Trick or Treat!!

Well, much has happened in Chamberlain-land since last I blogged (June!) but we'll save that for another post.

Today, it's time for the annual Halloween post (which, as things are going, may well turn into the annual post, period!). This year we were thrilled to have our dear friends Grant and Anna with us for the day. While Anna was napping, the boys carved pumpkins.







After supper, we traded in four mild-mannered children for this:




(That's Optimus Prime, Sir Grant the Knight, Tinkerbell and Liam the Lion, in case you're wondering.)

It was a great night for trick-or-treating, and the kids (and grown-ups) had a blast together!!

A perfect fall day

A little bit of work....


...and a whole lot of fun!

Summer in Iowa

It just doesn't get much better than this!

True Maturity

In my very first post on this blog, I talked about the moment I first felt like a grown-up. Today I bring you irrefutable proof that indeed I am officially and undoubtedly an adult.

Behold, the Kenmore Progressive Canister Vacuum:

No other material possession has brought me such sheer, unadulterated joy since... well, since we bought our minivan last year. (I rest my case.)

We found it a week ago, spent a week doing internet research (Brad) and dreaming/pining(me), and finally purchased it this weekend. As soon as Brad had it out of the van, I carefully and reverently unpacked it, put it together and read the manual from cover to cover.

And then, I vacuumed! Oh, the glory, the splendor of it all. The kitchen tile, the hardwoods, the area rug, the cursed almost-shag carpet on the stairs--it does it all with grace and simplicity.

I think I'm in love.

Simple Pleasures: Closet Update and Liam's Latest

I finished both boys' closets today and it felt so great that I kept going and did the bathroom closet, too.

Both boys pretty much have all their clothes in their dressers, so the closets quickly become a dumping grounds for things they've outgrown. It didn't take as long as I thought to go through everything and get it sorted back into sizes and packed away. The challenge was keeping Liam distracted long enough for me to fold and pack faster than he could unfold and throw across the floor! We just got a big bag of hand-me-downs for Drew (a rarity these days) so it was fun to go through that -- a bunch of really cute shirts from Gap and Old Navy that will be perfect for fall.

I just can't tell you how much I love a newly-organized closet!

In other news, Liam just turned 9 months. We've been convincing ourselves for a while that when he says "mamamama" and "dadadadada" he, of course, means us, his beloved parents. But today, for sure he said "mamamama" every time he wanted me. One time he even patted me on the arm and said, "mamama!" Then, as if asking for his dad, he got kind of pouty and said, "dadada?" That's our boy genius!

Simple Pleasures: Closet Edition

Now that it's mid-June already, I finally went through my closet, put away the winter sweaters, sorted through summer clothes (fat summer, skinny summer, pregnant summer) to find the ones that fit now, and packed up a huge bag of stuff for goodwill. It feels soooo good!

Now, on to the boys' rooms!

Simple Pleasures

The other night we gave the boys baths, put their fresh-scrubbed little bodies in clean jammies, and then deposited them both--slicked back hair and all--into the double stroller. Over an hour later, we had walked several miles, enjoyed a beautiful evening, had some great conversation and now had the distinct pleasure of tenderly tucking two sleeping princes into their beds.

It doesn't get any better than that.