Gramps!

 Two cuddly kids right out of the bath and into their Gramp's arms. I was away at a show most of his visit~ but I could tell when I returned that everyone had been having a wonderful time.  

Monday Class: "Today, our activities focused on the NativeAmericans. We gathered and ate popcorn, heard the story of The First Moccasins, played The Plum Stone Game, and made pinch pots."

Wednesday class: "Today we spent the day with the Native Americans by sharing Johnny cakes for snack, playing several games (Pa-tol Stick Game, Which Hand, and The Moccasin Game), and illustrating the story of Kayas and the Loon."

random updates

Lili & Kestrel at farm school

Monday 11/5: "Today was full of candles and fire! We heard the story of St. Martin, made observations of candles and their flames, and made earth candles. In the picture, we were getting ready to dig the holes we would use for making our candles.
I hope you have a great week and I look forward to seeing your kiddos next week!" ~ Kimberly

In other family news:

* Nene sent us the yearly halloween package & this year it was crazy bow ties and ties and mustaches. Super fun! 

* First time for Seo going #2 on the potty. M&Ms for all!!!

* Lili has her first slightly wiggly tooth! 

* Lili has been taking more and more showers on her own now.

* Seo woke up a 5:00am due to the time change this morning :( 

* We are starting to get SO excited about the arrival of our little baby niece/cousin in roughly 2 months!!! 

being silly with our new duds from Nene!

at the start of trick or treating

bribery

 I tried to bribe Seo with a lolipop (and Gita and Lil each got one too of course) while I cut his hair. It did not go over well. He still was unhappy with me as I tried to snip away, and then hair kept getting stuck on his lolipop. *sigh*
Once again I did quite a hack job due to the difficult working conditions. I am sad to say that the next time he needs a cut it might be with the shaver since there is no way I would subject a barber to what I went through!
(you can see what a gorgeous morning we had!)

this week

Seo and his best friend (and very occasionally worst enemy) Aziza

Monday:: Today was a great day for swinging and most of the kids spent a lot of time either on the swings or in the creek! We also learned about bats, ate some foods they help us have (mango, dates, and cashews - yum!), played an echolocation game, and painted a picture of the night sky. 
I hope you enjoy the beautiful weather this week! See you next Monday!

Wednesday:: Today, we journeyed to Great Britain and the National Art Museum, made our own tea, enjoyed tea and shortbread for snack, and heard the story of The Honest Woodman.  And...there is always time for play, creeks, and feeding animals!
Hope you have a great rest of the week and weekend!

This morning Alex let me sleep in a bit while he gave the kids breakfast, made lunch for Lili, nd coffee for the two of us. After I got up and dressed I braided Lili's hair (it's getting longer!). Seo naturally wanted his hair done too, so I gave him a small bun on the top of his head and bundled the kids into their carseats. On the 20 min drive to the farm school we came upon a blue heron on the side of the road who flew up and threatened to hit our car.  It swerved back and swooshed right by Lili's backseat window which thrilled her. When we pulled into the farm school driveway her friend Lily was getting their as well. She barely said goodbye to me as she and Lily-with-a-Y linked arms and walked up the road. A little boy commented that Seo's hairdo looked like a unicorn horn. Seo wasn't all that happy to get back in the car without saying hello to the goats or swinging on the swing, but there were no tears. It was a beautiful fall morning and it was sweet to get some alone time with him in the car. Lili isn't an overpowering child, but she is older and much more articulate, so she overshadows some of Seo's nuances. These small details show up much clearer when you have a chance to get him alone. He is really funny! And he is talking up a storm... you just have to be really paying attention to understand what he is talking about. 

When Seo and I got home I switched places with Alex who had been working on a wholesale order. He and Seo went for a walk and I began working on some silver earrings. I worked on them all day while Alex went and picked up Lili from school and then built us a new front gate (our old one came down when we plastered our house last month).  When I stopped working at 5:30 Alex made fried chicken, salad, and rice pilaf for dinner while I tidied up our house and did some lunch dishes. Then we sat down to a family dinner. The kids were silly. After dinner Alex got the kids all riled up wrestling, making farting noises, and roaring like dinosaurs at the top of their voices.  Awesome. Then books and teeth brushing and off to bed. That about sums up our day! 

bedtime story