Well Hello there November.

My blog is beginning to sound like my journal from when I was 8..."I know I haven't written in a while but..."
So here's the thing, I have other stuff to do.  There, I said it.  But I'll keep blogging on occasion because it brings me joy and happiness, just not at same the frequency.
Anyway, back to October.  Halloween, and all that jazz.
Our church trunk or treat was "done in" by hurricane Sandy....which consequently turned out to be a wonderfully lovely long weekend for us here in Northern Virginia.  We had two days off of work and school and never lost power.  We got a plethora of projects done, interspersed with games, movies and cookies.  I truly feel for the people North of us that are still suffering.  We were very blessed.
Annnnd, back to Halloween again.  We attended the Air and Scare at the Udvar Hazey Air and Space Museum this year with some friends.  I figure, you gotta get good mileage out of your costumes, one wearing is just not enough. 
This is trick or treating around our neighborhood with our fun friends.  The weather wasn't even unbearably chilly and there was plenty of sugar to be had.

 

Haley the Gypsy and Ethan the luchador.

 Mia the spider witch (she was insistent on the "spider" part) and Lauren the bat.

Cousin Leo stopped by (with his parents :) ) to show us his adorable owl costume and posed with "Jonah the Lion in repose".   The lion with auto-cannabilism, as you will recall.

Abby the Greek Goddess and Hazel the La La Loopsy (as of two weeks prior Hazel had never heard of La La Loopsy but saw one episode and was hooked.  I saw the outfit on clearance and grabbed it, paying no attention to the fact that it was a 2T...let's just say she had a nice breeze all evening.)

They were a cute bunch.

 This was us at the Udvar Hazey the Saturday before.  I made Clark wear a mask and carry a tiny shield.  I also made Jonah be my loot.  Remind me never to be a robber in real life.  Masks are itchy.  If you look closely in this picture you can see Hazels' behind parts hanging out of the back of her costume.

And then the most exciting thing ever happened...my parents finished their mission in Sweden and came to see us on their way home to Utah.  Bittersweet.  Their mission has been as wonderful an experience for their children as it was for them.  So while I am so sad that it is over for them, I am so happy to have them be a text, a phone call, or a much shorter plane ride away.

I interrupt the report of their amazingly fun but short trip, to bring you Jonah's first haircut.  I finally hit my breaking point and gave Clark one week to say goodbye to his inverted mullet before I made him cut it off.

PS I don't have hair-cutting scissors.  So sue me.

Hazel pretty much did not leave Papa's side.

We took them to the Pentagon for a short little tour and visited the memorial outside for the first time.

I must apologize to my mother that the only picture I have of her at home with my kids is her in a bathrobe but it was kind of a laid back visit.  They learned quickly that my kids like to sit very close to you every chance they get.  I also really enjoyed the first night they were here -  I was up with a throat issue and my Mom couldn't sleep so we watched 2 hours of Arrested Development in the middle of the night.  Good times. All it was missing was gaggies.

 We took them for a little hike in the woods behind our house.  Fall is still in full (maybe not full, but full-ish) splendor.  We just loved spending time with them and having them all to ourselves.

 Their most recent TV obsession prompted Clark and I to finally move forward with getting ourselves a West Wing tour at the White House.  We "know a guy" that got us a sweet hook up.  It was really fun to go out with my parents and a truly unique experience.

 Not only because we stuck our heads into the Oval Office, but because we also happen to run into a girl that we graduated from high school with.  Small world.

They only allow you to take pictures outside in the rose garden, out the back door and in the press room.

 And then they left and I was really sad.  But got happy again when I remembered that they are on my side of the ocean once more.

We decided to start Jonah on some cereal this week.  He was showing interest and is kind of a bottomless pit anyway.  He picked it up way faster than any of the girls did.

I took a bunch of pictures from this angle of Clark feeding him and couldn't resist getting it from the other side.

 This is typically what things look like from his angle anyway.  Sometimes we erupt into spontaneous cheering for him.  He likes it.  We'll stop before he takes it for granted but will do it just often enough that he will feel oddly validated his whole life without knowing why.

And now I think I will go round up the girls and put them to bed.  After all, it is almost midnight and time for them to finish their latest episode of Extreme Couponers.  Clark is out of town for the evening and I just got off of skype with Spo in Japan-let's blame the neglect of bedtime on them, shall we?  Yes, yes we shall.