Happy Birthday, Tollie!

All Pumpkin-ed Out

Some days we can't keep up with his need for busyness.

Older Self

"A man is known by the books he reads." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Zane will sometimes refer to doing certain things as showing his "older self."

Learned

One of the things I love most about being home with the kids -- impromptu excitement. We spend a lot of time playing cars -- lining them up, acting out stories, etc.

Wednesday (Zane loves Wednesdays right now -- we talk about this particular day of the week a lot) we were playing cars when Zane started acting out a story involving a volcano. So I asked him if he wanted to make a volcano. We proceeded to begin a project that I knew would lead to entertainment for a day or two.

First he (we) made the playdough. We shaped a third of it into a volcano. We pulled out the baking soda and lemon juice. After hearing the initial fizzle: "Mom, it sounds like Sprite. Does it taste like Sprite? Can I taste it?" So he touched his tongue to a spoon of it. "It should be red like real lava."

When Vanessa got home, she learned from Zane how he made a volcano erupt. And he was sure for her to have a turn.

Of course we then learned to make a gingerbread man from Vanessa . . . :-)

Snowed

 It feels way too early. My kids are so confused but of course we made the best of the adventure.

 Vanessa needs to be careful. Her brother is getting bigger and understands retaliation all too well.

I'm humored by the things the kids do when they think I'm not watching. They buried the pool noodles in the snow and later, when they were ready to come in, I told them to put away everything and Vanessa tried to convince they had. I asked her about the pool noodles they buried and she got the biggest surprised look on her face.

It was fun to climb over and crawl under the ornamental grass . . .

 . . . before beating each other with the dug up pool noodles.

Is it March yet?

Ice Queen

Her eagerness made us a little crazy but I love her determination to try new things. We joined schoolmates at the Chiller on Saturday. I told her to slow down and her first time will go better if she approaches it slowly. She tried. She conquered. Asked by a few people, "You said this is Vanessa's first time?" My response: "She takes after her dad."

She saw some some skilled skaters doing tricks in the middle of the rink. Of course she had to try too -- turns and all.

 Good thing Hayley enjoys Vanessa's challenges.

Zane did well too. He wanted a scooter but all were rented out. He didn't need a scooter.

Vanessa kept going and going and going. When I asked if she would be ready to leave soon. She replied without hesitation "Yeah, let's go out this way." I'm sure it helped that her classmates had just left. We got off the rink and she immediately dramatized the soreness of her feet and ankles, as if we did it to her. She's determined to save face with her peers, but boy do her mom and dad pay for it. :-)

Glowing Moments

The kids could never forget . . .

Even one ray of sunshine . . .

 . . . warms my heart with love.

Honored by God's Graciousness

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." ~ Psalms 147:3

* In memory of John Titus Betz 

Tunnel Rail Memories

I had to push Vanessa out of the house on her school day off. Zane wanted to go to the zoo. Vanessa wanted to stay in her PJs at home. I was determined to soak up the warmth and vitamin D before it went away. So we ventured into the tunnel of the unanticipated and enclosed some memories for the day. 

The zoo was relatively empty. And although we had to check out our maps, we had no real agenda. We made it to South America and talked about the possibility of Asia, but after 2.5 hours at a relaxed pace, we were done after the spooky house, quick train ride and our lunch with the bears.

Vanessa: "Mom, do you like the fall colors here? Is that why you wanted a picture?"

Deep thoughts were pouring in and out of her head. We like to sit on the back of the train when we can -- the whistle isn't as loud and hard to deal with back there. Vanessa worries a lot about the whistles and so forth, especially when she's tired. (It made me really dizzy this time and I had to take a moment to recover after this ride. Silly Mom.)

 Zane was told that licking mushrooms can get him into trouble.

The brown bears had plenty of food. They were fun to watch. And when we went into the polar frontier exhibit, we continued to watch them from the camera inside. We watched them brawl too, up on hind legs.

The polar bears were exceptionally active too. One of the sisters was up on the rock when we first got there. We discovered she was gnawing on a fish carcass. When the beau came near to her, she lunged, growled, and swatted one paw up at him. We decided to sit on a bench and have lunch while we continued to watch the wild activity.

 Gotta check our fingers nails and cuticles every time we're at the polar frontier.

 One of the funnest opportunities -- feeding the frog our maps.

The nap that followed was good too.