Today on the pond...

The beginnings of ice cover...

Visit

Waiting for company...

Coming out of the tunnel created by Grampy's legs and the ottoman

Watching Dora on Laura's Blackberry

Today we had a visit from both sets of grandparents plus Uncle Peter and Laura. We had a delicious meal of lasagna that Mom made and had fun playing with the kids and visiting with each other. Then Peter and Laura stayed for the night. After the kids went to bed, the adults bowled (Chris won) and had a 3 point basketball contest (Laura won) on the Wii. We followed that up with a game of Trivial Pursuit with team Heider in the lead by the time we gave up and went to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Cheesecake - Yum!

We made the drive down to Great-Grandma's house today for the big Thanksgiving meal and celebration. We were able to watch the Patriots play on her TV and Riley and Caleb really loved looking at all of the different collections she has on her walls and well, everywhere. My parents joined us so there were 9 of us in all. It was a great day!

Hello Caleb!

Up on all fours? WHAT is this business?

Practice

Riley and Caleb took some time to practice being together for the camera in order to prepare for the big Christmas card photo shoot I've got planned. (Well not really BIG - just the kids dressed up and my camera - bit it's comin'!)

Today on the pond...

Stand Up!

 

Attempting the most difficult puzzle ever with help from Nana and Grampy.

 Home sick with Mommy.

Caleb practicing pulling up on things. He mastered this later on the ottoman, but for some reason I can't upload the video. He is 8 months and two weeks old today. Riley couldn't pull herself up until she was over 11 1/2 months old! Boy are they different! See Riley do it here.

"I'm coming to get you camera-lady!"

Dahlias

Passionate

Orange Cushion

The dahlias are all out of the ground as of early this past week. It was such a terrible year overall, but the end of the season did alter my memory of the summer a bit, because the garden was really getting going by the time the frost hit this year. My favorite was "Passionate" which came from dahlia convert Shannon and is a gorgeous color in real life but not so much on the camera. Also, "Orange Cushion", which came from my old stock by way of Mom was a really nice color early this year as well. I was hasty in my digging though and not as careful as I should have been, so I will have to get a new one of those from Mom again next spring. I'm also, of course, thinking of which new ones I want for next year and already have a long list!

Helper

Since Caleb mainly gets only hand-me-down toys, we occasionally get something for him that is just his toy. It's difficult to explain to Riley that something is "Caleb's" and just his when on the other hand we are trying to teach her to share all of her toys with her brother. So, we tell her that she has to ask him first if she can play with something of his. Well, we didn't even have this all the way put together before she asked and informed us that Caleb told her she could play with his new toy. Go figure! They both enjoyed it anyway and it gives Caleb a chance to practice standing AND sitting on things!