Happy Halloween from Nashville.

Gavi was an Egyptian princess (costume courtesy of Nana), Juliana was Hermione (costume courtesy of Nana); Ben chose to wear his pirate costume trick-or-treating (he had trouble deciding among that and Spiderman and an astronaut); and Annie was a zebra. We had beautiful weather and lots of fun at our first annual pre-trick-or-treat Halloween party.

Happy 103rd Birthday, Uncle Lucius

Happy Birthday Damask Birthday 5x7 folded card

Shop hundreds of birthday invitations at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Ben and Juliana at the Big Brother / Big Sister Class at the hospital. They got to diaper their "babies," tour the marernity ward, and they got graduation certificates! The nurse told them that big brothers and sisters are in charge of making sure everyone who visits the baby washes their hands - they each got mini hand sanitizers to carry around. Fun Fun Fun!

Ben is FOUR!

This was our leaf pile last weekend - before most of the leaves had fallen. Lily thought it made a nice bed. The kids had a fabulous time raking and jumping. Ben lost his shoes and then found them again. Then it rained and made a very soggy mess. But there are always new fresh leaves falling ... for a few more weeks anyway.

Trick or Treat

We had a great time trick-or-treating with our good friends. Our houses are far enough apart here that I think the kids might have burned off all of their candy energy before we finished going around the neighborhood. It was just the right amount of candy for a 40 minute neighborhood excursion. Most importantly, the kids all shared with their parents.

For the first time, Gavi went off with her friends for Halloween. So, no pictures of Gavi. Nana made her a spooky witch costume for the occasion. I'll make her put it on later so I can get some pictures (even if they aren't Halloween pictures).

Pumpkin Carving - Oct. 31

There are many ways to carve a pumpkin and this year the kids did it all by themselves. Ben just wanted to stab holes in his pumpkin. Juliana and Gavi made scary faces. Mike stenciled a Halloween cat. And we roasted the pumpkin seeds! Yummy.