the latest wells family antics

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - Trick or Treat! My tiger and lady bug. My pretty lady bug - poor thing barely fit into her costume. She was like a stuffed sausage because it was too small. But we got it done. Richie was lucky enough to go trick or treating in Newton with his girl friends Maddie (Minnie Mouse) and Haley (the skunk)! He ran from house to house and yelled Trick or Treat. Yep, Regina had to have a costume too!

Some fun fall pictures I took of the kids! I love photo shoots. "My first Halloween" "Leaves are yummy!!" Sometimes photo shoots can be torturous. And sometimes it works and you get a great picture!

Richie couldn't wait until Halloween to wear his costume, so we went to another party at the Myrtle Street Playground in Beacon Hill. This is a great little playground that has a very large mother's group that keeps it clean and plans events. Today there was a puppet show, bake sale, goodie bags and pizza. I love all of the activities the city has to offer! The kids paraded around in their costumes. It was so much fun with so many kids! A tiger in the jungle!

We had the Baron's over for a play date. The boys seemed to get along really well even though they are 2 years apart. And it was nice to finally meet Maddie (although I didn't get a picture of her). We are going to hit the Children's Museum together soon.

Today was the first official full day of Preschool! We were all so excited all morning. I wasn't sure how Richie would do, but he seemed excited. That was until about 5 minutes from the building. He said, "Mom I don't want to go. I want to go back to Toddlers." Luckily that didn't last long. We went into the room, he dropped his lunch box and he couldn't resist all of the new play stations. AND his best school friend Jackson was there to show him around. He kissed me good bye and was on his own within minutes. SO SAD!! They really teach the kids to help themselves and learn to do everything on their own. They put a pitcher of milk/water in the middle of the table and tell them to pour themselves what they want.....WHAT??? No top, no straw, and pour your own? We'll see how that goes. This is the sign that was on the door welcoming Rich to preschool on his first day. So sweet!

Since having kids, it has been much more fun to do things like carve pumpkins. We all get so excited for these family traditions. Actually, the reality in our house is.....I don't touch the pumpkin (just sit and take the pictures) and Richie isn't that interested in gooey things.....so Chris does all the work! But as you can see, he has become very good at it. In previous years Richie has actually screamed when Chris took the top off of the pumpkin. This year he didn't want to help, but he did want a Jack O Lantern. This was painting pumpkins a few days ago on the Prado. You can see it added to the group of pumpkins in our house. Another is from the farm so plan to eat that one!

Although Angela loves to smile (and does so ALL the time) she has been stingy with the belly laughs. Not this day!! She is totally a daddy's girl and he is the best at making her giggle. Enjoy - it is music to our ears.

We had a great afternoon with our buddy Colton today. He invited us to go to the Franklin Park Zoo for their Halloween party. A great Fall day in New England with friends. Can't beat it. Check out the rooster and the owl! Yep, these 2 happen to dress as a lion and a tiger to the zoo. Could they be any more "boy"? Practicing their ROAR! Checking out the tiger. It was scared when these two showed up.

To continue our weekend of getting ready for Halloween, we went to MIT for my work party. There were games, music, balloons and lots of other fun stuff. The best part was that our friends from school were there! We saw Nuri, Tomer, Samantha and JACKSON! Richie and his best school buddy Jackson. They do everything together....two peas in a pod. Luckily Jackson moved up to preschool the week before Rich did, so he was able to show him the ropes. You should have seen these 2 little blond boys on picture day, both in their sweater vests! They look like twins.

Since we already did the "picking" thing with apples, and we have had a few rain out weekend days, we decided we just needed to get a pumpkin before Halloween passed us by. We got moving early and hit Mahoney's (this large nursery/farm store) to "pick" the perfect one! Just like last year, Richie picked the smallest pumpkin he could find. Fine until he got home and said he wanted to make it into a Jack O Lantern. Not possible with this one! As usual, Angela slept through the event. So her pumpkin was picked for her.

