moving day(s)

we moved boxes on wednesday, took thursday off, worked like crazy on friday, and probably have today and tomorrow, too. we're down to cleaning both places and moving those little odds and ends!

phew.

happy thanksgiving!

we wish everyone a fantastic thanksgiving - complete wit family, friends, and fabulous food!!

we'll be celebrating jack's first with grandma & grandpa steward & aunt sara, then with gran & grandpa costanzo & aunt laura, uncle jd, & uncle david. jack will dine on TWO turkey dinners in about 6 hours. yum.

how are you going to get down?

jack + pepper (does not equal) fetch

our little builder

jack's reviewing plans in the car on our way to the mall. our little builder! we're getting ready to meet with my dad and a few other professionals to decide on how to go about our crooked house. did i mention that? nobody was able to buy our new home because the foundation is a little off in a corner... not a little, a lot. with our brainstorming, sweat, and construction loan, along with some expertise and experience, we'll have a great home that's level, etc. we'll update!

and thanks to courtney and leslie for reminding me of the 'roots' of our new place - research is underway! and devon (great question!), we're moving for the challenge? with the price of the home, we couldn't pass it up! it'll be some work, but eventually we'll find our little country home on a very quiet street with mature fruit trees and large oaks as home sweet home. our place now is great, but i think we're a little more country than country club :)

packing.

i started packing our office this evening (after boasting about the closet organizers to a potential renter, who then wanted to see the said organizer, as i realized that i wasn't able to OPEN the closet doors because of all the books and office junk we had stored there... needless to say, the potential renter got to see the organizer and all our junk! i felt like a fool for mentioning the organizer knowing full well i hadn't packed the closet, in fact, i had just thrown one more thing inside and slammed the door to prevent an avalanche).

anyway, i have a few books left from my years teaching and while i packed them i felt a little tug on my heart-strings. especially when i came to The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. i read this book to my class at the beginning and end of each year, crying the entire time. you should read it - it's a touching story about a tree who loved a boy, and a boy who loved a tree. grab a tissue first.

apple hill 2008

pete, jack, and i ventured up to apple hill yesterday as part of our tradition. we went a little later in the season this year, and boy was it cold! jack bundled up in his racoon hat, too cute. we went to high hil and boa farms to view the crafts and get yummy snacks. i 've been waiting for this trip for a while, all too excited for a carmellow (caramel covered marshmellow)! last year, i couldn't get enough! pete and i realized it must've been my pregnancy hormones, because although they were good, they weren't the same this year. it was a long drive for a little fun, but well worth it. we'll go up earlier next year so jack can fish in the pond - he'll be amost two then! yikes!

caution = 'vision' required

the green family is moving! we're in contract to buy the above property. we've been offering on this house for about 7 months now. originally it was a short sale and our offer was extremely low compared to the mortgage due. no deal. later, it was on the market again for less than our original offer (weird market these days - short sales are hard to get!) and was snatched up right away. rats. we actually put an offer in on another house down the street because we thought this one for gone for sure. but, again, it popped back on the market - for a steal, too - so we offered and it was accepted and we're in contract! i know, it doesn't seem like a family would try so hard for it, but it has soooo much potential. stay tuned, suggestions will be welcomed.

halloween!

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we visited the local pumpkin patch to pick out four pumpkins - one for mommy, one for daddy, one for baby jack, and one for pepper and bailey to share. we (pete and i) carved away on thursday night (a vampire, a ghost, a two-toothed pumpkin ~in honor of jack's two teeth~, and a bone, respectively). jack hung out in his high chair, ate some snacks, and watched carefully. he has loved pumpkins since they debuted in the beginning of october. gran and i are a little worried we've created a halloween monster (intended). each time we showed him a 'scary' monster, he would smile or laugh. his favorite song is 'the monster mash' and he tried to kiss every jack-o-lantern he saw!

jack dressed up as a monkey for his first halloween. the weather ended up nice, rain stopping long enough for the neighborhood kids to trick-or-treat, and for pete, jack, and i to have people over for a bar-b-que and s'mores roasting over our fire pit. jack was in a great mood all night and enjoyed visiting some of the neighbors trick-or-treating for his first time! check out the pic with the hershey bar - totally my son!