Fall Update

 Brief update for friends and family who are far away...and those who are nearby and just want to see what we have been up to for the past few months...we are all well. We are all very involved in the daily routines of family life (school, work, church service, and home).  Nathan is enjoying first grade, loves his teacher, and is growing up.  He has lost two bottom teeth since the beginning of the school year. 

Erin the Dog is still here.  Both of the children adore her.  She has settled in and made herself quite at home here.  She hasn't picked up on all of the commands I would like her to obey, but then again, I have children to raise and train. 

Mark is still learning at home with me during this last year before Kindergarten.  One warm morning we wrote the alphabet on the driveway and jumped from letter to letter, saying their sounds.  It was fun. Then we told a story with some plastic animals as characters.

The boys have still managed to find time to play after school.  They like spending time in the driveway and backyard. 

Mark is full-speed-ahead on the bike.  He is very proud of himself.  We have been perfecting the art of me walking the dog while he pedals in front of us. 

We visited one of our favorite parks one afternoon after school, and the boys told me this was either Winnie the Pooh's or Piglet's house.  They always refer to the trees in this park as the Hundred Acre Woods.

If you can read the writing in this photo, it explains Nathan's current career ambition to be an electricity manager.  He is quite intent on figuring out all electronic devices in our household, and sometimes this is to my benefit.

We all participated in a cardboard challenge a few weekends ago.  Basically, a local store let kids use their discarded cardboard boxes and a whole bunch of art supplies to create a game of sorts.  The boys and their friends, along with Aunt Melanie, came up with a rocket game.

Nathan was intent on the design as well as the tickets. We must have stayed and worked on this project for about 2 hours.  It was great fun.

And finally, a few weeks ago, we headed to the pumpkin patch located at a produce stand down the road from us.  It was a quick but memorable visit and selection process.  In fact, Nathan was writing a little story about it today.  Funny, I can remember going to pick out a pumpkin when I was about his age.  There is something special about it, kind of a tender moment.

Here's a good toothy grin so you can see what I'm talking about with the bottom row of lost teeth.

Last week, I went along on the first field trip of the year. We saw a lot of animals.  A LOT.  And it was a lot of fun.  Nathan got a big kick out of hand-feeding some water buffalo and llamas.

I sure hope I can be a little more consistent with documenting our family life in the coming weeks.  It is flying by. We are enjoying it and trying to to hold on tight!