Changes...

Katie has been transformed from cute little girl to still cute, but not so little girl! Her new do has her looking older. It also allows her to "fix" her hair on her own more often which is great for mom too! :-) The hair is going to Locks of Love along with my braid from when I was five and mom cut my hair!

Katie's "New" Room

Katie has been asking me to move the furniture in her room for several days. She finally got her wish today. The deal was that she had to tidy her room first before the furniture could be moved. Somehow the extra motivation caused an impressive display of room cleaning! So, the room above is the post-furniture-moving result! Katie was so excited about her "new room" that when it was time for bed, she arranged tomorrow's school clothes on the floor!

Jack-o-lanterns, oh my!

Well, Columbus Day...aka Canadian Thanksgiving...aka an excuse to stay home and make pumpkins...aka an excuse to make a turkey dinner...aka fun with pumpkin seeds...

We had a lovely day home (the three of us, since Dad had to work) and spent several hours cooking turkey, carving pumpkins, roasting seeds, and (of course) eating turkey, yum. Well, Bret got to eat some turkey for supper too! The kids thought the raw turkey was gross, but took some time to touch it and check it out inside and out! (Followed by some serious handwashing!) We baked two pumpkins and scooped out the soft flesh for pie. We smelled the baking turkey and seeds! It was a lovely day!

Piano Lessons!

Katie and August have started piano lessons for the first time this fall. They are playing such songs as "London Bridge is Falling Down," "The Wheels on the Bus," "Yankee Doodle," "The Muffin Man," etc.. In the picture Katie is showing Grandma and Grandpa what she can remember of her songs at their place. We are still practicing on a large keyboard at our house, but are hoping to get a used piano soon! The thing for me about the kids playing piano, especially when they started practicing scales and arpeggios, was that I was transported back in time to days gone by... Listening to my brothers playing the same songs over and over again. I wonder suddenly what I've gotten myself into...

Friends and Cider

We've been busy hosting friends and family during the last several weeks. It was fun to see Dane (Bret's cousin) and Lindy and their kids--our first time meeting the new baby! We've also recently had friends from church (our small group) and some friends the kids made through school. Tonight, after a little exercise at Safety Town, we had Bret's parents over for a traditional "faspa" (light supper). They helped the kids study for tests they have tomorrow. August is studying American history (the Revolutionary War). The entire fourth grade is being unfairly taxed (losing their feathers--reward system--randomly and they are not happy about it!) Queen Georgina (the principal) comes in and collects the taxes and does not allow the students a voice in the decision making! (Taxation without representation...and August is rather pissed off about the whole thing!) Katie is learning some interesting facts about Illinois (she can identify the state tree--Oak, state flower--Violet, and find Illinois on a map).

Bret had an adventure today in cider-making! Some time ago, he found a (really big) cider press at an auction and got it for a song. I thought he was crazy at the time and had been hoping he would come back with a new lawn mower instead...but today all his efforts were rewarded!!! I was wrong!!! (I write this for his benefit :-) ) We have some new friends who shared some pears from their harvest, so Bret tried out the press for the first time! It was REALLY Good!!! I've never had pear cider before, but it tastes surprisingly like apple cider. We are loaning the press to our friends for use with their pears. Looking forward to making more cider when our apple trees begin producing more apples!