The Harpers: Picture dump

It's been making me so sad lately that I just haven't had the time to blog! It may seem kind of a silly thing to be sad about, but one of the main reasons I even started the blog was as a kind of keepsake. I had a blog book printed last year, and was looking forward to doing the same this year. I sill intend to do that this year, though the end of the year (o.k. everything since September) will be a bit sparse. Of course, our lives have been going on (even if the blog hasn't) and I still love to take pictures, so I at least wanted to make sure these pictures were included in this year's blog book even if not all of the stories made it. Next year, I plan to be back to my regular story telling, but, for now, it's picture dump or nothing. So, here goes ...

Cate in her current favorite outfit. She picked both the dress and the boots out herself and rocks the combo on a regular basis :)

This Thanksgiving, my awesome friend Sara came over the day before with her kids and we cooked amazing food all day long (including apple pies and sweet potato casserole from scratch!), while the kids played. It was so much fun and we were both left with tons of great food for the next day (and the day after that and the day after that ... :))

(I had to make this picture black and white because my kitchen is so. darn. yellow...

Fairy princesses decorating after their hunt for the "enchanted ornaments"

For Max, the whole thing was a much more pragmatic affair ;D

This is so typical for Cate - Still crying from the "trauma" of not being able to make it on top of the chair in her Belle dress, yet laughing and yelling "Fairytopia!" with her friends at the same time. Can you say "Emotional roller coaster?!"

Our delicious spread! (Max gives it a "thumbs up")

last picture I was allowed to take before we began our Thanksgiving feast (and, yes, that is 2 boxes of Hi-C by Jake's cup - his drink of choice!)

Finishing touches on the tree:

Max's class paints a canvas every year for the Heartprints fundraiser. I took pictures of all the kids with the painting this year. Here are my two favorites:

Look out, wilderness! Max and Jake are headed off to their first ever Boy Scout camp out!

Max's list of "nature stuff", made while camping ... brilliant!

For a solid couple of weeks this fall, Cate wanted nothing more than to go outside and roll in the grass. It was adorable! And so very "Cate". All of Cate's teachers and friends know her as a "free spirit" and I love this series of pics, because they show Cate doing what she does best - taking it all in. There were days this fall when she would just stand below a tree with falling leaves, spinning around and saying, "It's SO MAGICAL, Mommy! It's SO MAGICAL!" Love. This. Girl.