Some Fun Pics

Making a bird feeder at the Harvest Festival at Breakheart

Painting a "Piratey" Pumpkin at Breakheart

Proudly holding the wreath we made with fall leaves collected just outside of Mia's school

Dusty and Claire gettin' crazy at the festival

It's really impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time anymore, this was the only shot we got of the four of us

We had a little Halloweenish Fall type get together at Claire's house tuesday.  At one point the kids all decorated cookies.  When I took this picture all the other kids had gotten up and started playing, leaving most of their cookies still sitting on their plates.  Mia finished all her cookies and then licked her plate clean.  It was clear which child was allowed the least amount of sugar on a regular basis.  Oh Mia!  

What a Weekend

Friday night Dusty got into town to stay with us for the weekend.  He made in just in time to tell Mia goodnight as she was drifting off to sleep in our bed.  He always sleeps in her room when he's here and she comes in with us.  When he came out he remarked that she sounded different.  Older.  He said her whole voice, the way she was speaking sounded different.  She really does need to stop growing up.  

Saturday morning Dusty and I took Mia to gymnastics while Shelby and Lennon napped.  Afterwards we all went over to meet Claire, Mateus and Bianca at Breakheart for a fall harvest festival they were having.  We watched as they pressed fresh apple cider, then we got to drink it along with fresh apple cider donuts from Brooksby Farm, a nearby farm.  The kids decorated pumpkins, painted pictures of fall leaves and made bird feeders out of peanut butter and birdseed.  It was lots of fun and everything is just soo pretty up here in the fall.  We try to be outdoors as much as possible.  

Sunday we went to church and then Lennon and I took a nap and Dusty played with Mia out in the living room while I'm pretty sure Shelby napped on the couch.  Later in the evening Mia and I went out to the Science Museum and watched The Greatest Places at the Omni theatre.  The movie was awesome.  Mia was amazed that there were actually places like that in the world.  She kept saying "you mean there are actually places like that TODAY?  Not just way back long ago?"  I guess we need to get that little girl out to see the world.  I guess she's only 6, but someday.  She really loved the movie.  Some of the places in the movie were The Amazon, The Namibi Desert, Iguazu Falls, Tibet and Greenland.  After the movie we shared a bowl of dippin dots.  They had a Halloween flavor called Spookies and Cream so we got that.  The guys stayed at home to watch the Cowboy game and put Lennon to bed for me.  

Monday Mia went to a day camp at her gymnastics from 9-1 then we hung out with Mateus for a while before heading over to karate at 3.  Mia, Lennon and I went for a "leaf walk" inspired by a book she picked out at the library called Leaves, Leaves, Leaves.  We picked several of our favorite leaves, brought them home and did little crafts with them.  She's such a sweetie.  Lennon loved the walk.  He's sort of down to one nap a day.  There are some days he takes two naps, but he can totally deal with just one nap now which is nice for getting errands done and taking Mia around to her various activities.  I'll post some pics from the weekend later.

Brocc On!

Good news.  Tonight at dinner, not only did Lennon sit with us and eat the chicken parm that I made with whole wheat pasta, but he also voluntarily put several pieces of broccoli into his mouth and chewed them up and swallowed.  I know this may sound like something I wouldn't be so excited about unless you are aware of the fact that Lennon pretty much refuses all vegetables unless they are in puree form and even then he has to be in just the right mood for them and prefers orange vegetables over green.  So, this is a big step and I couldn't be happier.  Hopefully this is a sign of good eating habits to come.

I Can't Believe I've Forgotten to Mention...

Last Friday sweet, little, wonderful Mia - spent recess with the assistant principle!  She threw a sugar snap pea at the girl across from her at lunch after that girl had thrown something at her.  The episode was dubbed a "food fight."  She was, according to her, yelled at before being tried, found guilty and sentenced to a missed recess.  Her teacher sent a note home that said something like  "Mia spent recess with the assistant principle today because of a food fight...I know, I was shocked too.  She seemed really upset about it so I decided not to change her color for the day."  In her class they all start out with a green sticker and if there are problems it can go to blue, then yellow and if they are really out of control it can be red.  So far Mia has had one blue and it was due to excessive talking on the second day of school.  She is pretty upset about the whole situation and suggested that she be grounded from tv for two weeks as a consequence.  We agreed, but I will probably let her out of it early because she is just so sweet and wonderful.  

Spike

Poor little baby Lennon's fever registered at around 104 sometime this morning as we were getting ready for church.  Instead of running out the door for church we headed over to our family doc's after hours clinic.  We were hoping that our ear thermometer had registered wrong, but when they checked his temp rectally an hour or so after we had first checked it, it still came in somewhere in the upper 103's.  He was still putting up a good fight though, which the doc said was a good sign.  She said she didn't usually see kids with such high fevers that still had so much fire.  I was not surprised.  That's Lennon for ya!  They couldn't find any sign of illness other than the fever.  Ears, throat, lungs, everything looked and sounded great.  She said to just try to make him comfortable and if anything else develops to give Dr Coffey a call during the week.  He seems to be doing better now.  We've got him dosed on Tylenol and Ibuprofen and he's sleeping away.  What's to come in the morning I have no idea.  

Sibling Love is Good Medicine

Lennon is sick.  So far the only symptom is a fever and general discomfort.  After sitting for a while with me and snuggling he started to feel a little less hot.  Mia was walking around playing and cleaning up her toys.  When she walked out of sight he started "uh uh" ing and pointing to the direction she had gone in.  I asked if she would come over so he could see her.  When she got over to us he got down from my lap, took her hand and led her over to the blocks in the play area of the living room.  He sat down with her and they have now been over there playing with the blocks for a few minutes.  It's so cute when they play together.

Getting older

After school when Mia had finished her homework I asked if she would like to go to a park for a while.  It was really too late in the day to have any of our friends meet us there and she was pretty disappointed about that.  Then she put on flip flops and I don't allow her to wear flip flops to playgrounds for safety reasons.  So there were two strikes against her good mood.  It seemed like it had been a good amount of time for her to have gotten shoes and socks on in her bedroom so I went back there to check and see if she needed any help.  She was sitting on the floor looking very defeated.  "What's taking so long?"  I ask.  "We're losing valuable play time at the park."  

"I can't get my socks on right!"  She whines.  "I never learned.  No one EVER taught me how to put my socks on right and now I don't know!  I AM A SIX YEAR OLD WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO PUT HER SOCKS ON!!"  She is now wailing.  I cradle her in my lap and pet her sweet little head.  "It's okay."  I tell her.  "I'll teach you how to put your socks on."  It had never occurred to me that she didn't know how to do this.  She had put her own socks and shoes on lots of times.  I showed her how to line up the line across her toes and the different color that goes around your heel.  She seemed to feel better now that she finally knew how to put her socks on properly.  She calmed down and we went on to the park.  Which I might add, was a supreme success.  We have found a new park that has fun/safe stuff for both big kids and little dudes like Lennon.  I do think Mia has inherited my flare for the dramatic though.  Hmm...I think she got a fair share more brains though, so it should be okay.  :)