We Love Fall

There is something magical about fall. It could be the change of colors. It could be relief from the heat and dog days of summer. Or it could be that falls begins the season of holidays. In reality the reason why we love fall so much is that it gets dark early and stays dark in the morning. "What?" you say "You like the dark?". Well exactly. Seeing darkness at 6:30pm and 6:30am helps our girls go to sleep and more importantly stay asleep. So we love it. For the past two days we have enjoyed children who have slept until 7am. So much better than the 5am mid summer wake-ups!

The weekend was spent in Vermont and we were able to play host to the Robinson family, Dan, Rachael, Amelia, and Issac. They had never been to Vermont. Being from Britain dad thought it would be fun to bring them to the Battle of Bennington Monument where the Green Mountain Boys defeated the British Army thus beginning a turning point of the Revolutionary War. It wasn't as funny as it was when it played out in his head. We had a fun and glad they were able to make the trip. The kids did so great together!
Charlotte continues to be Charlotte. Making us laugh with her goofyness. She melted dads heart on the car ride in Vermont, just blurting out, "Dad, I love you". Yes he is 100% wrapped around her finger.

Maeve is now speaking in full sentences. "Sit in Mammas Seat". "I want a tookie". "I shut it". On the car ride home Maeve was getting a little fussy being strapped into her carseat.
Dad said, "Maeve can you say we will be home lickety split?"
Maeve "No."
Dad "Can you say doggie?"
Maeve "No."
Dad "Can you say cat?"
Maeve "No."
Dad "Can you say Mom?"
Maeve "No."
Dad "Can you say Yes?"
Maeve "No."
Dad (thinking he will pull one over on her) "Can you say No?"
Maeve "Yes!"

This kid is smart. Way too smart for her age but she is so damn cute. We will be in for it when she is older. No doubt. But she makes us laugh and every single second of every day we are so proud of our girls.

(Maeve and Charlotte riding a scarecrow horse at the pumpkin patch)
(all the kids running and playing)

(this one was NOT scary)



(the pumpkin patch)


(Maeve very excited at the prospect of playing with scarecrows)

(copy cats)


(Charlotte & Amelia)

(Maeve found a scarecrow just her size!)

(Charlotte and Amelia playing in the grass at the monument)(Sisters)

(View down Monument Ave in Bennington)(Shelby Maeve & Rachael)

(Standing in front of the monument)
(The moose and the Ronans)
(Charlotte proving she is a big girl by washing her own hands. She wants to do everything herself)
(Maeve at Orvis making friends with a stuffed dog)



PS. We also had some special guests visit us last week from South Carolina. Aunt Colleen, Aunt Sharon, and Grammy came for a night. The girls were very excited to see them and Charlotte was excited to bunk up one night with Grammy.

The Skinny

We have realized this blog has been severely neglected over the past two weeks. Our hopes would be to post some news about Maeve on here with what was found. Unfortunately we still don't know a whole lot. We do know this. It was a tumor that was in her head behind her ear. And the tumor is benign. Phew. That was at least a giant sigh of relief.

However, the results from Pathology took forever and with that, we dont even have the "official" result in hand. Just a call from the surgeon to let us know it was a tumor, that is was benign, and that it was a large hard fiberous lesion. Then he went on to tell dad some things about potential correlation with other things such as gastrointestinal issues, etc. To be honest, when dad hear the word benign he sort of stopped listening and thanked God.

As we get more information we will keep everyone updated. But to be honest, dad has spent enough time playing every potential possiblity of scenarios through his head, like a hundreds of movies playing different endings. None of them good. Its no way to live your life and to be honest, I dont even want to think about it any longer. We all love our kids and can't imagine our lives without them. The reality is bad shit happens to good people. We can attest to that. We have been tested and challenged enough and we really just want to enjoy what we have. So with that being said, no more news just back to being a fun blog with funny whitty commentary by yours truly and adorable pictures of the munchins. We thank all of you for giving us your prayers and well wishes and we hope you continue to read as an extended part of our family.