Family Pictures

On Thanksgiving, my brother, Britton, was kind enough to snap a few pictures of our family.

Jude attacking the camera man

I learn slowly

The other day I decided to make a fall garland for our front door. I collected leaves while walking with Jude and then laid them all out on the table to string together. Of course, Jude immediately started to meddle, picking up leaves, taking them out of order, ripping them, throwing tantrums when asked oh-so-politely to cease and desist. I felt frustrated and nagged him to leave (pun intended) things alone and go into the other room. And then I gave up and just decided to let him help me. Jude sat on my lap and chose leaf after leaf to string on our garland and we did it together. It still turned out nicely and Jude was so excited about our garland and proud of our work together. I learn slowly. He just wanted to be a part of what I was doing. Both of us felt happier when we created together.



And Gabe helped, too, by drooling on things and being beautiful.

Halloween, late

Gabe was Thor, the powerful but arrogant warrior

Can you see his six-pack? Oh, yeah, baby. Mike was Ferris Bueller and his law buddies were Cameron and the girlfriend, whose name I am completely blanking.

See?

Jude was...wait for it....the Incredible Hulk. Yes, I painted him green. With finger paint. And yes, I was worried it would seep into his skin and affect his brain. Maybe it did. Would that manifest in a penchant to tantrum inexplicably throughout the day? But I digress...His paint washed off in only one shower, but my hands were green for days. Look at those giant muscles. He would flex so hard that his entire body would shake and the veins in his neck popped out. Awesome.

Pre-transformation Hulk, but still green

The Hulk sitting on a pumpkin

Jude loved Halloween this year. You could just see the shock on his face when person after person simply dropped candy in his bag. "Those fools!"