New toy

Daniel is thrilled with the new toy we got today.

We are the third family that this rocking horse hopes to live through. He has been carefully fed and groomed by previous owners. I hope I will be able to say the same for my offspring, and that we can pass it on again too.

An aside: similarities between kids

Daniel looks like a mixture of Jamie and Bradley here to me.

I was hovering over Daniel as he was rocking madly on this new toy of his. Meanwhile, Philip was urging me (as per usual) to give him some space, as "he's doing just fine on his own!"

Which he was.

Nathan and Melanie spent this time thinking about all that fun they missed out on, all because they were born too soon and have grown up too fast to enjoy this great toy. But they are also enjoying Daniel's enthusiastic enjoyment of his rocking horse.

And Matthew? He's far to busy making use of other opportunities to waste his time here. After all, he had a quick turn, and well, there are many other things to accomplish before bedtime!

Favorite Fall Pastime

The weather couldn't have been better today. My absolute favorite. Warm (not hot) with a touch of coolness. Sunny. The smell of fall in the air.

We didn't have many leaves collected on the ground yet, but since conditions were perfect, we decided to finish filling up the last bag from last year anyways.

We did collect more than I expected. The kids were able to hone their raking skills in preparation for the bigger part of the fall leaf collecting, although they will have to fight me for a turn with a rake.

That could get scary.

What hard workers these guys are! An Asian grandfather who walks past our house regularly gave me the thumbs up when he returned with his grandkids on his way back from picking them up at school.

But rakes and hands are not Daniel's style. If he's going to help out, he's going to go all out and have all the appropriate machinery.

A moment outside

Eating cucumbers in the fall air.

These kids are all cool as cucumbers.

Three bugs in a boat:

Nathan was bossing Melanie around to shove him and Matthew through the yard. She seems quite willing to accept all his demands. Matthew is just there for the ride. He has retired the role of intermediary between them.

One farmer with his pitchfork:

He'd just been teasing me. He was offering me the toy, then pulling it back when I grabbed for it. Stinker!

Ups and downs

Daniel has figured out how to go up the stairs. He's even made it up the long stretch of stairs, although most of his practice has been on the four steps at the top.

He's only fallen down it twice. Once with the help of Matthew.

Matthew does like to help Daniel (who doesn't always appreciate Matthew's generous assistance), and
I suspect
Matthew has also helped Daniel go down the four steps. After all, he saw me turn Daniel around and dangle his leg over the edge. And I have yet to see Daniel down at the bottom of those four steps without Matthew being nearby.

Bluffing around

"Keep holding it up Melanie, I'm almost done."

"OK, it's done now, you can let go."

"Oh NO, don't let go, I'm NOT done! "

"Now I have to put it back on again!"


Thoughts: Oops, so sorry. (not!)


Thoughts: Melanie's blindfold is waiting...c'mon!

Clean start

After being dirty and stinky all week, it's good to get cleaned up for Sunday, to get a fresh start to the new week.

Daniel thinks baths are so much fun! He was very offended that he only got to share a bath with Matthew, and was not allowed to join Melanie later. And he was even more offended when he wasn't allowed to join Nathan either!

Tub time with Matthew and Daniel is usually a combination of splashing and doggy piles. They seem to mutually enjoy their bath experience.

Matthew loves the water too. He had been so disappointed that he was too young for swimming lessons this summer, but fortunately he is good at improvising, and he carried over some of the skills he saw Nathan and Melanie learn during his tub time.

He also likes pointing out his wrinkly hands. He's made the word "wrinkly" even longer ever since his Dad pointed out that he was saying it incorrectly.

Perfect, almost.

Today I had the perfect picture. Almost. I was walking along cheerfully pushing the double stroller, Nathan and Melanie were pedaling carefreely, and Matthew was sitting protectively putting his arm around Daniel who was comfortably sitting with his doggy blanket held in his hand, and his thumb in his mouth.

I even had the camera out,
With full batteries in.
But no memory card.

Sorry.

Kids update

This is Nathan.
(In case you can't remember his name, since it's been so long.)

He started homeschool kindergarten this year. He loves it sometimes.

This is Melanie.

She's very pleased to be a student this year too, most of the time.

This is Matthew.

He's very happy(most of the time) to not be a student, and to have ALL his time to himself.

This is Daniel

He took his first (3) steps last week at the park. And has done no more since then. He'll try again when we're not looking.