Tis the Season...for the Patriots!

Elliot really does love to watch "Football!" with Ben. This Sunday, she donned her new Patriots gear from Brad, busted into cheer and then helped decorate and eat a gingerbread house before the game.

Hooray!

Football!

And this one, she gets a little rowdy - a preview to future heckling?


Gingerbread House? Did Mom really just put a house made of cookie within my reach??


Maybe she won't notice if I lick a little bit of frosting.


Didn't get in trouble for that? Maybe I'll just snag a piece of candy.


If I act like I am sticking one on, she won't notice if I steal another.

That's it, I am going for it. This Gingerbread Man is mine!!

Cousins of Fun

We jetted off to Illinois to visit family and celebrate cousin Emily's 1st birthday. The girls hit it off immediately again. Hard to believe they are 5 months apart. Elliot is on the super tall end of the 1 year old spectrum and Emily is on the super small end, so these 2 together are quite the site! Elliot may be bigger, but she is more reserved and Emily is used to speaking up for herself around her brothers, so she showed Elliot a thing or two!

Like hanging out in the cabinet is a good place to hide...


And that piggy tails are for petting...


And birthday girls get ridiculously cute birthday cakes!


And that the Rose Petal Cottage can fit 8 people.


but its best to crawl away when Guitar Hero takes over the fun ...


Unless you can steal the guitar and rock out yourself - Elliot is a quick study!


Back on the east coast, Ash, wearing a George Washington wig (why?), lugs Elliot around the tree as we start to decorate. Clearly, Elliot could care less. Oh, and its a Santa hat, not wig.



We all took a tree decorating break for hot cocoa and fake gourmet marshmallows. (Recipe: cut the ends of jumbo jet puffed marshmallows and voila! its like you got them at Williams-Sonoma, and fun for 7 year olds to make.)

And Cheers! I just think Ellie looks cute with the mini Italian coffee cup.

Thanksgiving Time

First its time to try out some new tub hairstyles.

Then help set the table and see what I can get into.

Ben carves up the bird behind the scenes with precision.

And check out the spread for only 5 adults and 3 kids!  

Mindy entertains the girls with some pre-dinner reading.

Alex entertains the girls with some crib-housing fun!

Before bed, Elliot head-butts mommy good-night.

The next day its time for some left over olive snacks, eaten in the Devinger traditional fashion - from the finger tips!

Then its off to work off some of that turkey dinner at Together in Motion.

And a post-workout picnic in the living room. 

Bye for now!

Pre-Turkey Happenings

Grandma & Grandpa came to visit before Thanksgiving. We were leaving for the airport and took these shots of Ellie. If she could write, this one would be her author's photo on the back of her book jacket.


And this one is her more fun side showcasing all the new teeth.


Elliot & Grandma were dressed alike accidentally.


And when the family shops together, Ben & Elliot listen to football and catch some Zzzzzs in the car.


Out for a stroll in Harvard Square. Dad, you took all these pictures, but only 2 were on the camera...what are you doing??


I guess your mind was on how many holes you guys could drill in my ceiling to find a beam to hang the pot rack?


Elliot resigned herself to calling on her cell phone...after accidentally calling Aunt Wendy at 6:30 am and losing phone privileges on our land line.


Close up - off to bed!

Happy Halloweeeeen!

A combination of poor planning and generous gifting led Elliot to not 1, but 3 Halloween costumes. She liked dressing up, so we used all 3 throughout the day.

First there is the Giraffe. Ironically she is too tall for this outfit, causing massive wedgie when zipped with the hood up. Still, she wore it to the grocery store with us.



Then there was the bug-eyed Froggy. Most loved for the hands and feet. Our neighbor gave her a push pop. I sort of opposed, but she loves putting caps on things. She sat on the steps and played with this pop for 25 minutes before she ever realized it was also candy. Then she was an unstoppable sucker-fiend...leading to very sticky froggy hands and very happy baby.



Finally, our Buzzy Buzzy Bee takes a break from candy to shoot some hoops. She wants to play all the time ... and actually makes her shots!



A week earlier we had great fun carving our pumpkins. Elliot was very helpful and really got into it. As did Ben. Then Elliot liked taking the bowl of pulp and putting handfuls back into the pumpkin daddy was carving. She also kicked off the day by helping me fill pumpkin muffin tins - neatness is secondary to fun activity. She is quite the kitchen helper...not that we give her a choice!

Montreal

I'll save our short story on not being able to be rid of "the stink of parenting" and focus on the good parts of Montreal ... where Elliot came down with the worst cold to date. She did get her passport stamped for the first time. And in an unpredictable turn of events, did not eat 1 thing while there - must have something against Canadian food!


Elliot & Daddy in Park Du Monde


Elliot playing with her Poutine. When in Montreal, one must eat poutine ... basically big bowl of gravy fries with cheese curds. We found our hot spot, Frit Alor, on chowhound.com, of course.


Ben followed it up with a big cappacino on St. Laurent Street while we waited to check into our hotel.

We, Elliot especially, loved the view from our hotel room. The hill in the background is Park Du Monde, where the first photo was taken above.



Look at the rainbow in the sky while we shopped!
Then it was on to the Biodome ... many bad Pauly Shore movie comments made while there. Elliot & Ben are in a waterfall. Then Elliot took to the prairie dog play area and popped up behind the glass.





When in Montreal, one must also try their bagels. Distinctly different than NY bagels. Boiled in honey & flattened out a bit. There is fierce competition between Fairmount Bagels (above) and St. Viatuer, which we did not try. We did however stop back in Vermont on the drive home ...right before Elliot exploded, and visited Cider Hollow Mill. Yum...and Elliot started eating again once we hit the States.