New Friends Down the Block

The kids have recently gotten to know a family of kids 

down the block that moved here over the summer.

They love imaginative play, guns, and superheroes.

That sounds like a recipe for lots of fun!

Love, Us.

Museum Hats, Pumpkin Pie, and Lemon Juice

Escriva Catholic Academy (that's us!) had a school trip to the Lewis Museum this week.

D and R had a blast trying on all of their hats!

Notice the many faces of Romeo.

T got a baking urge on Veteran's Day.

She decided on her first from-scratch pumpkin pies in preparation for Thanksgiving.

These pictures do a pretty good job explaining how delicious they were.

She also made a ton of both plain pumpkin and 

pumpkin/chocolate chunk bread to use of the pumpkin.

I failed to take a picture before we devoured the majority at one sitting.

And finally, here is my husband doing what he loves best:

Torturing children in simple, innocent, "character-building" ways.

Love, Us.

Nature Names and Wooden Guns

Here are pictures from our simplest nature study ever.

After they finished their names, it was time for some gun play around the War Cottage.

No mercy for big brothers.

Love, Us.

Fall Crafting

We have had a lot of fun around here decorating this fall.

Thérèse was the impetus behind much of this.

These pumpkins were from an on-post crafting night.

They didn't turn out perfectly, but I think they will be a sweet addition to the Thanksgiving table.

Love, Us.

Some More T Projects and Hector Mastering New Tricks

We took this week off of school (the wonderful plan of 6 weeks on/1week off that we are doing this year!), so it has been a project week around here.

I have gotten numerous things checked off my list, as has T.

I so frequently forget to take pictures of her family cross-stitches, but here are two of the three she has finished this week.

Hector has also been marking things off his bucket list this week.

He is now a master of the one-arm army crawl.

He can crawl "up" on all fours for a short distance before dropping to his tummy.

He stands himself up on short chairs!

And, most exciting in terms of him keeping himself happy for longer on the ground, 

he transitions easily and perfectly back and forth and back and forth between crawling and sitting!

Way to go, little man!

Love, Us.

All Saints Day, EV's Bday, and Applesauce

The Sunday before All Saints Day found us waking up at 7, 

realizing it was the All Saints Day parade at 9am Mass,

and throwing costume together in order to get to Mass by 8:30.

Here are the results!

T: St. Thérèse

D: St. Louis, King of France

P: St. Dominic Savio

R: St. Juan Diego

E: St. Elizabeth of Hugary

H: St. Gabriel

When the actual day came, this little girl turned 3 amidst the festivities!

Big Sister made her this birthday dress from the Bridesmaids' dresses from my wedding!

It was a great day: Complete with Fruit Loops and Princess regalia!

My daughter T is the ultimate project kid. 

She is always primed for the next project, no matter how daunting it seems to me.

In early November, the project was applesauce.

Honestly, I was overwhelmed with the thought of getting this done along with school.

She always amazes me, though!

Here are the apples she and her brothers picked from a wild apple tree down the street.

Mom, Dad and T did the cutting.

We had to be creative, because although we had the colander, we did not have the pestle.

We eventually got smart by cutting our seeds, cooking them a bit longer, 

and blending before placing them in the colander.

The results: 2.5 gallons (equally 10 quarts) the first day.

16 quarts the second day.

Wow!

Love, Us.

Jack-O-Lanterns, Pumpkin Seeds, and Halloween

We heard about an amazing local event that gives away free pumpkins for Halloween.

It. Was. Amazing.

So...Halloween-Eve found us carving up our Jack-O-Lanterns.

It also found us making these fun "Spidey Snacks" to share at the office Halloween party.

And, of course, T couldn't possibly see those pumpkin seeds go to waste.

Yum!

And that brings us to Halloween.

The poodle skirt I found from my childhood sealed the deal.

They all got dressed for a sock hop!

The girls even put on some make-up!

David kept on telling T (sincerely) that she was beautiful.

It was really fun, because although the outfits were so simple, 

most people knew immediately what the theme was. 

We continued our Librandi tradition of having some kid-free friends 

from dad's office join us for the trick-or-treating in the dark.

We had a lot of fun, and got WAY too much candy.

Love, Us.