Fall Back

There's lots of anticipation around our house, as we get ready for Halloween. Don't worry ... there will be another post coming with pictures, so I'll keep the boys' costumes a secret for now. It's interesting that Chris and I said very little to Matthew and Thomas about this very commercial holiday but, through their vast network of friends and relatives, they are totally up to speed with the whole thing. They're all over it, too.

We've been having a lot of fun this Fall hiking, apple-picking, jumping in the neighbor's pile of leaves. Both boys went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch earlier this month. Matthew and his buddies are under the tent awaiting cider and donuts. I went along as a chaperone ... for Thomas. There were a few other parents who had control of the rest of the kids.

Thomas is sitting on a hay bale in the above picture, with some of his classmates, as his teacher gets ready to take a picture. The field trip was a lot of fun ... the kids even got to ride a school bus!On Columbus Day, Mama and the boys took a road trip to Massachusetts. Here's Matthew and cousin Gregory on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Matthew is doing awesome in Kindergarten. His schoolwork is showing great progress and his has a very nice circle of friends. He's even learning Spanish. He is very interested in sports and is excited to be starting soccer this weekend.

Having been back from Ukraine about 8 months now, we are still very much in an adjustment period. The activity level in our house is staggering. Combine that with the fact that it's also really loud all the time. One resident (hint: MATTHEW) talks non-stop. Tonight, the boys were horsing around and Thomas ended up acidentally locking Matthew in their room. I have to admit it was tempting to leave things alone for a while, but he was still talking, anyway.