hey chicago...

We can't wait to see you!

Baby Power!

Ain't no power like the power of the babies cause the power of the babies don't stop!

Going to the Nutcracker

made with love

Now that November and National Novel Writing Month is done (whew!) we can settle into crafting of another kind. I made my first successful from-scratch bread! We received a great package from Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Bill which included a fun "sewing" project that Unity loved doing and a special blanket that Grandma made for Unity. The kids had a tea party picnic on it, wearing their new Grandma-made hats. And we received many varieties of Avram's garlic and Unity helped Chris get it ready for planting. The garlic is from all over the world, even North Korea (!). It's a little late in the season to be planting but the ground is not frozen so we're hoping all's well.

Thanksgiving and Tree

We had Thanksgiving at Hilary and Dan and Felix's house again. We had so much amazing food and Felix's cousins, Cassandra and Natasha were there so the kids had their own table this year. We have so much to be thankful for this year so it was great to celebrate that. Today, I busted out the Christmas decorations (and music) and we set up the tree. It's such an amazing experience for me, to have Unity help me put on the ornaments; the Czech beadwork ornaments that were made by my Great Grandma May, the embroidered yarn ornaments that were made by my Great Grandma Avril, the felt and ceramic ornaments that were made by my Grandma Rene and the painted dough ornaments that were made by my mom the first year she was married, plus all the wonderful ornaments that friends and relatives have given us over the years. I feel so connected by all this love.

snow my goodness!

It's true, Seattle has had a bout of snow. Given that we have no real snow infrastructure a few inches of snow tends to pretty much shut down the city. Unity's school was canceled and Chris worked from home all week. But- the upside of closed hilly streets is street sledding and we took great advantage of it.

messy and snuggly and grateful

Brixton likes to eat black beans, but we make him take his shirt off first. He loves the Vermont Teddy Bear that the Fosketts gave each of the kids when they were born, Unity loves hers too. Brixton wants to put himself in a box and mail himself right to you! Unity and I were able to make our gratitude tree poster this week- so much to be thankful for.

Halloween

And I got the Halloween pictures up before Thanksgiving! Whoo. Unity was a butterfly and Brixton wasn't much interested in costumes so he was a King- for a few minutes at least. We joined Reuben and his family for some trick-or-treating on their block. Reuben was a pumpkin. He and Unity had a ball.

JASNA

We were able to attend the annual general meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This year it was held in Portland OR. The meetings are a mix of scholarly presentations and reinactment society. I dressed up for the first time this year, thanks to a dress I found at Goodwill and a period-appropriate jacket my friend Heather made for me. It was really fun.

Brunch!

Before leaving IL we were able to have a nice brunch with Al and Marsha. (Thanks to Marsha for sharing the pictures :) )