And then it snowed. We thought it might, and so piled the toys back in the sandbox before we headed out the door for the holiday. This morning we tried to take Maxim and Noah sledding at the golf course on the other side of town, but Noah would not put on his snow pants or even a winter jacket. He stood in the hallway and screamed. Marcela took Maxim herself, two novice sledders on a pretty steep hill. They said the sled went faster than they expected, but they really enjoyed it. While they were gone, Noah and I played with blocks and with his trains and watched his "Here Come the ABCs" DVD and then he complained some more for a while. He really wasn't feeling well. When Marcela and Maxim got home, Catherine came over made books with Maxim and then snow forts. Marcela and Maxim made the first snowman of the season, this little fellow who survived the afternoon, but had lost his head by morning (Friday night in Maynard, you never know what's going to happen). We saw the squirrel that lives in the big spruce tree in back carrying mouthfuls of dried leaves to insulate his home better. Winter has really set in. The snow melts at the edges and will go away in another day or two, but there is more to follow, I think. This year Maxim seems ready for snow play. Noah may need some more practice. He did willingly put on his winter jacket later when he realized he would otherwise miss a trip in the car. We'll see how he responds to a sled ride. Today Maxim went to her friend Gwen's house. Noah enjoyed some alone time with Mommy and Daddy. We make chili and desserts that have to be cooked in the oven. Warming the house with the production of tasty treats and delicious dinners. Maxim makes piles of snow in an attempt to recreate a snow fort we made last year in the corner of the yard. Maybe not today, but it should be possible before the year turns.

The lawn toys were put away and the toys were taken out again. The fall keeps sending us pleasant days and we keep finding ways to enjoy them. On Saturday we visited our newest cousin, Erik William Beane, a handsome plug of boy who came into the world less than two weeks ago. He is being well cared for by his father Zachary and his mother Shanna. Maxim and Noah thought he was terrific and cannot wait to see him again. Marcela and I thought he was pretty special too. It has been along time since we held a brand new baby. It is difficult not hold another and daydream... Erik is the most recent in a long line of cousins, he's number 11 and counting. The drive to Portland and back in one day was ok for the grown-up (mostly) but a bit too much for the kids, who seem to have forgotten how to go on car trips. "How much longer, Daddy? Are we almost there." Maxim would ask just about every three minutes. Eventually, we got there and we returned without too much trouble. Sunday, our friends Ken and Coralie came to visit with their son Nico. They just learned that they have been placed with a baby to adopt. They will be going to Russia in early December to meet their new baby and then returning to wait an agonizing three months before they can bring her home. Coralie loves to read to the kids and they love to sit and listen. While we were all outside (the day was fantastic) I finished painting the final details on the house. The bottom part of the front porch, its runners and the crossed-slat covering needed small brush work. I also discovered that some of the door frame had not gotten even a first coat. I painted it all, with some help from Nico, and have now finished the house completely for the season. In the evening Ken used our web connection to search for affordable hotels in Moscow and Paris for their trip to meet the baby. We made fresh pizza dough and had cheese, blue cheese, wild mushroom and pepperoni pizza for dinner. Every one ate heartily before calling it a night. Monday, back to work again. Soon the snow will be upon us. Four more weeks until winter solstice and the light and longer days creep back. We are happy this holiday season. Surrounded by love.

The ladder has finally found its way home. It has been unusually warm this week. As a result, the kids get to play outside, and we even got so inspired that we stained the cross-beams on the inside of the fence. The wood had become exposed after last winter and was graying. We don't have enough stain or enough time to do the whole thing this fall (unless there is another weekend like this past) so Marcela suggested the conservationist approach of treating the areas that are in most need. Maxim followed me around the yard as I painted. "Can I paint too, Daddy?" I told her she couldn't since the stain was oil-based and hard to clean up. "Look at what I can do," she said climbing the wrong way up the slide. "Look, Daddy." I would finish a brush full and turn around. "Wow!" I'd exclaim. "Are you gonna paint the whole thing?" She'd ask. The fence looks less intimidating than the house, but it is actually more square footage. Yesterday, Maxim's best friend Gwen came over after their gymnastics class (they have the class together) and they played all afternoon. Marcela said they slept together with Noah in our big bed at nap time. Later in the afternoon Marcela gave them our plain clay pots and some paint and each of them painted a pot. Gwen got to take hers home, along with the aloe plant inside it. This afternoon as the rains drizzled down and warm moist air blew through the region (it was 62 degrees at mid-afternoon!), the kids watched a movie about a giant peach, part claymation by Tim Burton. "Are you gonna stay for the scary part?" Noah asks. "I don't like the scary part." I did, printing some emails and web pages while I was up there. Always something to read. Always something to write. The kids fell fast asleep without argument, as a flood of schoolchildren made their way home past my door.

