     O     U     R

Lately, I have been a reading machine.  I always read a lot, but I have been reading even more than usual.  I just finished the last Liane Moriarty book and I've read most of Elin Hildebrand at this point. 

I want to go back and read some classics that I never read in high school.  So far, my list is Les Miserables, The House of Seven Gables (I keep starting it and not finishing...this does not bode well), Love in the Time of Cholera (I loved 100 Years of Solitude so I'm thinking I'll enjoy this as well), and some of the Russians.

Any suggestions?  I've read most Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Vonnegut.  I've read all of Ayn Rand.  I am NOT a Steinbeck fan.  Any classics that you just LOVE?

F     I     V     E

Gil has been SO fussy and clingy lately.  Some of it is just his personality, but I realized last week that he has four molars coming in at once, bless his heart!

But even with all of the crying and fussing, this kid is just so much fun.  He has started laughing this deep, goofy laugh, and we just love it.  I can't even handle the cuteness.

Also, I just returned an 18 month outfit for a 12 month outfit...for my 14 month old!  And today he is wearing a little jon jon that Jack wore at 8 months.  Oh, this kid!

Well that's all I have for today.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Leaf Peepers!

I promise, I am almost done with the posts all about fall.  But I just love fall SO much.  I can't help it!

A couple of weeks ago, Bech took a Friday morning off so that we could all go leaf peeping.  The leaves were in their peak (this elusive week or so when the leaves are just BRILLIANT) and we wanted to drive around and take in their beauty!

We drove north east, up to the top of Smuggler's Notch.  The Notch is a beautiful, windy road through the mountains.  It's closed all winter because of the snow and ice.  But in the fall, it is the perfect drive to see the leaves!  It ends in Stowe, Vermont.  I adore Stowe.  It's a cute little town with a ski resort.  It has great stores and restaurants.  And then, to get back on the interstate heading toward Burlington, we have to drive through Waterbury and past the Ben & Jerry's factory, so we HAD to stop!

?O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!

   Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

   Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all but cry with colour!   That gaunt crag

To crush!   To lift the lean of that black bluff!

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,

         But never knew I this;   

         Here such a passion is

As stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fear

Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year;

My soul is all but out of me,—let fall

No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call."

Edna St. Vincent Millay, "God's World"

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was really fun.  Jack picked out his costume and was SUPER in character, which was hilarious.  And He was just so excited about the whole day!

We started celebrating on Friday at Jack's school.  The kids all wore their outfits and had a Halloween parade!

Saturday, we watched some Scooby Doo and Curious George's Halloween movie and made pumpkin and bat sugar cookies.  We went to a Trunk or Treat at Jack's school.  We then headed over to our friends' house for some pizza and trick or treating!

Like I said, Jack picked out his costume this year.  I figured we would have a little Darth Vader, but he wanted to be Harry Potter.  I promise, I didn't give him this idea!

And Harry needed his owl, Hedwig.

Hedwig was not a huge fan of his hat or of taking pictures.

Both outfits were pretty easy.  I found an outfit on pinterest for Hedwig and copied it using felt, buttons, a shirt, and a needle and thread (I did sew the hat with a machine but I could easily have hand sewn it).  For Jack, we spray painted his hair black, drew a lightning bolt shaped scar, and threw in a Gryffindor scarf and Harry Potter glasses.

I love my little Harry Potter characters!

EXPELLIARMUS!