The last few days of October

Tonight it was getting close to bathtime and both of my kids were unusually wired. As in, Stephen at one point, looked at me and said, "I need you to open the door and let me run to the mailbox three times." I was more than happy to oblige in the hopes that some of the Halloween buzz would work its way out. Its not so much from an overload of candy as they really haven't eaten all that much yet - I supposed it is just that we have had one fun activity after another for several days straight. During the day on Friday, Stephen has his Blessing of the Goblins at school and a party, Friday night we painted the walls of the kids worship room at church and made caramel apples, Saturday was truck or treat at the Jags game (and received chick-fil-a sandwiches from the chick-fil-a cow!), today was church and the picnic afterwards with bouncers, playground, and a performance from the Ram Corp from UM which was VERY good. Since we have been home, they have not slowed down. I shooed them into the backyard several times, but finally it was too dark to make them stay outside any longer. Tomorrow Ansley will wear her witch costume to ballet class and she is THRILLED. And trickortreating with good friends tomorrow night. Maybe by Tuesday they will begin to move downhill in terms of energy to burn.... I am just hoping we don't crash into candy/fun withdrawal with short tempered worn out children.

here are a few pictures from the weekend....

Walking to the Blessing from class

Waiting with classmates for the  blessing

walking by the older kids

Ansley :) She and I were playing with the special effects

The toughest ninja around!

Chickfila in the treat bag!

home

Feeling thankful today for my home. It is nothing fancy of course, and a decorator I am not. Right now I desperately need to actually put away the clothes that have been folded and too many other chores to list and its no fun to think about all of them anyway.

But what makes me thankful is that my kids are comfortable here. The can relax here. And do kids need to relax? Absolutely.  My house has plenty of natural light during the day, so that overhead lighting is rarely needed. Today the windows are open and cool breezes are blowing. Through those open windows there is  enough natural light so that books can be read, train tracks can be built, babydolls  can be lined up for school and lunch, legos can be transformed into castles and cowboys can wrangle up their herds in the light of the back window.
A CD might be playing. Or not. but definitely No tv right now.
Just barefoot children playing with their own sense of schedule and interest. Moving from one activity to another as their imaginations create new games and new adventures. The afternoon hours are their time.  A "stay at home" day Stephen calls them. We eat apples while reading or popcorn while building Batman a new batcave. Popsicles usually also make an appearance at some point. These are days that children need, just as much as adults - if not more. Days where a tummy growling means its time to eat and a little boy laying a head down on the carpet while driving a car means perhaps I will lay here and rest a bit while my sissy reads to me.

Saturdays spent at the park or the zoo or at football games are wonderful things. but I will take a Saturday like this anytime. Perhaps it comes from being a working mom. I don't feel the need to get out of the house when we are here. But even in the summers, my kids and I happily putter around the house for hours, so maybe it is just who we are.

We get very few days of these cool breezes and watching my children enjoy their time is one of the best ways I can think to spend the next few hours today.

too many to count...

My heart melts too many times a day to count in this phase of my life. How blessed am I to say that? That pretty much every school day, my two children pour on the sweetness and I soak it in loving every second.

In the mornings, I drop Stephen off in car pool. He lets me put on his little backpack and our ritual conversation begins:
Me: Bye, buddy.
Stephen: Bye, Mommy.
Me: Have a great day.
Stephen: I will. And you have a great day too. I love you the most.
Me: I love you too.
blowing kisses back and forth as I drive away and he walks into the school building. The other moms are jealous I know and I secretly love it. Terrible of me, I know, but I just can't help it. A few of them are still peeling four year olds off their legs. Stephen walks in like he owns the place most mornings. But not before I get at least three kisses blown my way.

Be. Still. My. Heart.

Jamey says I am sending him down the path of mama's boy. But hey, what boy out there ISNT a mama's boy? (I'm kidding, of course!!!)

When Ansley and I get to school, she walks with me to clock in and then we walk hand in hand to her classroom. At her door, I get a hug, a kiss and then "just one more hug" before she goes in to her room. I can not describe how much I love seeing her face throughout the day. I get surprise hugs through out the week when she sneaks up behind me in the hallway or cafeteria. We will wave at each other with little waves when she is walking in line with her class. She loves, loves school. And I love, love seeing her happy and learning.

After much worry and stress over where both of the kids would attend school this year, I could not be more pleased. Both are blossoming and learning. Both are confident and creative.

So far, so good. I will take it.

Pumpkins and deep thoughts

We normally carve pumpkins and we probably will still do that in a week or so, but Ansley wanted to participate in a contest at school in which no carving is allowed. So paint our pumpkins we did. Thanks to Aunt Peggy (who is artistic and creative and well stocked in all things arts and crafts) we ended up with two spectacular pumpkins. She was very adamant that the kids design and do their own work, and with her guidance, they both worked really hard and I was proud of them.

Here is Stephen (looking a little crazy in the eyes) working on his Captain Jack pumpkin. For a kid who has never actually seen Indiana Jones, Star Wars, or Pirates of the Caribbean, he sure does love all three.

Ansley working on the bottom half of her pumpkin. She worked really hard on this pumpkin. It was a lot of paint, wait while it dries, and then paint again.





Here is Stephen's pumpkin minus the hat and eye patch we added later at home.

 And here is Ansley with her finished product.

In other news, last night I was putting the kids to bed. Stephen often says, "i just need to ask you one more thing." to avoid in the inevitable bedtime. Meanwhile, his sister is asleep when her head hits the pillow. Here is the conversation from last night:
Stephen: I need to ask you something.
Me: What?
Stephen: Two things. I need to ask you two things.
Me: Ok I am ready.
Stephen: My first question is When you die, do you wake up in heaven?
Me: What is your second question?
Stephen: What is 8 plus 8?
Me: 16. Goodnight, Stephen. Mommy's brain is now off duty.
Stephen: I knew you were gonna say that.

Happy Birthday Weekend.

It was a Happy Birthday weekend for all of us. My mom celebrated her birthday in grand style at Dauphin Island surrounded by so many people who love her. Luke and Sara were even able to fly in from Colorado. Fishing, wading, sand castle making, eating, eating, eating...a grand weekend was had by all. 

If there is anyone who deserves happiness, my mama is it. 

Happy Birthday, mama. You are loved. 

Jenga Game Time

Luke fishing out the bird kite. It did live to fly another day.

Blowing out the candles

Homemade Key Lime Pie by Ansley. We made two pies and both were quickly gone.

Cakes by Elizabeth. Wow. None of this was left either. How sad for me.

Sunday Afternoon

 **Side note - click the beginning of the post to see the whole thing. :) Trying a new layout. The whole post should pop up as its own little window.

Here are a few pictures from Sunday afternoon chalk time in the front yard. I cleaned out my dumpster I mean, car and the kids played. Fall in Mobile means playing outside in shorts, barefoot, with no thoughts of heat or mospquitos. Some parts of the US may be thinking boots and sweaters - we are just happy to be below 90 degrees.

I wonder where my children get their love of being barefoot from?

 Chalky hands.

Hop Scotch KING