The ladder has got to go back to our friend Dan, but for the moment it sits in the back yard. Next spring we will have to purchase one of these for ourselves. There is gutter work and roof work to do. It was a cold week compared to those that came before. There was frost three nights. But many of the days were sunny like this one and so the kids have played outside at mid-day. Marcela raked the piles of leaves and, shortly after this picture was taken, I put them in a lawn bag. I would like to compost them. We can use the soil. For the fall and winter we switched the kitchen table back to the end-against-the-wall set up. It leaves more room in the kitchen for the kids to play. Yesterday Maxim did not want to go to her dance class when we got there in the morning. "I don't like to dance the whole time," she said. The school is getting the girls ready for the Christmas show and they practice a lot. "That's what dancers have to do," I told her. "Sometimes they don't feel very much like dancing, but they go and practice anyway. That's how they get good." She thought about it for a minute or two and then said, "Ok, Daddy, I'll go this time." I told her I was proud of her. Noah and I went to the coffee shop while she danced. He walked along the front of the baked goods display and said, "I want this and this and this and this and this." I bought him a banana muffin and me a bagel with cream cheese. He ate the bagel, I ate the muffin. We are facing a small pet crisis these days. Bones somehow got fleas and before we realized it, he had slept in our bed and Maxim's bed and Noah's bed and on the couch and on just about every carpet in the house. We treated him a month ago and the buggers seem to have jumped ship and found their way to Noah and Marcela. About a week ago, they found their way back to Bones. For now, Bones is banned to the first floor, we vacuum every day, and wash sheets and pillows all the time (I even vacuum Bones some times). When we go away for Thanksgiving, we will treat the carpets with borax. Poor Bones. He's 17 and barely has the energy to scratch. The cut light of November is here and the kids cannot wait for snow.

It was a busy October for all of us. It will be a busy November too. The sun came out a few times during the past couple of weeks, although it was mostly rainy. Noah, Maxim, and Catherine are playing school in the backyard in this photograph. But the kids have begun shifting their play inside. We have removed most of the summer stuff from the back yard and put it into storage. Once the leaves fall from the saplings in the yard, I will cover them with plastic for the winter. We have stopped cutting the grass, and are about half done removing the dead growth from this past season. Our sunflower stalks still stand in front, as does one of our tomato plants. The big excitement came last Sunday when we inherited a new piano from Vic Lalli! We dead-lifted it into a small pickup truck and drove it over. It needs some aesthetic work but it sounds great. Noah likes to walk his fingers up the notes. He calls the low notes the "the scary part." "Don't play the scary part," he says when I play bass notes. Maxim is trying to pick out "Twinkle, Twinkle." I'm pretty excited, too. It meant shifting around the living room a little bit. The piano goes where the couch used to be, the couch goes under the north window, the stereo goes to the place where the bookshelf was, and the bookshelf was moved out into the hallway. Everything rotated 45 degrees. But, inexplicably, it has made the room feel bigger and more welcoming. For Halloween, downtown Maynard closes the main street and all the shops participate in a trick-or-treat bonanza. Maxim dressed as Tinkerbell, but would not wear the sweater under the costume. Noah was a clown. Marcela and I wished we had had more time to get dressed up ourselves. Hundreds of people filled the downtown. It was great fun. But because of the holiday, there has been far too much candy in our house the past two weeks. Far too many tummy aches, and far too much crying about wanting more candy. It was easier last year when we spent Halloween in Buenos Aires. Instead of candy, we had cake for Nacha's birthday. (It is spring there, so you can imagine a seasonal holiday like Halloween wouldn't make sense.) A week ago last Friday, as if to remind us that summer was really and truly behind us, it snowed. Not a lot and nothing really stuck, but down it came in great sloppy flakes that crashed to the ground in icy kerplunks. It shaded our grass a little bit white for a few hours. Maxim wanted us to put some in a bowl with maple syrup. "I love snow," she said. "I love to eat it with maple syrup. Can you get me some, Daddy?" "It's not light enough to eat," I told her to her deep disappointment. The trees on summer hill are finally turning too. They are mostly oaks, so they come along later in the season. The fall is rolling through with its last display of colors. No killing frost yet, but we are pretty sure it will be upon us before the next full moon. Our rhythms change, we close windows and replace screens, and put on more clothes, and scramble around to make the most of the shortened days and impediments to movement.