Halloween

Working on their costumes a few days before the Big Day.

Talmage: Alien with a third eyeball and extra arms (goodbye green bedsheet)
Sydney: Cowgirl on a horse (goodbye pillowcases)
Joseph: Iron Man
Isaac: Spiderman
Clara: Lion (she wouldn't wear the mane)
Jude: Guess.
L: Princess/Fairy

We got together with the cousins. Made scones. The kids came back from Trick or Treating and silently demolished their candy piece by piece. Talmage and Sydney are still (in late November) discussing options for costumes for 2012. Sydney wants to be "ketchup."

What is Sam's Hill is Going On?

Sydney's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Syd's preschool class visited the Pumpkin Patch version of Universal Studios a couple weeks ago. They got to ride a real school bus to get there. Then, they rode a boat around a (very) small lake. The boat triggered sharks and dragons to pop out of the water when it passed by. There was a raft with pirates. And also a narrow-gauge train to ride. And a good-for-nothin' haymaze. The whole setup was pretty elaborate. (I'm supposin' preschool groups are their bread and butter in the fall).

But the things that Sydney loved the very most: a ladybug (pic below; it's on her hand) ....
and these kittens. She missed the preschool snack-time (unheard of!) because she was having so much fun sticking a straw in the cage and watching the cat swipe at it.


We did manage an obligatory group photo. Sort of.

Daddy-Daughter

Conference Weekend

To Gales Creek for a hike and hotdogs.

Warming her tummy.

The following video is Clara showing off her attempts to jump.
Surprisingly, no children landed in the fire the entire evening.





Syd is trying to scrape something off the bottom of her shoe. I sense a meltdown coming on -- but then it is headed off by a timely sneeze.

October

A quiet moment - by which I mean Talmage and the cousins are building legos while Joseph sings the entire Lion King soundtrack into a microphone (a plastic one, acquired from a Wendy's Kids Meal eons ago). Clara is sleeping, Sydney is ballet-ing.

Now I will reflect on the most unquiet, stressful moment of the day: the dinner-prep hour.

Starring: Clara. And correct. She has no diaper on.

Clara clambered up here from the toilet seat. She's not one to let a an out-of-reach counter get in the way of her oral hygiene routine.

Clara is wearing four layers of clothing, plus a handbag-cum-backpack. She insisted on this combination with (extremely) loud vocalizations. I kept putting clothes on until she stopped talking/shouting. I remember when Talmage used to wear up to 7 pairs of underwear at the same time. I think the tight feeling reminds them of the womb. Another bonus is it constricts their airway.


Another time this month we navigated a corn maze.

Robin: This is my first time at a corn maze.
Briton: You never went on a date in college in October?


Syd found a ladybug who whispered directions in her ear. She walked very gingerly so as not to startle the ladybug, who kept her company and crept up and down her arms and across her shoulders for quite awhile. It was very magical for her.

Making corny faces.

uh, here's something...

It's been a while since Robin's posted.  I'll post a photo, for Heather's sake.

We've Been Expecting

And she arrived today!

Stats:
September 23, 2011
1:34 pm
Weight: 111.3 lbs
Height: 33.8 inches

Seriously, we have been living like real pioneers over here. Washing our dishes with our own bare hands - meal after meal after meal. Day in and day out. But those days are over. The Guys just deposited a lovely new dishwasher right in our living room. She is beautiful.

Yesterday, Aunt Ellen came over and before I blinked she was at the sink washing dishes. She grew up washing dishes so she knows the art. Sadly, in the last month of dishwasher-lessness, we did not rediscover the art. All our dishes have a greasy film over them. Like when they came out of the old dishwasher. That leaked and soggi-fied the subfloor.

(Did I trick you a little bit? Did you think I was holding out on you about a pregnancy? Discuss.).

Shaking Some Legs

LEG ONE:



Syd's got serious moves.

Below, at the end, she asks, Where's the Lion Costume? It's a size 18month Halloween costume she's been sporting around lately. It endows her with extra attitude.

Also, below, watch how Clara demurely asks Talmage to dance with her.

