So, here is a random assortment of pictures from the late summer/fall/early winter. I haven't posted any pictures in quite a while...

Gene runs to pull out his tools every time Brendan is working on a project. Here, they are installing some new shelves Brendan built into our school cabinets.



Jane learning to walk with her wagon before the weather cooled off too much.



Jane's favorite place to climb these days- on the wooden high chair turned on it's front (made to have 3 uses- high chair, rocking horse, and desk)



Lucy and Gene love to wrap up in blankets, or cover themselves in blankets, and often fight over which blanket is their favorite (the current favorite is a new one Brendan gave me for Christmas...but it has become Brendan's favorite too and where does that leave me...?)



Gene and cousin Ben at the apple orchard. They picked a few, mostly they ate apples and climbed trees).



On the trampoline. We work on taking turns...



Janie at the apple orchard. She also learned to eat apples this fall, and it kept her busy for the whole hour or more that we were there!



Lucy and Gene took turns climbing up to try and pick an apple from the high branches.



Brendan and his favorite little babe.



Gene was Robin Hood for Halloween.



Maid Marian. But she wanted to be a llama.

Janie as a pumpkin. But not sure where she was going in the early evening hours of Halloween. This year, the other kids sure knew! And Gene was so excited to read all the candy wrappers when we sorted through their buckets afterwards...his favorite candies were "crunch" (i.e. Nestle's Crunch Bar) and "tootsie" (pronounced as in a tooting horn, and without the "roll" on the end).

Brendan and I went to a party as War and Peace...

More pictures may follow. But here are a few Lucy quotes to top it off. She is our quoting kid these days...Gene had his turn, and Janie will follow, but right now Lucy cracks us up all the time!

Eating jello (unsuccessfully) with a very small spoon, "Mama, frogs jump and jello jumps."

Observing Jane climbing up on my parents' treadmill, "Are you thinking you are going to go running, Janie?"

Eating oatmeal one morning, after talking recently about how eating healthy foods make us grow big and strong. "Mama, I am eating all this good food. And soon I will be eleven."

Randomly, Lucy will comment on what we are having for the next meal, "Oh, _______(fill in the blank with a food)...I love that stuff."