Saturday afternoon

The kids were all wound up and buggy and driving us crazy today. Alan and I each made our escapes, individually of course, to get some exercise, but the kids wanted none of that, instead they fussed and argued and bugged. Typical back-to-school weekend stuff.

It all turned around this afternoon though, when Alan was able to convince Lex to help out in the basement. We are so close (still!) to being able to move stuff back in from the garage. Alan just has to get the baseboards and trim done. Today he was working on that and Lex started installing door knobs. He opened the packages, read the directions, and did it (so says Alan) all on his own! Everyone was pretty proud.

lex p1

Lex, hard at work installing a door knob.

lex p2

Proud boy! He’s wearing headphones because Alan was running the saw.

lex p3

Starting on another door.

Eve wanted to make cookies all on her own, but when she put the dough in the fridge for the required 30 minute wait, she decided to go down to the basement and work on her “project.” A project she started last weekend involving scrap wood, nails, and the hammer. She says she’s making furniture for a dog house she plans to build some day in the future.

eve p1

Eve, hard at work on her “project.”

eve p2

She choose to spend extra time in the basement and finish her cookies tomorrow.

So for awhile this afternoon all three of them were hard at work in the basement and it was quiet up here! I was able to cook a good dinner and get started on my homework. Yay! UVEI sessions start up again this week and I need to have five writing assignments completed before then. I have four done already, just working on the fifth.

workshop

Look at that awesome workshop Alan has set up! So tidy and organized. :)

Happy Saturday!

School update

I finished my second almost-full week of school. We’ve had two four-day weeks so far, next week will be the first full five day week!

Things are going really, really well! I’ve taught a few lessons and learned a ton. The 5th graders are smart and funny and just plain fun. I am surrounded by a super supportive, fun, welcoming staff. I couldn’t have asked for a better first placement… though maybe they are setting the bar high for future experiences.

I’m in the process of planning my first lesson. A basic map skills lesson. Wish me luck! :)

Observations

Eve is the most observant person I know. She regularly amazes me with random observations she makes. Awhile ago she asked me why me and Mema always pat each other on the back when we hug. I didn’t even realize we did it, but she notices. Tonight, while putting a band-aid on the inner/back of her thigh, just above the knee, she told me that “baggie” parts of the body don’t do as well with band-aids. I said, “what?” and she started talking about how lots of women have baggy parts “right here” she said, rubbing her upper/inner thigh. Sometimes men too, she added, but mostly women. I love that she says it in a totally non-judgemental way, just as a simple fact related to her band-aid situation. Another time she was sitting on my lap and started tucking my hair behind my ears, just like I always do to her. Her observations are never judgements (not yet, anyway) just simple observations.

I had more to this thought, but I’ve lost it now. I guess I’ll summarize with, Eve is pretty awesome. :) I’ll update later if the rest comes back to me!

Oh, I remember my other example. Eve came home from school yesterday and was telling me that one of her friends had dark circles under her eyes that “were kinda baggy.” She has noticed such things on me before as well. She said her friend doesn’t usually have them (thankfully, she’s just a little girl!) but she did in school yesterday and didn’t look very well. Last night that girls mother posted on FB that her daughter was sick and throwing up. I think Eve noticed she was unwell. So perceptive!

Labor Day weekend – life in the fast lane!

Ok, maybe “fast lane” is a bit of an exaggeration, but we kept busy. On Friday (a day off) we went to the hair salon, appointments for everyone! Then we had friends over to play in the afternoon.

Saturday we braved the potential elements and headed for the apple orchard. We started with the corn maze, an annual favorite, then on to the apple orchard, then we were pleased to discover blueberries still ripe for the picking!

scale

First things first, weighing ourselves on the giant scale.

lost maze

Lost in the corn maze?

running maze

Not for long! They’re off and running again!

lex reading

Lex stopped and read the story along the way, but the other two just plowed ahead.

lex apples

Lex is very efficient with his apple picking.

lifting

The moms doing the heavy lifting while the kids run ahead. Lex was nice enough to capture the moment for me. :)

blueberries

I was so happy to find blueberries on the bushes!

kids

We met another friend on the wagon ride back down the hill. She was in pre-k with Eve. Lex looks funny in this picture, but I like the angle otherwise. :)

Then we bought cider and donuts and had a picnic lunch. I had brought lunch food as well, not just donuts. :) Back home we made an apple pie and apple donut muffins. Yummy!

eve peeling

Eve peeled apples for pie.

eve eating

Eve likes apple pie! And apple cider. :)

Sunday the forecast called for rain, but instead we got lots of sunshine so we spent the afternoon at a friend’s pool, soaking up the last rays of summer.

lex swimming

It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for the pool.

noodles

They had a lot of fun with these pool noodles. I may have to get some next summer.

Sunday night Eve and Alan had a “daddy date” (dinner and Home Depot) so Lex and I went out as well. I was thinking of taking them both to see Planes if it was a rainy day, but Eve didn’t want to see the movie and it wasn’t a rainy day, so that plan fell through. Lex really did want to see the movie though, so we while Eve and Alan were out, Lex and I went to see Planes, then we had dinner and did some grocery shopping. It was a really fun night, despite the fact that we stuffed ourselves with movie theater popcorn and Recees Pieces and both came home with bellyaches.

grocery shopping

Lex helped with the grocery shopping. :)

Today we had friends over to play in the morning, and Aunt Mandy came to visit in the afternoon. Her and Alan went out shopping and to dinner so the kids and I went to the neighbor’s house to have s’mores! Nothing says Labor Day like s’mores! Parrish said, “We’re eating marshmallows. This feels like a holiday or something.” I said, “It is a holiday!” :) Lex had two s’mores (and a few stray marshmallows, I think) then ran around the house eight times! Eve had half a s’more and decided she liked toasting the marshmallows better than actually eating them.

kids peeling

We made another apple pie today. This one was a birthday present for Mandy. Notice that my helpers are so big these days they don’t even need to stand on chairs!

apples

We have a lot of apples!

fire

Toasting marshmallows.

smores

S’mores. Yum!

eve

Eve. What more can I say?!

eve eating

Eve, contemplating how best to begin with her s’more. She got about 3/4 of the way through before she was done and handed it over to me.

eve toasting

She liked this part much better.

lex crashed

Lex ran around the house eight times then crashed at my feet. :)

helping

Eve learned how to get up on the trapeze bar, with a little help from brother. I love when they work together.

swinging

They did some fancy tricks while burning off marshmallow energy!

acrobats

The best trick! They can swing like this. I told them that now if I need to sell them to the circus (a running joke in this house) they will at least be useful there. :)

Now we are hopefully crashing early. Tomorrow begins week two of school. Hope we survive another one. :)

Happy September!