miscellaneous weekend pics

Molly and Caleb built some cool stuff with the Megablocks this weekend.

Granddad did something for us that has needed to be done for a looooonnnnggg time. The burning bush in the front of our house, as you can see from pic one, is obscuring two of the windows on the front of the house and also is way taller than the house. Without knowing how to take care of this ourselves without totally killing the bush, Granddad offered to take care of this in a way that will allow the bush to come back and grow into a better shape.
TA-DA!!! I love it!!! Dave is still having to come to terms with this 'butchery'. He'll survive :)

Granddad bakes his first baguettes

Granddad did a SUPER job with his first venture into the world of baguette!! He and I each made a batch on Friday and they turned out, as always, delicious.

Dad with his dough.

Dad with his baguettes in the tray, ready to be baked.
The finished masterpiece!! We gave two of our loaves to neighbors, who were very appreciative!

Molly at the firestation

Molly's UPK class went to the Endicott Firestation on Friday. It is so close to the school, that it is a walking field trip and many parents went along to help get the children safely across streets. The first thing the children did was watch a brief video about fire safety which stressed calling 911, stop-drop-and roll, get outside, don't hide, changing batteries in smoke alarms, and being careful about candles and leaving things like the stove turned on. See? I am giving you a little refresher about fire safety too!! The children then got an extensive tour of the fire station, but the grand finale was going into the huge garage and getting to see all the fire trucks up close and personal.

Molly and her friends in the big room watching the video.

The kids got to see the fireman come down the pole (yes they still use these) but my picture is a little late, I was taking it from around a corner and trying to aim up. I missed!!
The kids have always asked me where the firemen sleep when we pass by the outside. Now we know!!!
The pole from upstairs.

After fireman Dave put on his equipment, the kids got the chance to knock on his hard helmet.

Molly and some friends play ring around the rosie waiting for their turn to get on the truck.
Molly is all about being in the truck. Lots of cool stuff to look at!!

Partial group shot.

Molly had just dusted off the running board of the fire truck and was nice and dirty!
More games as we wait.....
Looking at some of the big hoses that fireman Kevin said take 2-4 men to hold onto while fighting a fire.
A perfect group shot with the firemen!!!

Granddad, Potter, Mac and Crash

Granddad arrived on Tuesday and will be staying with us until Sunday (!) before he heads back to NC. Yay for us, such a nice long visit. Upon arrival, a group of the boys got together for a group photo. Notice how Mac is 6 and smaller than Crash who is 12 weeks!!!!

Birds down the street

The kids trick or treating with the birds.

Trick or treating

Wendy and Emma out and about with us on Halloween night

Darth Maul and the Devil, I think they were college roommates!
A woman down the street goes all out at Halloween. This year, she and a friend were both dressed up like chickens (Big Birds?) and had their little nest with the cracked open shells next to them. They also had a bunch of music, bird related of course, going the whole time and we went up, 'Rockin' Robin' was just getting started. This was pretty hilarious!!!

Star Wars family portrait

My adorable family - Leia, Luke, Darth Vader, Darth Maul.

DARTH MAUL

Picture = 1,000,000 words.

Darth Maul in progress

Had the Darth Maul picture online to use as a guide. This is the progression of the transformation.

Happy Birthday to Lin

Dave made my birthday 'cake' (which was peanut butter pie) this weekend when we had lots of help to eat it up. Thankfully, he only put ONE candle on it!!!

Jess, Lin, Wendy, Emma. I love this picture of all the girls.

Halloween dry run

When you wait until the day before Halloween, all the decorations, makeup, and costumes are on massive clearance!! Friday, Dave decided that he wanted me to paint his face for Hallween, so I scored an entire package of makeup and other goodies for 60% off!! Given the thick beard and the fact that I have never used face paint, we decided that Dave needed a practice facial, so we spent part of the afternoon trying to figure out how to best cover his scrubby beard. Ok, so actually, I started out with the colored crayon face paints and wrote Dave's proper name on his forehead :) (Mollyariotti, I know you approve)

Although Potter was Luke Skywalker for Halloween, he opted for the camo Luke Skywalker look. (Bobbi, I know you will approve)

The French Hillbilly look. We could not hold it together.

The up close visual. Niceeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Dave has a ruptured blood vessel in his mouth. Freaks out Jesscherry.

Bedazzled Princess Emma.

Day with Emma and Jess

Emmawright arrived late on Friday night, after driving in all the way from the Bronx to spend the weekend with us. She quickly met, and became adored by, Crash, although this picture is taken on Saturday morning, when Emma was, well, having trouble standing up on both feet :) After they huddled by the dishwasher for a while, the adults had some breakfast and the kids played happily. And by kids, I mean our three and Jess and Emma. The really loved the Legos and story time. College graduates are so easily entertained. We decided before the monsoon hit and ruined Halloween day altogether, we'd get the kids and the dog outside for some runnin' around time. We headed up to Round Top, where it was so beautiful, dark sky one direction, light sky the opposite direction. Crash ran around like a crazy dog and the others played frisbee. The really cool playground, that included swings, slides, and tons of climbing pieces, all with sand underneath, was torn down before last summer and replaced with a smaller, much less fun playset, so the kids weren't really into it that much. But there were swirling little tornadoes of leaves all around us and being outside was the right thing. Bonus - it never rained on us!!!

Jesscherry arrives

Jesscherry came to visit us this weekend from Albany where she is in law school. The night started off with her hanging out with Wendy, the kids, and meeting Crash! I think it was mutual love at first sight! Crash decided that her boots were the best place to sleep and then the boys got Jess into a game of, what else, Dogopoly!! Sadly, Jess went close to bankrupt and then bedtime approached, so I think that was her bailout!! Emmawright arrived around 9:45, it was late, we were tired, and the kids were all in bed, so there aren't any photos of her, yet! There will be more today, since it is the big day of Halloween, and that means we'll have extra friends to go trick-or-treating in the rain with us!!