Somehow my days home became known as "Mommy/Richie" days. I don't remember how it started, but we begin each morning with the question, "Mommy, what kind of day is it? A Dawn day, Mommy/Richie Day or School Day." Before Angela was born, we used to do fun things every Friday. Needless to say, I think I have a bit of a spoiled child now. When I was 9 months pregnant, I took him so many places. Probably part of my nesting....making sure I got it all in before I would have to lug two of them around. Well that time has come, and I think I can now do it. So it is now Mommy/Richie/Angela days and we are back to having fun! Some pictures from our trip to the Aquarium. There was almost a disaster because Richie's favorite exhibit (the tank with the fish that look like Nemo) is closed. Sometimes I think it is the only reason he wants to go to the Aquarium. But he handled it well. We sat and ate our orange goldfish snacks staring at the empty tank talking a

Yes, pig tails!! This is what Angela looked like when I got home. Dawn (our nanny) loves playing dress up and doing her hair. Can you believe how much hair she has already? Sorry this picture is blurry, I literally had just come from the eye doctor and my eyes were dilated. I couldn't see a thing! I will have to try to get another picture of Dawn.

Today was Richie's first partial day of preschool. He was so excited! Check out his new big boy (Lightening McQueen) lunch box and fancy shirt! I hope to take more pictures when he starts full time. Out in front of the center. In his toddler room - bye bye little kids.

The circus was back in town and since Richie has been talking about it since this summer (Big Apple Circus in Government Center) I figured we had to go (Ringling Brothers at the Fleet Center this time). We had a big group this year so it was a lot of fun! And we went to Beer Works before for dinner and beers for the adults! Richie with his friends Haley and Maddie. I didn't get pictures of Ainsley and Sam Chittick and Brigid and Vivian Hamwey who also went with us. We had a group of 13! And in the end "Wheesa" came too!! I get "Mom" points sometimes I think!

"Those darn Red Sox lost....I had a ticket to the play offs and everything. I was finally going to get to a game. My brother is always talking about it and I was so jealous. Well no need for this ticket now. I can just rip it and put it in my mouth I guess. Go Yankees!"

We celebrated Angela's special day - her Baptism! It was a wonderful weekend with lots of family visitors. We had everyone over our house the night before for dinner and a brunch the morning before. The ceremony was at our parish here in Boston - St. Leonards. She is a very lucky girl! She wore the Baptism gown I wore that my Mom made. It was also on her Great-Grandmother's Birthday who she is named after. Getting dressed by her Godmother and Grandmother. She cried quite a bit throughout the ceremony (just like Richie did!), but just smiled at the priest when he poured the water on her head. It made him (and us) laugh. Angela and all of her parents - Mom, Dad, Aunt Karen and Uncle Matt.

The kids got their picture taken professionally at day care today. I couldn't resist putting Richie in a cute outfit and taking my own pictures of it. I know it isn't really school just yet, but could he really be old enough to have a class picture?? Regardless, I loved a good reason to put him in a sweater vest!

4 months old- weighing in at 12 pounds 4 ounces and 25 inches long. She is our peanut. I had never seen this end of the growth chart with Richie. They are growing so differently. We haven't started her on solids yet. They doctor would like her to gain more weight before we try that delicious rice cereal. They really do look like siblings! Richie at 4 months. Looks like he ate Angela for breakfast!

We had our annual golf trip to Maine with friends. The guys went golfing (Father's Day present) and the girls stay back with the kids and enjoy the beach. Although we had more rain than we would have liked, the kids still got to play in the sand for 3 days. Fun times with friends...the Shumways, Hardings and Blancos. Thanks for the laughs. Angela just LOVES to be outside. Doesn't matter where it is, she just needs the fresh air. Richie really could live at the ocean! He never gets enough of the sand. I had to include this picture of Richie and Maddie because Chris thinks it looks like the Cialis ad with the couple sitting in the bath tubs!