Bits & Pieces :: November

** We've been out to see Jack, our horse friend, again.  He's so healthy and furry now, but sad when he is alone with his pack away for the weekend.  We love the invitations we get to go and keep him company.

** It is a family routine to read books together at bedtime for 20-30 minutes or more.  We gather on the big bed, now with fuzzy blankets wrapped tight around us, to snuggle and read.

All summer and moving into fall we have read Doctor Dolittle, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little, James and the Giant Peach, Pippi Longstocking, Little House in the Big Woods, and now we are in Little House on the Prairie.

This is Evan's second or third time listening to them, but Chloe's first.  She is so attentive and connected to the story.  As I read, she watches me if anything scary or strange might be happening, she laughs whole-heartedly when silly things happen, and she predicts what is coming next with such accuracy you might think she already knew the story!  It is such a precious time together.



** It rained most of October, so fall seems so different this year.  We finally got a stretch of warm, dry days to rake leaves and play!  Amazingly these two responsible, capable children grabbed rakes and cleaned up the entire yard, front and back, to make this mountain of leaves.

They stayed outside for hours and didn't even want to come in for dinner.  It got pitch dark outside but that didn't stop them.  They just ran in the house to grab their headlamps and went back out to work and play.  When their fingers and noses were sufficiently chilled, they came in. 




** 'Tis the season for board games once again.  We've been playing Chess, Monopoly, Risk and Herd Your Horses on a never-ending rotation.  Chloe learned Monopoly this year and, oh my, is she quick to catch on to strategy and money-math problems.

** Chloe's missing tooth space continues to captivate us as she says delicious things like "slip around in my socks" or "colonies and spaceports" or "Speckles reared and pranced."  It's more than adorable and we snicker behind her back all the time.  Plus her other front tooth is dangling there, just waiting to drop out any day now.   She is going to thound tho thilly and thweet.

** One afternoon, Evan was talking about where they had originally found the "walnut boats" they use on their gourd contraptions.  (We speak a different language around here don't we??)  This inspired them to go out again and gather more.  A black walnut tree grows across the street in Kiara's yard and apparently not a soul collects all that free food!  Well, Evan and Chloe did.

They spent days on the floor with nutcrackers and picks, cracking an eating walnuts by the handful.  Evan kept saying, "I can't believe we found FREE FOOD!"  *crunch, crunch*  Too bad meatballs don't fall from trees.



** I've noticed lately that my kids are getting almost too heavy to pick up and hug.  Evan still jumps up on me all the time and hangs on like a bear cub, but lifting him up and playing around with him, I can't do without strain. Chloe is still light enough but she is so l-o-n-g!!!  It's hard to whip someone around in circles when their feet might knock over every candle or plant in the room. 

My little lover-boy tells me he's never going to move out, he wants me to cuddle with him every night no matter how old he gets, and he will still let me pick him up and hug him even if he's taller than me..... We'll see ;-)