We'e Moved...AGAIN!

This is the last time, I promise!  Come and visit us at our new home www.theswensonscene.wordpress.com.  See you there!

This Post Brought to You by Hurricane Sandy

We feel so blessed that Sandy hit further north than expected.  Although some areas around us lost power and some roads were closed, our home remained intact and with power the whole time.  Nevertheless, Adam was off of school and Phil was off of work, so we enjoyed some family fun and a bit of productivity while the storm raged on outside.  Thanks everyone for your concern, and we continue to pray for those who experienced a much angrier Sandy.

My big grown-up boy.  Almost 4 years old!  He missed his friends and teachers, but we had some good fun during his surprise long weekend.

This is the productivity I was referring to above.  Phil has taken on the guest bathroom (a much tamer project than the master - thankfully).  I'm so excited to show it to you...it looks fantastic so far!

Had to find lots to do indoors with the kids.  You can tell Clara was a little excited about painting :)

Happy Halloween!

This was our best Halloween yet!  As the kids get older and more aware of what's going on, we have so much fun.  Adam decided to be a monkey again this year (I think because he saw pictures from last year and thought it was cool) and he also decided that his sister would be a butterfly again.  Luckily, both costumes still fit (close enough), so we were in business.

Clara and I went to the gym in the morning and the kids got to wear their costumes for a parade.  Here is the little butterfly on her way inside.

She loves wearing her costume!

Parade time!

The kids got a couple of Halloween gifts.  One was from our friend Olga (also our awesome realtor who helped us buy our house).  She brought the kids some great new puzzles and some pumpkin cookies.  Yum!

They also got some really exciting mail from Grandma Ann.  They each got a bucket with some neat treats inside.  Here is Adam holding his new Thomas DVD.  Other highlights in the bucket were flashlights, pumpkin sippy cups, and M&Ms.

Clara is really into pumpkins.  She also loved the cat on her card.

Drinking from their sippy cups and eating off of pumpkin plates.  Thanks Grandma!

Finally, the night had arrived.  They were raring to go.  Adam was eagerly anticipating trick or treating (the first year he has really understood what we were doing) and Clara just wanted to do whatever her brother was doing.

Have to stop for a photo.  They used their buckets that they got from Grandma Ann.

There they go!

Keeping up with Brother.  Serious business!

Our first house.  Adam and Clara were excited to see their friends William and Sophia.

Making his selection.  I was so proud of him - he said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" at each house.  You see Clara got tired after a few houses, but was still interested in the candy (you can see her little hand pointing).

We had a great time!

One funny thing: when I took Adam's costume off at bedtime, he said, "I'm Adam again!"  So funny the way little minds work  :)

"Gettysbird"

As we got in the car and set out for our trip to Gettysburg, I asked Adam, "Where are we going?"  Adam enthusiastically replied, "Gettysbird!"

We had a great day.  Amazingly, neither Phil nor I had ever been and we both have always wanted to see it.  It was way cool, and different than we had pictured it.  We were glad to go in the Fall when the colors were so pretty.  The kids were real troopers.  Obviously, they didn't have a clue about the significance, but Adam was very interested in the short film they showed before we took the Auto Tour of the battlefields, and he stared at the soldiers walking around in their period uniforms.  

These are all scenery photos, so just enjoy.
McPherson's barn.  This is where the Union and Confederate Armies met on the first day of battle.

Adam learned all about cannons and got really good at spotting them.  "Cannons say boom, boom, boom!"

Sorry, I can't tell you who this monument is for, but I just thought it was so pretty.  There are SO MANY monuments, it is truly amazing.  It would take months to look at each one.

I just thought this barn was cool.  Where I am standing for this photo is where the Union Army retreated to after the first day of battle.

Again, just struck me as cool.  I actually took a whole series of photos of these tracks and am thinking of doing something with them in Adam's room.  I'm sure he'll appreciate the artistic thought...

The view from Little Round Top.  This was my favorite part, since it was so pretty to look out.  It's obvious why the Union worked so hard to guard this position - a definite vantage point.  I said to Phil as we were driving away, "Yeah, if I had that place, I would defend the crap out of it."  Super profound.  I'm sure I'll say that to my students some day.

More from Little Round Top.

Ok, one more.

Phil and I had our eyes peeled for this monument all day - Minnesota!!!!  We finally found it!

I'm sure we'll be back again - you could spend days and still not see everything.  We'd also love to do more hiking around, but may need to wait until the kids are older to do a trip like that.  Oh well, we do what we can.  It was great to finally see it, though.  We feel so lucky that we can just decide to go to Gettysburg (Gettysbird) for the day.  A wonderful perk of living in this part of the country.

Fall Fun on the Farm(S!)

Daddy took three days off of work this week since he's been traveling so much and we had an absolute blast!  The kids got to visit not one, but TWO farms in one week for Fall Festivals.  We visited the famed Cox Farms on Wednesday and then went to Ticonderoga Farm on Friday with Adam's class for a field trip.

For those who are not local, Cox Farms has an amazing Fall Festival with tons of slides, animals, food, a corn maze, and more pumpkins than you can shake a stick at.  We had great weather this day.

The slides are the kids' favorite.  Maybe Daddy's favorite, too.  That's Adam cheering for Daddy in the foreground.

This photo pretty much sums up the day...Phil and I racing to keep up with our slide enthusiast.

Kids weren't a huge fan of the goats this year, so Daddy had to pick up the slack.

Just kidding...right???

How cute is this girl?  She walks everywhere, now, and just got herself a pair of beautiful pink Minnie Mouse shoes.  Girl loves her some Minnie.

This was the biggest and favorite slide.  Adam was so excited that he was big enough to slide in his very own lane this year.  As you can see, though, Daddy is having all the fun on this one.  (You can sort of see Adam behind Phil's arm.  Totally stealing his thunder.)

Mama and Clara loved it, too.  Clara kept asking for more slides!

Then, two days later, was Adam's field trip.  He got to go to a farm AND ride a school bus.  Don't know which he was more excited for.

First bus I've ever seen with seat belts.  Someone loved his ride to the farm.

Hello in there, Mr. Goat.

Mama and Clara on the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Both kids got to ride a see saw for the first time (that I can remember).  Clara now walks around the house chanting "up and down, up and down, up and down."

Lovin' life.

The slides were again the highlight.

Adam enjoyed his last slide of the day with his teacher, Ms. Young.  She is great and so much fun.

Fall Wreaths

 Once again, I was inspired by Pinterest.  

I made this one for fall...

 and this one specifically for Halloween.

Just the Right Size

 Clara got a stroller for her baby a few weeks ago, but Adam figured out that his sister was also just the right size for a ride.

 Clara doesn't seem to mind.  Love how these two play together.