Oh, to Bee a Dragon Slayer

Ever since Ollie's first Halloween, just before his 1st birthday, he was dressed as a dragon. The same dragon! Since he was a big baby, at 1 year old I got him a costume sized 2/3. The next year, it fit him pretty well. At 3, it fit well again, just a

tiny bit snug. And when he was 4, he was busting out of it, but it was stretchy, so no problem! So how funny is it that he chose to dress as a DRAGON SLAYER on his 5th Halloween?!! Really, he wanted a costume that would allow him to use a light sabre, and he had no interest in Darth Vader. So dragon slayer was the best we could come up with! And what a costume - the best!!

Maddie-Boo decided early on that she wanted to be a BEE... and she was the cutest bee ever known. We headed up to Maine for several days, since you can't beat Halloween on Watts Ave. Grandma and Granddaddy stayed at our house to hand out (buckets of) candy while we all went trick or treating with Rich and Weston. Our pumpkin was pretty awesome this year, too. Love love love Halloween!

Why I'm so proud to be Mrs. Hargreaves

It takes a certain kind of man to be willing to wear an orange skintight crushed velvet minidress. With a neon orange wig. Andy is that guy, and the reason it's so great is that he's NOT the guy you'd expect to wear it. I love his silliness and his seriousness, and everything in between. We were dressing up for our friend Beth's annual Halloween party, and the theme this year was "Orange and Black," with the rules stating we should aim for 2/3 orange, 1/3 black. I went as a volcano - got loads of fabric and had a good concept, but it never would have worked if my good friend, Kathy, hadn't come through with a offer to share her sewing machine and excellent skills! We had so much fun putting it together, and it was SO fun to wear. Biggest compliment of the night: someone asked me if I had purchased the costume! Score! Mom went as Mother Nature and Dad went as "the guy who thought he was supposed to wear two turds orange and one turd black." Ha! Andy was the star of the night, though, soldiering on with his itchy wig and hoop skirt, possibly enjoying the silky, stretchy fabric of the dress a tiny bit *too* much. :-) Our young friend, Dory, babysat the kids, and when we got back to the house around 9:30pm, they were snug as bugs in their beds. Such a fun night!!

Camping at High Point

What a fantastic weekend for camping!!! We had reserved site 2 at High Point's lakeside campground, a very private site that looked down on the lake from a bit higher up, and was cozy with trees all around. The kids were so excited and helpful. First Ollie helped Daddy put up the tent, then they set about building a fire for warmth and to cook dinner.

No rain like last time, but MAN the night was cold, as I recall!! Ollie and Maddie fell asleep with us quickly and didn't seem bothered at all, but I had a lot of trouble falling asleep and just couldn't get warm! Finally I piled just about everything on top of me that I could find, pulled my hat down snug, and burrowed under the covers... after that I fell asleep! The morning was truly stunning, watching the mist over the lake and the sun rising behind it, seeing our breath in the cold morning air - fantastic!!!

Ort Farms, We Love You!

We had a big day out today with Carol, Ryan and Addie at Ort Farms in Long Valley... what a gorgeous day! And by gorgeous, I mean it was nearly the middle of October and we were all wearing tank tops and shorts!!! We had SUCH a fun time together.

The kids climbed all over the big tractor and the haystack, visited the animals, rode on the toy train AND the monster truck (only the boys were keen on this!), and we all had a fantastic hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Ort Farm is just the BEST! I also have in my notes that today a famous quote was born. I was getting groceries

with the kids, late in the day, and at one point Maddie ran quickly towards me and tripped on her way. She began to cry and I picked her up and offered soothing words of comfort. She went on crying. After a minute I turned and began to inspect the nearby jars of jam on the shelf, reaching for one to examine more closely. At this, Maddie exclaimed in a most adament manner: "Put that back, Mummy, I'm still crying!!!" I just about died laughing. Does it get any better than that?!!!