There isn't a single place that either us has lived that can compare to Cary, NC. This is an incredible town. It's beautiful and clean, family-friendly, has fantastic schools, an abundance of trails for hiking/jogging, is biker-friendly and has no shortage of shopping/dining/fun outings. The cost of living is pretty low and the job growth in this area is very high. Oh, and Matt & Katy Roberts live here. Enough said. This town was ranked #16 on the list of Best places to live in 2008.

Like I said, there isn't a single place that either us has lived that can compare to Cary, NC. Until next month?

1 PLYMOUTH, MN
2 Fort Collins, CO
3 Naperville, IL
4 Irvine, CA
5 Franklin Township, NJ
6 Norman, OK
7 Round Rock, TX
8 Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
9 Overland Park, KS
10 Fishers, IN
11 Olathe, KS
12 Highlands Ranch, CO
13 Parsippany/Troy Hills, NJ
14 McKinney, TX
15 Carrollton, TX
16 CARY, NC
17 Eagan, MN
18 Richardson, TX
19 Hunter Mill, VA
20 Allen, TX
21 Abington, PA
22 Troy, MI
23 Piscataway, NJ
24 Apple Valley, MN
25 Sully, VA

Read about Cary HERE.
Read about Plymouth HERE.

Daddy's home from MN! We took these last night while we were playing with him. Renee really wants to crawl. We were enticing her with an empty box of macaroni and cheese. Mmmmm...processed food. It nearly worked. Marie's cute little sweater is from my Aunt Margaret. She looks so grown up in it.

Can you tell we've lived away from our family a little too long? Our little Marie is all too familiar with airport travel:

Maggie: "I just talked to Daddy and he is on his way home right now!"

Marie: "Did he get on his flight?"

Maggie: "Yes, he's about to get on his flight."

Marie: "Does he have his boarding pass?"

We have an apartment in Plymouth and will be moving in on November 24th.

Moving. To Minnesota. At Thanksgiving. Brrrrrrrr.

Joel and I took Marie to the State Fair yesterday (Renee stayed behind w/our friends, The Dunnings). She had such a fun time, as did we. I'm really terrible about picking out a couple of good photos, so I'll just post them all.













Princess Presto (from "SuperWhy" on PBS Kids)





Hungry piglets.





We got to watch the cows getting milked.





I think this is a llama. He was so cute. Reminded me of Renee when she used to have the crazy hair.





See the resemblance?















Marie's first over-priced amusement park ride!





There she is, in the blue hat.





Enjoy 44 seconds of head-dizzying bright lights, buzzing and motorcycle riding. Our treat. Marie is on the pink bike, by the way. We were sooooo surprised that she was willing and eager to do this ride by herself. She's definitely growing up.





Daddy took Marie down this giant slide. I think they rode down it on a burlap sack. She loved it, as well.















Joel had to get himself some cheese curds. He has a one-track mind at the fair. They were pretty stinkin' good.





Clifford. He's such a loveable Big Red Dog.





And here are the girls watching Clifford the other day. Sort of related, so of course I needed to post it.





I got to take Marie on the ferris wheel. When we got to the top (and I was completely freaked out) Marie said, "Mommy, this is really cool! It's rocking!"




I didn't take any photos of the fireworks show, but we enjoyed that as well. Good times. It was nice to be able to give Marie a little special attention. Even if it did cost us an arm and a leg :-)

My brother, Patrick, just joined facebook. And THIS is his profile photo. Not cool, Pat. Your big sister doesn't need to see these things. I prefer living in blissful ignorance of the fact that you carry around automatic weapons and roam the streets of Iraq.

Love ya! Be safe!

THIS is by far the most difficult online quiz I have ever taken. I got a 21. And my eyeballs are pulsating.

Renee learned how to pick up food and feed herself yesterday. What a big girl! Her first non-cheerio meal was a tyson chicken nugget and black beans.

Minnesota Mommas

Do you know any?

Boy, I'm starting to get a little emotional thinking about December 1st (Joel's first day of work in Brooklyn Park). Who are we going to hang out with? What will we do? It's going to be freeeeeeeeeeeezing. And poor, sweet Marie. She really has a kind heart and loves her friends dearly. Every morning when she wakes up she asks to have a friend over to play. I'm trying to explain to her that Melanie, Lucy and her other "best friends" won't be in Minnesota. But I don't think she's going to get it until we're there. Today she did say to someone at church, "When I move to Minnesota you won't be there."

Carissa, my lovely sis-in-law, stays at home with her 3+1 kids, but I can only pester her so much (I'm afraid it will be a lot!). It will be a comfort to have her near, though. We always have great talks. And Marie is REALLY excited about getting to play with Isaac, Naomi and Ada more often. As am I!

I think the key is going to be finding a church. We'd also take recommendations in this department.

On a lighter note...Today, we had to let our pet Grassy go. We've had him for a little over a week, and he has been an absolute joy. Who knew that grasshoppers could be so entertaining? We told Marie that we could keep him for a little while, but then we had to let him go back into the forest. But today when we opened our bug catcher cage, Grassy wouldn't leave. We left the door open all morning and afternoon, but Grassy did not want to go back out into the big bad world. Joel had to shake him out. Marie's OK with it. But we're suppose to find another grasshopper and name him "Hoppy".

Renee started eating finger foods this week. Mostly cheerios and a little banana. She's hilarious. Snotty-nosed and sick right now, but overall such a giggle monkey. She loves to be held upside down in front of the mirror and to play peek-a-boo with her shirts when we're dressing her.

That's all. Can you tell I'm bored? Joel's watching the Red Sox w/a friend at a MacGregor Ale House tonight.

21st Centurey Kids are the Coolest



Marie loves music, so naturally we got her her own iPod Shuffle. No, not really. But she does love listening to ours. Especially Mommy's non-roudy playlist. These headphones are great, too, and I love how it is clipped to her diaper (this was right before bedtime). I imagine we'll get lots of use out of them on the 3 days we'll spend in the car en route to Minnesota. And Daddy won't have to listen to Bullfrogs & Butterflies, The Music Machine and Adventures in Odyssey for three days straight.

Listening to a little Derek Webb. I promise we weren't letting her listen to "Wedding Dress". Although Mommy does love that song.





Another attempt at a live action Marie shot.





She just keeps getting cuter. Joel thinks the same about me.

"Mommy, can I marry my Daddy? I want to marry my Daddy! That's my favorite man!" -Marie

It has been a big week. Joel's parents came into town to help out, and Joel and I got to go on a mini-vacation for three days. We went to Manassas (Bull Run) and King's Dominion (an amusement park with righteous roller-coasters) in Virginia. I'm pitiful and did not take any photos the entire time. So lame, Maggie. But here are a few from today. Katy and I took on six kids plus 1 en utero (NOT en MY utero) at our house this morning. And it was actually quite managable! This parenting thing is a cinch. Ha. Haha. Hahaha! Okay, enough weirdness. Onto the photos:





A brunette, a blonde and a redhead walk into a bar....





The three big sisters with each of their siblings sitting on the floor below. I love Baby Emily's face in this photo.





I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I posted both.





Babies, babies, babies! We love us some babies!





Marie and Renee ready for naptime this afternoon.

Do you suppose that a child needs more excitement and adventure in her life when Mommy brings out the fingernail clippers and she exclaims, "Woohoo! A fingernail clipping party!"?