some things we do at home

The boys have nursery school, their Early Childhood class, and 2.5 hours of church every week, so sometimes it's nice to just stay home.



Actually, N is much more of a homebody than his brother. The other day, after a family outing, O began his familiar refrain of "But I don't want to go home!" N said, "I can't wait!"



N is especially into crafts and blocks, but both boys love them.



The boys brought letters home to decorate and bring back to school. They stay up all year in the classroom and are used to talk about letters.



N is starting to write his own name. Both boys are picking up letter sounds and can often tells you what letter a word starts with. For O, this is really sudden--he had no interest in any of this until a couple of weeks ago, which was fine with me, but now he's starting to put real effort into cracking the code. Both boys are also really interested in counting and numbers, often adding on their fingers. They bring lots of colorful artwork home.

Playing Bingo, a nice gift from Omie

Who needs toys when you can "sail to Holland" in a cooler?



N peeled the carrots, while I sliced the last gorgeous red-picked tomato of the season. We've got many green-picked ripening well, but it's not the same.



Look, Omie--the boys love a soft boiled egg with strips of toast!

The ladies are almost old enough to lay, and we're anxiously awaiting the day.

Chickenball must always be played with mis-matched rubber boots. It's, like, a rule.

We had 28 church parents and children in our yard for a kid-friendly potluck and party last week.

The kids has a blast, especially Oli*ver, who really loves to dance.

out and about

I've just gotten somewhat caught up on pictures, so be sure to look at the 2 posts below this one too.



The boys had a good time at the church retreat. The bunk beds were a particular attraction, but they did go right to bed and sleep until morning, so that was an improvement over other recent travels.

The four of us have hardly had any time together since the end of the summer because September was so busy, but we took some time to visit the Wildflower Garden once more before it closed for the season this week. The boys were very fascinated by the picture map. Actually all maps are very interesting to them right now.







And who is this handsome man with the short hair?

cousins

Watching Auntie J*en brings back memories.

The 4 cousins are starting to become more aware of each other, which is a lot of fun. The girls are good buddies, as they spend their weekdays together, but N and O really love seeing them at family gatherings too. N talks about Zo*e all the time.



I think Z*oe and Au*gust need a couple of lassos..













The boys have gotten really brave on the tire swing , making mama a little nervous at times. While it may look like life was just grand on this beautiful fall day, the boys were actually very cranky and obnoxious this particular morning. Preschool is still going well, but there is some fallout from all the change. We've had lots of limit-testing and drama around here lately, with moods swinging like the DOW. I'm pretty used to these phases by now, though, and know they will pass. As usual, the drama comes on the cusp of many emerging new skills.



It's enough to wear anyone out.

Omie and Opa

Opa was in town on a business trip last month, and stayed an extra day and night to see us all. It was a lot of fun seeing the three of them cutting it up together.



Lucky us, Omie came a few days later and stayed for a week. She came for Mea*gan and Ph&il's wedding. I have lots of great pictures of that, but I'll wait to post them until Mea&gan has actually seen them.

We took a nice fall hike to the "Giggly Hills" by the Mississippi River.



The boys were really sad when both my dad and my mom left, which was kind of heartbreaking to see. No^ah keeps asking me how many "sleeps" there are until Christmas, when we go to the "Big Red Barn". "Many, many," I tell him. Today he followed up with, "How many sleeps until I'm old and dead?" I told him that was too many to count.