October Flew By

And here we are in November with a new President! We are pleased with the result and are looking forward to discussing it with the boys this weekend. They have spent a lot of time this fall studying civics and current events and are really well versed in the issues and were very interested in the election.

October has been very busy but that is seeming more like the norm than an anomoly. We are fully settled in the house and have most everything done except getting things hung on the walls. We are a bit gun-shy about getting nails near the wall as on our first attempt to hang something we managed to put a hole through a pipe in the bathroom. Think of a little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. After an emergency visit from the plumber and several from the "wall guys" to fix the whole the wall is back in shape - but we live in fear of our decorating efforts.

Mary Ann's pregnancy continues along with no problems. She is finally and happily getting bigger which is something she never thought anyone would hear her say. We are due in two months and have to get the furniture for the nursery built soon. A few weekends ago Mary Ann was honored to have two of her friends (Sue and Beth) throw her a baby shower here at our house. We had company from Rochester, Boston, Atlanta, DC, PA and NY and we happily found out that the house and the plumbing can support 14 overnight guests. The party was very fun and Baby McLean is clearly not going to be at a loss for surrogate aunts, uncles and cousins. Aunt, uncles, cousins and grandmother by blood were here too and it is wonderful that the Cooks are able to get together so frequently now that they are all in closer proximity to each other. Sue's pictures from the weekend can be found here:
http://suzanne.smugmug.com/gallery/6318154_cZVzf#398369098_Sb4V2


For Halloween we were welcomed to the neighborhood with a full toilet papering of our front yard on mischief night. Our yard looked as though there had been a full snow. We didn't mind the TP so much (except what is still caught in the trees and too high to reach) but the eggs on our upstairs windows were a little much. Fortunately we were able to get the mess off without too much trouble but that didn't stop us from being irritated.

We went to parent teacher conferences at the boy's school last week and were so proud to hear universally positive reviews for both of them. Mr. Cunningham reports that Nicholas is a very bright and popular student and a very active participant in class. He shows a strong aptitude in writing and language skills and is doing excellent work on his "memoir". Kieran's teachers were also very positive across the board in all subjects with regards to his performance and his class participation. We, and Kieran, are warned that the work load is about to increase and the grading is going to become more strict. Apparently it is time that Kieran (and all the 7th graders) learn the crucial lesson that quantity of writing does not equal quality so we expect to see a period of more red marked English and History papers.

For Sue's benefit we add that meals enjoyed during the month have included many yummy dishes in the crock pot including lasagna, minestrone soup and a lovely beef stew. We have some bananas that are turning so Nicholas and I may make banana bread this weekend - we'll let you know how it goes. And of course November brings Thanksgiving so if you are lucky we'll do a whole entry about what we eat that day.