Cookie Swapping

On Friday, I hosted a cookie swap party. Of course, this meant that I've been stuck in the house all weekend with the cookies and 21" of snow. Guess what I've been doing? And, I'd like to mention that we are, in fact, all out of cookies.

In attendance, we have Brooks and Emily (who looks awfully cute despite the fact that I've done NO photo editing. Go see her blog...they were discussing that stuff last week.)



Here are Jack and Amedeo playing nicely together. This picture is a sham. Jack and Amedeo have a tough time together right now since they both have the same feelings about cars and trains: "MINE!" No bloodshed...so it all worked out ok. Though, Amedeo woke up from his nap that day saying, "Friends....truck!!! Friends....caaaar!!!"


Melanie and Jillian being cozy!

Lindsey and Cady were the designated readers of the group.



And, lastly, the goldfish table....it was Amedo with a bunch of girls. Many goldfish were consumed.

We just hold on

Yesterday, we went out to play in the backyard with our Giant Dirty Snowball. We hold onto things for as long as we can around here. If it's still alive tomorrow, maybe we can put it in the freezer and save it for next August.

Catching up...

We had snow last Saturday, of course, for Pietro's birthday. Here's a snap of Amedeo in his snow pants. I love them! I got them just right for once. Usually, his clothing is either too big, really way too big or just small enough to be annoying. These fit! Hoooray!



Here are the Giant Pietro and his Offspring in their natural habitat. They prefer snow and cold weather. Anything that is dirty or grimy will do also.



Notice the Giant Pietro has no gloves. He insisted that his hands were warm. Silly creatures, these Giant Pietros.


Lindsey hosted a baby gathering...or toddler gathering...they're not babies anymore! Emily2 made some fabulous pumpkin muffins.



Mischief on the stairs with Jack and Amedeo. Is Amedeo going to give Jack a wedgie?


Amedeo and Jack having a little jam session.


My son, mooching off of Denise's muffin. Fortunately, Emily was there to keep him under control. I got pictures of all the mommies and babies, but none of the elusive Brooks. I'll do better next time!

Return from Missouri

We had a lovely trip to visit my brother and his family. It went by super fast...I wish we had more time to spend with them. I'm not going to bother with a day by day list of activities, there were too many to remember! Pietro did most of the picture taking. It was liberating to not take pictures, to not cook dinners, and to not worry about entertaining Amedeo all day. Finn is 9 months older than Amedeo. Finn taught our boy to scream. Lucky us.

Occasionally, we'd get a little exercise in our day. This is a little park that has caves and a natural bridge.


Finn enjoyed feeding Amedeo. No fingers were lost here.


We did lots of playground activities. Finn is a very active fellow. Very active. VERY VERY active. Consequently, his mommy and daddy get very very tired. I learned that they spend lots of running around time outside at many different times of day...early in the morning, after dark, right before bedtime. The picture below is from a gigantic playground that has many different levels of equipment. It's probably 4 times as big as the scrap tire playground.




Here are the three kids swinging.


And, Morgan, our chef for the week...not only does he draw excellent cars, but he cooks a fantastic turkey...and almost anything else. We ate like kings.



Here's a picture of Finn wearing his Halloween costume. It's awesome! Next year, I'm going to be a tractor too!

Fun with a Laser Pointer

It's easy to entertain the kids (parents, grandparents, child, and cats are all included) in this household...all you need is a laser pointer and some spare time...

What's going on here?

Here's Maestro and Amedeo. Maestro is the cat who is having all the health problems. We've determined that most of them are due to Amedeo's birth (too much stress.) Poor cat...Amedeo loves you!

Maestro is being difficult. He is supposed to be eating a special wet food diet. He refuses it and wants only the dry. His health directly depends on his water consumption. We're frustrated and worried that he has a low appetite and is depressed. I'm thinking of taking him to a holistic vet soon so we can try some non-traditional things.


On a different note, Amedeo and I have been doing a lot of leaf raking. This is a fun activity for all. I get some exercize, and he gets to jump in the leaves. Though, I did find a tick on my pants after one afternoon...so,we need to be on the lookout for the little organisms.





Whee! I usually haul the tarp all the way down to the edge of our property, past the fence. Amedeo enjoys going for the ride. It's nice to find an activity that we can both enjoy.

Halloween and some other pics

The leaves are FALLING. Our yard is a mess. It's a good thing Poppy is home to help.


And, Amedeo is analyzing our current yard situation. His report: messy.


Violet relaxes while watching a few minutes of TV. She particularly liked this program about lizards.



We made some playdough. Amedeo mostly likes to squish the things we make.


Here's a very nice party for the babies at Emily's house...I didn't manage to get everyone in this shot, but it was a great Halloween bash.


And, another party at Joy's house...also very good.



And then, the trick or treating! Amedeo got the hang of it quickly. Ring doorbells, look cute, get candy. Easy peasy.

Our neighbors let us come in and see their fish and turtle! How cool!


Amedeo had no trouble picking out some candy. At this house, they offered wine to the adults. I'm definitely coming back next year!