LEG TWO:



I like watching them ping-pong ball around. The music in these legs are by a local group, Pink Martini. We heard them last night (courtesy of IIAGPTW) and enjoyed it.

LEG THREE:



You can listen to the song in Leg Three here. Brit translated the lyrics for me - they're hilarious - about losing your body parts all over Paris.

Clearly, A Beautiful Mountain

Labor Day weekend we camped with Dinesh and family at (don't snicker ...) La Wis Wis Campground. It was their first time camping. It was very fun. Anu made really tasty Indian food. Dinesh got a kick out of s'mores. It was stressful trying to keep Clara out of the firepit (when the fire was going, I mean. It's fine if the ashes are cold).

Hai-yah!

Clara. Clara, Clara, Clara.

First Day

In a few years time, or maybe even a few days time, the routine of going to school will be old hat. But not today. Today it is a big deal. Last night we had a "going back to school" special dinner that is all the rage these days. Then a father's blessing.

This morning:

First day of kindergarten

Talmage has been excited for kindergarten for what seems like years. He is excited he can ride the bus (for now. just wait until he learns what 45 minutes feels like-the length of his morning ride). He's met his teacher, Mrs. Weber, twice. He's in good hands. Maybe one day I'll look at this picture and think he looks so little. But right now, to me, he looks very grown up. He'll do great.

First day of preschool

Sydney is excited she gets to ride with dad in the truck to school, which is right across the street from his work. Sydney was up first, got dressed first, and was raring to go. She kept asking Briton all morning, "Are you ready? Are you ready?"

Sydney leaves at 8:50-ish. Talmage waits for the bus at 10:25-ish.

And waits.And waits.

Finally, it comes. I don't know if he's feeling butterflies like I am, but he is all smiles. The moment he's been waiting for has finally come.

The bus driver is not smoking.

And then he's gone.

A lump rises in my throat and a few tears escape. What is this emotion? What is it about sending your first kid off to kindergarten? I walked back down the cul-de-sac with Clara, yet felt empty-handed. So I held her closer and appreciated the now. Then she got wiggly and demanded to "-aalk!" End of emotional moment.

Building an airplane...

...involves precise measurements and lots of tools -- like pruners.

Ahh, the long, lazy days of summer. But, "sigh not so, but let them go, and be ye blithe and bonny ..." because school starts tomorrow!

"Does a [kid] get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”

Useful uses for the Wall Street Journal

The fence wasn't the only thing whitewashed...er, greywashed.

The fancy "creative-things-to-do-with-your-kids" blog said to use tempura paints. But we didn't have any. We did have a few totes of acrylic paint, though, that we'd inherited over the years - most of which had gone clumpy. We squirted out tube after tube until it was gone. A good exercise in decluttering.

Note: when the blog-moms say use tempura, there's a good reason. This activity falls into the category of: clean-up time exceeds set-up/play time.

But .... It was fun while it lasted. So, whatever.

Keeping House

The pile of pavers and sand for The Path have kept the kids busy for hours.

Isaac and Syd look like ragamuffin, pioneer homesteaders: gathering buffalo chips for fuel, sweeping their dirt floors, reinforcing their abode which they Made With Their Own Bare Hands. Ignore the large plastic playthings from the future.

A Stroll Through The Garden

How does one grow those huge heads of cauliflower like in the stores?

Lemon Cucumber

The Pear Tree that was Sown In Ill Will.

It caught a bad virus secondary to the long, wet spring/summer. But it figures since it was Sown In Ill Will. The kids helped me strip all the virus-laden-ed leaves off. It recovered beautiful. But no pears. Figures.

Mmmm! Sown in yummy organic compost (wait. is "organic compost" redundant?).
Dah! Ripped off again!

The summer of the green tomato

I grew this with the intent of foraying into new culinary delights. But I haven't harvested it because what in the heck does one do with Swiss Chard?

Hummingbird friendly

Name this brassica :).

The hot debate at our house is Golden Raspberries vs. Red Raspberries
These are from the progeny of the starts Mrs. Z gave me years ago.

O, Plant A Watermelon Seed On My Grave

Clara takes after her great-grandma Kartchner in her love for watermelon.