Stress, Progress, and Recess

Alright, it's been about 2 months so I'll try and let the pictures do most of the talking.

Halloween

Eliot was a caveman, easily mistaken for Tarzan unless you see him with his brother.

Ira refused to wear his hand and foot claws, the shirt and pants I made him.  But if you're going to pick 2 parts of the costume to wear, you may as well pick the head and tail. 

The House

We finally closed on the house in late October and have been working on it ever since.  

Living Room Before

During

After (floors and gray paint)  

The gray is a little more purple than we expected, but it'll do.

The Kitchen Before

During

Look at all that wasted space in the corner!

During still.  

Cabinets are being installed this week!

The storage space is going to be much more accessible and effectively used, and I'm going to dance all around it as I cook. :)  

Kind of creepy and cute artifact we found under the cabinets, along with some dusty toys and a cigarette butt.

Family Room Before

During

 . 

During still

We've been really blessed to have some visits from family.

Paul and Valine came and helped us get a TON done.  It was a huge help, and really good grandma and grandpa time for the boys.  

Then the Romeros came on their way back from a family reunion.  I failed to get any really good pictures, but here's at least proof that they came.  They were extremely good sports with my bad hostessing, since I've been a little overwhelmed with the house and worried about the boys being sick.  In fact I think they did most of the cooking and dish cleaning!  You guys can come back any time!...and I promise to be a better hostess next time. :)

 Anthony's Movember celebration shot.

Yep, he's a cutie.

Thanksgiving

 We celebrated with our good friends the Hostetlers.  Carmen had just had their baby a week earlier.  Yes, one week!  But with her mom there to take care of them, they insisted on having us come, so we brought lots of pies and goodies, and enjoyed among other deliciousness  their bacon wrapped turkey.  Mmmmm.

 As soon as I got the camera out, I heard little squeals of joy and could feel these cute little eyes staring at me.  Eliot loves being photographed and pretty much every thing else.  Since last post he's grown two teeth and have become extremely mobile.

 Here are the boys in "disguise."

So, that's pretty much life.  We've been kind of busy to the max.  In fact, I can't think of another time I've felt so behind in almost every area of life.  We didn't get around to picking raspberries before they froze.  Instead of carving Halloween pumpkins, we painted Thanksgiving pumpkins.  Our routine that usually includes the library, park, playdates, exercise, good nutrition, and healthy sleep habits is all somewhere on the spectrum between "Out of Wack" to "Non-existent."  But it's also been really fun, and things will calm down soon.  We have been blessed immensely the past couple of months and are ready to play lots this next month.  Bring it on December!