{debbie's dress}

Oh, my sister is so talented! She made this adorable dress for Morgan and I just had to take some pictures. The pictures aren't great (it was pretty dark in the living room) but the dress is perfect! Don't you think she should start selling her creations???

{funky shoes}

OK, random post.... Check out this funky shoe shop: FLUEVOG

...if only I had a couple hundred extra dollars laying around.... and a place to wear these shoes (other than to the bus stop!)

{every 6 weeks}

As most of you know, my parents go through withdrawal if they don't see the kids every six weeks or so. And, right on schedule, they came to visit this past week. Gerard and I got to go out one night while they babysat. There's nothing like a meal without yelling "Sit down," "Finish your chicken," or "Eat over your plate" eighty-seven times. I think I leaned over to cut Gerard's food once or twice. Then my parents watched the kids while we tried to clean and organize the garage. That was a big help and at least it was fun for the kids!

They left Sunday morning and Gerard started hockey. We actually saw some improvement in his skating during that first hour. He's almost ready for the NHL! Actually, he was about average compared to the other kids -- some kids were skating circles around him, while others never left the boards. It was really cute to watch. I'll try to get some video next time.

After hockey we went out to lunch and ran into some friends so we went to the park with them. Nothing like 80 degrees in the middle of October!

{who do you REALLY agree with?}

Gerard's mom sent this to me and I thought it was really interesting and worth sharing...

ABC has a test to see who's campaign statements, McCain's or Obama's, you most agree with. They don't tell you who made the statements, of course, but a statement made by each candidate on the same topic (economy, immigration, judiciary, etc.) will be side by side. You just pick which statement you agree with and, after selecting all 13, you'll find out which candidate's platform you most support.

(Click on the picture or click HERE to see which candidate you most agree with.)

{hockey season}

Gerard is officially a hockey player. He is registered and lessons begin next weekend. The first part of the class is "learn to skate" which is every Saturday and Sunday for 8 weeks. Then the "learn to hockey" part is another 8 weeks of Saturdays and Sundays. He's ready!

Tonight Morgan was wearing a pair of Gerard's old pajamas. I thought she looked so much like Gerard at her age, but big Gerard didn't agree so I had to find some old pics of Gerard. He's a bit younger in these pictures from October 2004 (about 13 months old) whereas Morgan is 17 months now. What do you think? (Oh, and he had a haircut about a month before these pictures were taken.)

Morgan

Gerard

(OK, after looking at the pictures side-by-side, I no longer think they look alike!)

{it's officially fall}

I love this time of year. The leaves are starting to turn colors, the days are cool but not cold, and the nights are crisp. It's time for apple and pumpkin picking and with those come the smells of apple cider and donuts. Yum. Today was the perfect fall day and we took full advantage of it. I think most of these pictures are self-explanatory, so I'm just going to post them all since I have so many to share. (Although I guess the first one probably deserves an explanation... Debbie told me that I always capture Morgan with a far-away, contemplative look. Well, here's the real reason -- when I try to take a picture with her looking AT ME, THIS is the face I get. Can you say goofy smile??)