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 :) )

and still more...

more chicago

Earlham reunion

My parents were excited to take the kids for a weekend so Chris and I could attend my ten year Earlham reunion in Richmond IN. We had so much fun walking around the campus and catching up with former classmates and professors of mine. Earlham has some new buildings and new faces but in many ways it's still the same lovely place that I expolored and learned from ten years ago.

ahh, I'm behind.....

So you may have noticed I'm behind. It's true. There are still lots more pictures and stories to share from our trip but, as I may have mentioned, I'm trying to write the first draft of a novel this month. So I promise you that sometime you shall have pictures from 1. the Earlham reunion 2. more Chicago celebrating 3. the Jane Austen Society of North America meeting in Portland, OR and 4. Halloween.

But I can't promise you when.

Crystal Lake, PA

We were very glad to spend a long weekend in scenic Crystal Lake PA. My friend's mom owns a lake house with her siblings and they were kind enough to let us stay there. This is the fifth year we have been able to have our little mini-Earlham reunions and we always have such a blast! This year Emily and Matt brought their 8 month old son James to join the festivities. Amanda, Nelia, Erik and Meg helped us entertain the kids. Next year we'll all (hopefully) gather in North Carolina for Erik and Meg's wedding.