In My Womb...

This was our first 3-D ultrasound, and after five years, the technology has certainly changed. So much so that these pictures are a little...well, disconcerting. Not the least because you can see the inner contours of my womb. Gyeh.

So I was just going to post the picture, with a title reflecting our excitement. Then I felt I must let you know, dear Reader, that these images, though we adore and marvel at them, also kind of weird us out in the nebulous suggestion of detail. We excuse you if you feel the same way. I will leave you with Finn's summation of the on screen images in the exam room: "She looks like Lego Dobby."

School Time Well Spent

Howdy. It takes a special event (as I'm sure you've guessed by now) to warrant a post on this blog. Well, the boy's first year of school is almost over. We're so proud of how far he has come in his reading, spelling and math skills, not to mention the social self-confidence he's gained. He's perfected the eye roll, for instance.
Kindergarten has also had a profound effect on his artistic nature. He likes to marry this artistry with academia, for instance writing words for all of the pictures he makes. Below is an example of the boy's amazing spelling skills, his engineering diagramming, and of course, biology.

How World Views Are Made, or Sixty Years Is A Long Time

I've been looking for chapter books to start reading with Mimi. Finn is so easy, he'll read just about anything with you, but Mim is a bit less patient. It's got to be GOOD. Then I remembered, somewhere I had the entire series of Little House books, in a collectors box, gift from Gran Christmas of '86. Of course, I hated the tv series, but I loved these books. I even remember that cover, with Laura just adoring her new doll.

"It'll be wholesome," I thought, "With wholesome mother-daughter bonding, and simple adventures. Perfect for a four year old." Chapter One starts out simple enough, describing life in the log cabin with trees everywhere. It's all nice and cozy until Laura looks out the window one morning and sees two dead deer hanging from the big oak trees in front of the house. "What?!" says Esme.

I kept reading. They butcher a hog. Then a wagon of fish, some as big as Laura. Then there's some lovely garden harvesting. Then, Pa shoots a bear that has just killed a pig. Seriously. I thought it was about time to put down the Big House for a little while and talk about all the killing going on in the Woods there. We chatted about Daddy not liking to kill animals, ("But he goes to the grocery store.") and about refrigerators ("Grandpa kills meat.") until I was quite certain she was just fine. (ha!)

Not five minutes after we finished the chapter, here is what I heard out of those two:

"Cut this bear up into plump slices and hang it in the attic! We can store it there 'til we're ready to eat it this winter."
"Yeah, I just caught this grizzly bear and now I need to skin it."

Annual Halloween post

Well, here it is. Almost a year since my last post, and there were some remarkable similarities between them! Here are some pics of the kids in their Halloween costumes. It's a shame they have such a hard time getting into the spirit of things, isn't it?

Take that, Waldorf!

There are some things I really love about Waldorf. But I just don't think we could do another year of it. It's the tuition, sure, but look at this. This kid's head is bursting with his ginormous math brain. First story problems, and then sums, and for what? For the sheer FUN OF IT. I will probably always wonder with Waldorf what might have been. But we're committed to the neighborhood school now...a half block away can't be all bad. Right?

Better Than Television

Help Wanted--Little Elves Needed

Those who know me, know that if anything will bring a blog post out of me, it's Halloween. Nothing unexpected there. What is surprising is that the kids actually got costumes out of me! Craft faires to prepare for, the holiday sewing rush coming up, Halloween parties to plan, coordinate and attend--is it any wonder she doesn't post for a month!?! I am hiring for little elves for the season!

Here is the best picture we got this year of the kids in costume. If anyone has a better picture...email me!

The absolutely best best part of these costumes is they are ALL FROM STASH!! Not a piece of fabric or trim purchased this year. Esme is wearing a princess sash that we got at a thrift store earlier this year, though. And she's missing her way cool crown!

Finn's pumpkin is on the top step, and Mim's is the lower one. They both drew out the faces they wanted on paper, and after they had gutted the squash, Bri carved the paper likeness. Good times.