Long time no write

So, yes, I just took 6 months off from writing this blog.  The kids probably look a bit bigger, maybe Andy and I look a bit older (I did turn 40 last month, after all) but we're all still here and doing fine.  We live in a new house now, which is really the thing that killed this blog 6 months ago.  Somehow I made it through the last move from Vermont to NH without much of a cyber-hiccup, but this 3-mile move from one end of town to the other was way too much for me.  We had just returned from an amazing family trip to Costa Rica, and I had, like, 850 photos to sort through and lots of stories to get down, and then all of a sudden we were packing and moving (times 3 because we helped two other families move within the same two week span, in exchange for help with our own move) and everything was in boxes for weeks, we were without internet, a working stove, or a washer and dryer for what seemed like months- overwhelm time.  I had to start shutting non-essential systems down. Goodbye blog.

It's been a good break, but to be honest I miss chronicling our family's adventures and misadventures this way, and being able to look back over the years to remember exactly what we did that week of that year is kind of neat.  I take photos of the kids and post them on facebook, but it feels kind of hollow without the storyline to go with them.  So here I am at the computer again.

It's October, past peak foliage already in New Hampshire, and getting chilly quickly.  The kids carved pumpkins tonight, though it's still a few weeks to Halloween and they will rot before we reach it.  We won't get any trick-or-treaters out here in the boonies anyway, so it doesn't really matter what state the pumpkins are in, and the seeds were delicious roasted with cumin and garlic powder.  My mom is in the midst of constructing a house on the lot adjacent to ours (well, she's not personally constructing it...) so we have some built in entertainment out our bay window these days.  The kids are enjoying seeing what kind of trucks roll up the driveway next!  If all goes well, Mom's new house will be ready to move into before the end of next summer.  Big change for her, but all for the best.  She may have to start shutting down non-essential systems at that point too- we'll have to see on that one :)