Photo of the Week

We haven't posted one of these in a while, but this was so cute, we couldn't resist.  Here are the LeBlanc Girls and the Boucher Boys in their pajamas.  So adorable!

Emily, Owen, Ethan and Elizabeth

Owen's Birthday

This weekend, we went to New Hampshire to celebrate Owen's first birthday.  Owen is the youngest son of our friends Janet and Kevin and we were so thrilled to be invited to share in the celebration with their extended family.  It was a great party - lots of good food, great presents and wonderful people.  Owen had a great time opening his presents and really enjoyed eating his cake and icecream.  Happy Birthday Owen!  We look forward to watching you grow up!!

Memere and Ethan

Owen and Nana

Kevin smoking cooking the hotdogs and hamburgers.

Mrs. Bourque and Cathy, with Pooh (this picture cracks me up every time I see it!).

Janet, Owen and Kevin

As always, the life of the party.

Ethan helps Owen with his birthday candle.

Janet and Owen.

Cake!

Mmmm, mmmm good!

End of Summer

We can hardly believe that summer is over - we were so darn busy that it really seemed to go in a flash.  We were lucky to have some nice weather in September so that we could really make the most of it and now we are looking forward to fall, which is our favorite season.

Sneaking over to the sunflowers when she thinks that no one is looking...

  

Activity

From Merriam Webster, noun:  (a) the quality or state of being active; (b) a form of organized, supervised, often extracurricular recreation.
Elizabeth has always been a high maintenance very active child, but kindergarten seems to have taken this to a whole new level.  She simply can't stand to sit around and do nothing - unless she's watching television, and as much as we would enjoy the peace and quiet, we are not about to park her in front of the television for hours on end.  So our new challenge is keeping her busy with interesting and stimulating projects.  We recently loaded up on a bunch of inexpensive craft kits and are scrambling to think of ideas (and accepting ideas as well!) for activities.  Because that's what she wants she calls her thirst for constant stimulation - "activity."  As in "are we doing an activity today?" and "what activity are we doing today?"  Below are some of our recent projects.  

Lee worked on a couple of stepping stones with the girls.  

This one included both "jewels" and handprints.

The beads are over Emily's head, but Elizabeth showed amazing dexterity and patience.

Elizabeth actually finished her entire bead owl and brought it to school as a present for her kindergarten teacher.

Wadsworth Trails

Yesterday afternoon, in an effort to keep up with what appears to be Elizabeth's boundless energy, we took the girls on another hike.  While they both like the idea of hiking, Elizabeth enjoys it far more than Emily, whose little legs can't quite keep up with the rest of us.  We stayed relatively close to home, choosing a trail that follows the perimeter of the grounds of Wadsworth Mansion.  It was a beautiful afternoon and we had the chance to enjoy the beginning of the fall foliage.

You can see the leaves already starting to change.

Checking out an interesting acorn.

On the trails.

Stopping for a rest and some water.

Sisters.

See what I have Mommy?

Let's Dance!

This week, the girls started another year of dance at TDI.  This is Elizabeth's fourth year and Emily's second year and they are each taking a new class - tap.  I have long resisted tap (for reasons unknown even to me), but after watching the recital last year, both girls were insistent that they were going to take it and I gave in.  Elizabeth now takes ballet, tap and jazz and Emily takes ballet and tap (no jazz for the little kids).  They were very excited for classes this week - because they love to dance and because we got them new leotards.  We are very interested to see how the year plays out for Elizabeth, as she now has full time kindergarten and then, one night a week, is taking dance class at a time when she's normally already in bed for the night.  But we are really thrilled for another year of dance with Miss Jen.

Their pile of dance shoes.

Elizabeth in her new leotard - she wouldn't stop moving because she was so excited, which is why it's a bit blurry.

Lots of shoes = a little dance bag to carry them in.  Another exciting side benefit for the girls.

Emily and her dance bag.

Can you tell that she's excited?!

2nd Annual Alliance Against Cancer 5K

On Saturday morning, we traveled to New Hampshire to participate in the second annual Alliance Against Cancer 5K.  Although the conditions were less than ideal - it was pretty much pouring the entire time - there was a great turnout, including many of New Hampshire's elite runners, which made for a fast field.  It was a great day for the LeBlanc family in so many ways: Lee's father was able to publicly thank his sister (Aunt Emily) for being his bone marrow donor and he fired the gun to start the race; I ran my personal best 5K time, by almost a minute; Aunt Emily ran a great 5K and Lee's mom finished the 5K walk strong; Elizabeth ran her first ever kids race (with her BFF Ethan); and we were recognized for raising the most money for the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.

Thank you so much to everyone that donated - we really appreciate it.  And a special thanks to the Boucher Family - Janet, Kevin, Ethan and Owen were such great sports, braving the rain - they were so great cheering as I finished.  Ethan "the one shoe wonder" ran his first ever kids race too and he and Elizabeth had a great time hanging out.  Ethan really sprinted his heart out in the kids race, even though he lost one of his shoes only steps into the race - clearly, his parents are raising him to finish what he starts!!!

At the start - Grampy and Aunt Emily with Christine, the brains and energy behind the road race.

Grampy fires the starting gun.

Elizabeth and Ethan compare numbers - even the kids got race numbers.

 

Maureen at the finish (25:04 is my new PR - which I will try to lower at my next 5K, in less than two weeks!)

Janet captured this great action shot of the start of the kids race.

Ethan is in the middle and Elizabeth is rounding the corner.

Ethan and Elizabeth showing off their blue ribbons.

Aunt Kathy and Emily (Emily refused to run the kids race, even with Auntie Kathy)

Sharon, one of my high school track teammates, was the 7th woman to finish and the first in our age group!

Our trophy for raising the most money.

First Day of Preschool

On Tuesday, Emily started preschool.  She is going to the same preschool that Elizabeth attended for two years, so when we showed up on the first day, she was already very familiar with her surroundings.  So familiar, in fact, that she put her lunchbox and sweatshirt in Elizabeth's old cubby - which is not her cubby!  She said hello to her teacher, picked up her name tag, washed her hands and then set about playing.  I could barely get her to pay attention to me long enough to wave goodbye.  I'm not quite sure if I was relieved that she didn't put up a fuss (which Elizabeth did for the first two weeks of preschool every year) or sad that she didn't seem to care that I was leaving!  In any event, we are thrilled that she adapted so easily and is already enjoying school.

Happy to finally be having her first day of school pictures taken.

Showing off her new dress.

Elizabeth and Emily

Lee and Emily

Maureen and Emily

Showing off her lunchbox.

Cheesy grin!

See ya later Mommy.