Flame On!!!

Pictures from Christmas and Birthday festivities are coming, but here is an funny video of Nora's crazy birthday candle...Enjoy!

Christmas is coming....

Doesn't every family have their version of this picture? At last, we have ours, and I am not the least surprised at the outcome.

Yahoooo! Halloooooween!

Halloween was as excellent as the kids were hoping! Nora got to wear her costume to school on Wednesday, where they had a little party and did a performance of three poems they memorized for the parents... very cute:


Halloween night we stuck to Brett's tradition of pizza for dinner, and then hustled the kids into their costumes to get their picture with the firewagon before it got too dark:

So there you have it, the most themed/ coordinated Halloween we might ever, ever have.

The day started rainy but it was clear for trick-or-treating, so they had a really good time. When they got back, both had chilly cheeks so we brought them in to warm up while we waited to see if we'd have any more trick-or-treaters... it was very slow this year.

The potato chips were a big hit... Nora keeps telling people she got her "own" potato chips!

John luckily loved his costume... he wore it the entire night.

Hope you all had a nice time last night too, and that November is off to a great start.

Love to all-

The Huffmans

READY FOR ACTION

The fire engine is ready for Halloween service. Next time we'll get a picture with the fire fighter (Nora) and dalmation (John). Nora is still looking for someone to dress up as a house on fire.

- Brett

Firefighters!

The much-anticipated trip to the Fire Station FINALLY happened today! We saw lots of great firefighting equipment (trucks) and gear, but skipped the live burn they were doing across the street (even though a firefighter assured me it wouldn't be scary) because both kids were kind of spent by the time they were starting the demonstration. Here are a few pics:

Fire Chief Nora in the back seat of the pumper truck

Hose target practice... with the only female fire fighter I saw there! So glad she was there, as Nora was seeming to not believe me when I told her women could be firefighters, too.

Tower Truck #1

Tower Truck #1 - that ladder is so tall... the thought of climbing it was making my knees wobbly! Thank goodness there are men and women brave enough to take on Fire and Rescue.

Here's hoping that the only times we're ever this close to these trucks is on open house day, but we're all glad to know that the firefighters are always ready to help our family if we ever did have an emergency.

Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries! :)

Adios, September

I still intend to post pictures from over the summer, but for now I'm just going to move on with current events! This week Nora had her first field trip to the apple orchard. It was also our first blustery fall day, so we snagged some hats and sweaters and hit the road (John was allowed to come along).

We started out in a barn w/ mini-benches where the kids learned about how an apple grows (incl. the role of the bees-- a little positive PR for bees), then went on a tractor ride out to the orchard where we picked 2 apples by twisting, not pulling them, from the branch (a lesson Nora really took to heart and has repeated anytime she talks about going to the orchard).

The rain held off while we came back, took a class picture outside and headed inside for apple cider and donuts. Check out the apple shirt she made with her class to wear to the orchard!

She had a blast, and John liked it too since we were either moving or eating.

The next day, Nora came with me to the dentist for her first visit. I went first, and our hygenist did an awesome job of explaining everything she was doing to Nora. They also had a very nice conversation, which I couldn't participate in while my teeth were being cleaned! By the time it was Nora's turn, she and Lilly were the best of friends and Nora hopped right up into the chair. She got her teeth counted (20!), then polished (w/ grape paste), then flossed, and then got the fluoride, which is now a really sticky paste that gets painted on the teeth. Lilly was impressed w/ Nora's swishing skills, Nora was impressed w/ Mr. Thirsty (the suction tube) and a great time was had by all. She got a sweet new toothbrush and even got to pick a prize out of a box at the end. And so we welcome Fergus to the family, her new little scottish terrier.

John is busy too, walking like a champion. He doesn't crawl any more, and is getting quicker on his feet every day. He also gained a little height and/ or a little extra arm strength and is now climbing up onto everything but the couches. He has absolutely no fear, so I have a little extra now as I've caught him standing on chairs and on the ottoman several times already.

They're still getting along well, in spite of John's ability to get into almost everything now. Nora has taken to putting toys she wants to keep from him up on shelves she can barely reach or behind the couch cushions, but otherwise does a good job of sharing... most days.

We'll post again soon!

First Day of Preschool

I almost forgot my password to log on to this blog... it really has been a long time! I have loads of pictures from over the summer and will try to pick out a few, but most immediately, here are a few pictures from Nora's first official day of preschool. She did great! She was so excited to go, so excited to be taking her backpack (thanks again, Alison!), so excited to take in her "homework" (we were given a piece of construction paper to decorate with her name, a photo and stickers to be made into her snacktime placemat - I think every butterfly sticker she recently received from Gen are now on the placemat), so excited to be wearing her dress -- overall, so excited. I thought she might get derailed when one of her classmates started crying and grabbing onto her mom at the last moment, but Nora waved to us, walked around her classmate (who was already being comforted by the teacher) and straight into the classroom!

first day of preschool

John went with the flow pretty well today... Brett took the day off and so John was just glad to have Daddio around. Mr. Bubs seems to be fully committed to walking now... he's tottering all over the place, but still very wobbly. Sometimes I see him stomping along at a pretty regular, but slower pace, and other times he comes running through the room trying to get back his balance when it's just getting away from him! He's drooling like a fiend, so we're watching for more teeth. As usual, though, I can't tell if teeth are coming until they're already here.

I love spaghetti sauce/ this is what I would look like as a redhead (eyebrows)

I'll try to post more summer pictures soon since we've missed pretty much all of it!