A different kind of election

This is an apolitical blog, so I will not talk about the presidential election yesterday.  Not because I am an apolitical person—far from it actually.  Will will probably laugh hysterically at the thought of me suppressing any of my rational, logical and 100% correct viewpoints for any extended period of time.  But I know that my favorite reads (other than political reads of course) are those that do not divide their audience.  So in an effort to do the same, I bring you a very different kind of election today.  And, I think you’ll agree, a much more adorable one at that:

George’s preschool participated in a scarecrow contest fundraiser at the local historical home, Agecroft Hall.

In a cold but beautiful fall morning last weekend, we visited the exhibit located on the grounds of Agecroft.

With a view of the James River, a maze, and beautiful gardens is it any wonder that Frances assumed this was an actual castle where an actual princess must have lived.

The garden maze was suspiciously lacking in wall height, but what a time saver.

Lemon trees?  In Virginia?  In November?

I loved these beehives, especially since they contained no actual bees.

Frances rolling, George watching.

I could get used to that view.

The scarecrows did not disappoint (although I didn’t take nearly as many pictures of them as I should have):

I loved this one - so clever!

Will's old stomping ground.

The Headless Horseman was pretty neat.

But our votes went to George’s school’s scarecrow. 

In all honesty, I really did think it was the best.  Not that we’re biased or anything.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Sick and tired

This weekend, one of us was sick …

 … and one of us was tired.  I won’t show you a picture of me being tired because that’s just par for the course these days.  And yes, in case the Christmas tree in the background didn't give it away, that picture of a very sick Will is actually stock footage from 2009 (Max is lying with him; such a good boy).  I was too tired to take an actual picture of Will being sick this weekend.  And so the theme continues.

Because Will was sick, all of the kid/dog/house responsibilities fell to me and so I did what any good wife would do—blamed my husband for being sick.  Is it any wonder that he miraculously mended overnight and made it to the office this morning?  You know you were a bit too moody when your better half would rather spend his days at work than in your company.  Oops.

This is all a very long-winded way for me to say that I am just too tired to write anything fun, uplifting, or borderline interesting today.  I hope to be back to my old self very soon and until then I will maintain this as my mantra:

Happy Monday, everyone!

Here and there

We’ve had a crazy busy fall this year (as I’m beginning to understand is the norm when you have school-aged children).  But in between the birthday parties, the pumpkin patch visits, and Halloween we had some time for low-key fun that I didn’t want to leave out.

The kids’ signed their own birthday cards to me this year.

George’s circular “Mommy”

And his signature:

Frances doesn’t call me Lucy, but does use the formal title when appropriate:

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Nana came for a long-overdue visit:

She brought her new iPad, which the children immediately instructed her on how it is best used—Mickey Mouse videos and YouTube songs. 

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Pumpkin cookies:

I made these in anticipation of the hurricane, unsure of how useful our oven would be once the storm hit.  The good news?  These babies taste great even when you have full access to heat, water and electricity.  And they taste even better when consumed ten at a time.

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Frances reading to George and Marshall:

This girl is a born leader.  If she can convince those two rowdy boys to sit still for any length of time, she can do anything.

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George and I braved the windy, cold weather last week to visit an old favorite, the botanical gardens:

It was as cold as that picture looks, but we still had fun.

Among the list of donors is a “Frances” (yellow) and a “George” (light pink) aptly placed side-by-side.  We never fail to stop and find them.

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Is anyone else excited for Election Day to be over?

The most familiar site on our Caller ID for the past two months.  Ugh.

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The kids helped me sweep some of the hurricane debris off of the patio, which quickly turned into a leaf jumping/throwing/chasing game.

Ahhhhh, fall! 

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I will never tire of seeing my baby girl in a ponytail.

Considering she had no hair the first 18 months of her life, every tail (pony or pig) is a major feat.

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One of about 1,000 similar pictures I have on my iPhone:

The entire collection I have named “The kids have figured out how to use the camera function.”  I still can’t bring myself to delete any of them though; even with George’s persistently runny nose.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Trick-or-Treat

Last night we were visited by a Flamenco-dancing ladybug:

And a wistful cowboy:

They helped our in-house Martha Stewart carve the family pumpkin:

And then watched it glow in the window, waiting for other ghosts and goblins to appear:

They ventured out for a walk:

And returned with candy:

Lots of candy:

Lots and lots of candy:

More than enough to replace what we gave to the other munchkins.  *Sigh*:

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween night.  And a happy, happy November 1^st!