What's New

Claire went on a field trip last week to the local fire department. Lucian was able to go along, so I even have a photo! The fire house is across the street from her school, so they walked there as a group. A moment after this photo, the team giving the tour had to rush out on a call. Luckily there were colleagues that could take over. 

We gathered at Lucian's parents on Friday for a quarterly birthday dinner. There are 5 in this group, including myself. The kids were happy to assist with the candles.

The rest of the weekend consisted of running errands and getting some cleaning done. It looks as though Kyle was helping in the photo, but he wouldn't let us actually turn on the vacuum. 

Claire assisted me in baking a pound cake. We had some at the party on Friday night and couldn't get enough.

Oh, and we got our first snow. I hadn't realized we would rake leaves one weekend and shovel snow the next, but that is how it happened. Winter is here my friends. The kids were happy and I didn't mind that much either. Everybody pitched in with the shoveling and it wasn't too cold. Yet.

Odds and Ends

Kyle went with Lucian to vote last week. His 'I Voted' sticker was a hot commodity at daycare when he arrived.

Both kids visited the dentist last week. Claire was a star patient. Kyle not so much.

And Kyle got a short haircut! I took him to my stylist. It's quite a bit shorter than we were thinking, but it will grow back. He looks much older now, and handsome, none the less.

Spencer came home for the weekend! The kids loved hanging with him, as did Lucian and I. 

We finally visited the Harley Davidson museum, which was fun. Luckily there were a few bikes you could touch and sit on at the end. It was tough keeping both of the littles off the display bikes.

And perhaps the best photo of all. Lucian's Movember mustache really steals the show here. Is it December yet?

Reading

Claire loves to "read" books. She plays school constantly with her dolls and animals, and reading is often a part of that roll play. While helping Lucian with some photography, she asked if she could take books outside. I love watching her read to the class. 

Go Bucks!

Lucian has done a great deal of photography work for the Milwaukee Bucks, our NBA team. They treated him with free seats to the home opener this past Friday. We took the kids and hoped for the best.

His photos were all over the arena and on the cover of the programs. So cool to see.

Kyle did alright. He at least stayed in our seating area the whole time, although the couple in front of us got bopped on the head and kicked in the back a few times.

Claire got really into the game. She is convinced that waving her white balloon during the opposing team's free throws distracted them and made the Bucks' win. I think we have a basketball fan on our hands.

She even bravely let Bango the Buck pick her up for a photo.

We fit in a trip to the children's museum Sat. It's a great place where the kids can run off some steam and touch everything. I even find it relaxing, unless I can't find one of them.

And Sunday included some serious leaf collection once again. I think we are nearing the end, however.

Trick or Treat

Queen Elsa and Pirate Kyle joined us for Halloween.

Our new neighborhood is not largely populated with children. We heard not to count on much by way or trick or treat, but we gave it a go anyway. The weather was beautiful and most people were out raking leaves. The neighbors seemed excited to see kids about and offered us a plethora of their candy, not expecting any more visitors. Claire did well speaking to neighbors and answering their questions.

Kyle's attention span was very brief. He laid down in the driveway surrendering to a nap after a few houses. Our excursion was short, so their candy loot was small. Which is just fine with me.

We finally carved some pumpkins the day before halloween. Claire enjoyed it and made a big deal out of touching the guts:)