Fall Fun

The wind is nippy (and 40 mph).   We’ve built our first fire to knock the chill off, and we’re being swamped by the neighbors leaves.   It’s officially fall in Virginia.

Each day looks as if God took a little extra time to paint everything extra special for that day.  Today’s yellow is tomorrow’s orange.

The kids have a never ending job of raking leaves.   All those trees in the background belong to the neighboring church, but they don’t rake.  So the girls tend to it each year.  (They should send them a bill.)

The dog hinders progress.  He watches, oh so quietly, looking so innocent.  

Then, just as you have a really good, big leaf pile going.  Here he comes….

I’d be willing to bet he’s watched Snoopy do this to Charlie Brown a time or two.  Dumb dog.

Another sign of fall here is the making of popcorn balls.   My husband has fond memories of his grandmother making these gooey treats when he was a kid.  We try to make them at least once during October.  

These are the simple, fun days of fall that we enjoy together.

Christmas Crafting

The girls love to make things for people.  Even if it’s just scraps of paper glued to each other, they put lots of love into their art work.

This year we ventured into the world of making potholders.  Yes, I know, it’s another rite of passage to make potholders as gifts. 

The girls and I really enjoyed working on these.   And, yes, the colors really ARE that bold.

 

   

So look out grandma’s, you’ve got new stuff coming!  (Don’t worry, NONE of the grandma’s have a clue how to turn on a computer.)

Oh To Be a Ballerina!

Olivia has always been one of those “trip over thin air” kind of kids.  In part, I think a lot of it has been that she grows so fast that she just has a hard time keeping up with her own self.  Part of it is, well she’s a kid, and kids do fall a lot.  Then there is the point that, well the child is just plain clumsy!

When she was four I decided to sign her up for ballet classes.  My logic was that she would at least be more aware of her body and her surroundings.  So for the first two years of ballet, she basically learned to fall a lot prettier! 

Then somewhere in the middle of this, her third year, something happened.  Suddenly, she was actually dancing and not just tripping to the music!  Her movements became more graceful and purposeful.

In March she competed in her first performance awards, and I was in tears as I watched her perform.  She earned a silver medal with distinction honors and I couldn’t have been prouder.

This past weekend was the Spring Ballet Recital.  The theme was “Under the Sea”. Olivia was to be a Sea Princess, and Lindsey was a Rainbow Fish.  Lindsey’s class performed with 2 other classes, each class in a different color.  She was just plain cute.

I was dumbstruck when Olivia’s class danced on stage.  Somehow, my clumsy, easily distracted child had transformed into an extremely focused dancer.  She carried herself with a confidence I’d never noticed before. Not once did she look to the other dancers to see what they were, or were not doing.  She looked straight ahead, smiling and dancing beautifully.

Musical Beds Anyone?

I used to babysit a little boy named Hunter. He is 3 months older than Lindsey. I had him from the time he was 15 months until last year when we moved. (Side note...tomorrow is one year since we bought our house.) He's spending a few days with us this week.

Lindsey and Hunter have always been extremely close. It took us a long time to convince them they weren't siblings. He called her Sissy until just recently. They've been together several times since we moved and it's always as if they've never been apart. In June Hunter turned 4. Several days before his birthday he picked some flowers for his wedding. His mom asked who he intended to marry and Lindsey was his response... no surprise there. She tried to convince him that he was a bit young...he finally agreed to wait until he was 4. Lindsey was thrilled, but after thinking on it a bit she said she would marry him when they were older because "we're just children now". SMAAAAAAAART girl!

We hit the park, and Olivia's baseball award ceremony today. Tomorrow we're traveling about an hour north to meet some of my old friends for a picnic. Hunter as usual just blends in as part of our family. He just seems to belong here. Although he's slept in our home on many occasions, it has always been during the day, never over night. So to be honest I was a bit leery of bedtime tonight.

The biggest problem was deciding where to put him. Originally I'd planned on moving Lindsey into Olivia's bed with her, and letting Hunter sleep in Lindsey's room alone. Hunter on the other hand, announced that he's no longer planning to marry Lindsey, but has decided to marry Olivia instead. So he said he wanted to sleep in Olivia's bed so they could snuggle. THAT.IS.SO.NOT.HAPPENING.MISTER!!

Olivia didn't like the idea of Lindsey in her bed. She said "I'm just not comfortable with it." (Who ARE these people???) So Hunter is in Lindsey's room, Olivia is in her own room. Lindsey is asleep on the sofa, but will move to my bed when I retire for the evening. Which means the husband will end up on the sofa because he swears that Lindsey takes up too much room in the bed.

So at least two out of the five of us will end up sleeping in the correct spot tonight.