Little Houses.

Before Christmas we were all able to make gingerbread houses, inspired by Ruby's preschool class. They turned out lovely and the kids had a blast.

Ruby on her way to her first Christmas party at preschool.

Christmas is Over.

More photos to follow. This is Ru captured by Silas.

Turkey Day Part Two.

Here are some more shots from Silas. He did a good job of capturing the essence of our Thanksgiving-food and booze! And look-Jeff and Amanda captured on film together-a rare occurrence.

Turkey Day by Silas.

Silas was the official photographer of Thanksgiving. We survived the SNOW and everyone managed to get here without any trouble. We had an excellent meal and were happy to see the snow melt the next day!

Halloween.

It seems like Halloween may have been the last nice weather we had (as I sit hear listening to snow predictions for the weekend). The kids really got into it this year and we did TWO rounds of trick or treating.

Preschool

Ruby started preschool the day after her birthday. She goes Monday through Thursday in the mornings. And she loves it.

We have had a busy few weeks with lots of visits and a birthday and now, a long sickness. Soon, the holidays arrive and we will be even busier!

The Party.

There wasn't a big party for Ru's bday, just the neighborhood kids over for dinner and cake (at Ruby's specific request). The perfect party for a three year old! But, I still made party favors (homemade playdough that J took a lovely picture of)! And the CAKE-impressive, huh? Ru also had to change outfits for the lighting of the candles-back into the favorite froggy pjs.

Three.

Ruby's birthday was on Sunday and we had another beautiful day! The kids went to a friend's birthday party and then we got to play at the park in the afternoon. Some pictures of the beginning of the day:

Ruby's first breakfast and outfit:

Second breakfast and second outfit:

Balloons:

Birthday Circle and Cards:

Making birthday crowns and waiting for the party to start:

Pumpkin Patch.

A busy couple of weeks with lots of pictures to come. We had a beautiful fall weekend here and took the opportunity to head out to the pumpkin patch. For us, it is the official beginning of Fall when we make this same trip every year. The highlight is a pumpkin catapult-all the kids run and collect the smashed pumpkin and then feed it to the pigs!

Almost There.

The steps were completed and the finish was applied over the weekend. The railing will be completed in the Spring...

Sunday Stroll.

We found some urban chickens and a nice man who took our family picture.

Porch.

The front porch steps were completed well into the night recently. Exciting stuff around here.

South Lake Union.

Perfect weather on Saturday sent us (minus Jeff) downtown for the grand opening of a new park. We did lots of art activities, ran into friends, toured boats, blew bubbles, and ate a fantastic burger and fries at 10:30 in the morning!

Hair.

Before and after shots of Ruby's haircut. They fixed her up real pretty!

Exploring.

You never know if it's going to be hot or cold this time of year. We went to the beach and it started out cold and ended up hot, so, the kids took their shirts off. Another low tide (our favorite!) had us looking for creatures and shells.

The Last Hurrah.

Summer is over. I don't think it was ever here. But, we are not complaining. The weekend was spent hanging around the house and yard. J worked on the porch and the kids played "camping". Silas spied a spider that caught a bee, wrapped it up, and dragged it off to be devoured. Fascinating. Then we headed down to Golden Gardens for a little BBQ and a peek at the water.

First grade is going well for Silas. He is riding the bus most days and seems to like it (I, however, probably enjoy it the most), although it makes a long day for him.

Looking forward to October; visits from both grand mamas, Ruby's 3rd, J and A's 10th, and Halloween!