Carving

Like I'm sure many of you did this weekend, we carved our Halloween pumpkins.  This has got to be one of my favorite holiday traditions (despite the grossness of picking a pumpkin with the most 'innards' I have ever witnessed!)  We had a great night carving and just being together, laughing at the pumpkin 'guts' and planning what we would carve.  The pumpkins were carved and ready to be taken to the front porch when I turned around and it hit me,  my little V was washing her hands at the kitchen sink.  (Sounds silly, right?!?)  But there she was, no chair or stool to stand on, not even on her tippy toes, fully able to reach the faucet and soap with no help.  When did that happen?  This growing thing is really getting to be too much for me!  And here we go doing it again.  Maybe this time it will go just a millisecond slower...

Getting out the 'guts'...

Admiring the artwork...

All lit up!

Big V & I did 'pac-man' pumpkins, kinda fun!

Hope you all carved a few of your own masterpieces this weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Sunday Sweetness

Just a little glimpse into our quiet Sunday...

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

Poetry

There has been a lot of talk about poems and poetry around here lately.  A few weeks ago we picked up the newest Shel Silverstein book Everything On It and we have really been enjoying it (much like we love his many other books - The Giving Tree is our absolute favorite!)  We have also been reading The Tree That Time Built which is a great compilation of poetry all about nature and imagination.  Then there was that episode of Arthur on PBS the other day about poetry (he's an aardvark, right?)  After that little V decided it was time to get to work on her first piece of original poetry.  Out came the pencils and paper and to work she went...

There's a pumpkin, there's a pumpkin

sitting on my gate.

Such a scary pumpkin.

Oh my, it's getting late.

It's not a pumpkin, it's not a pumpkin.

it's a Jack-o-lantern!

Beautiful, fall Sundays

Yesterday was the kind of Sunday you dream about, nothing to do but just "be."  The sun was shining, it was a beautiful 60 degrees, and we did a lot of nothing.

Aren't they great?!?

Hope you're enjoying some beautiful, fall Sundays.

The needles are on fire!

The past week was spent with lots and lots of down time, doctors orders.  (No worries, things are back to normal now.  Well, as normal as can be expected when a baby is due in just 5 weeks!)  Laying on the couch always seems like a great idea until someone tells you that you have to.  So rather than tuning in and tuning out (there's really nothing on TV) I got busy with the knitting needles.  It was an extrememly productive week.  Check it out...

First off the needles, a pair of baby pants for baby R.  Aren't they cute?!?

A sleep sack for baby R.  Can't wait to see a little newborn all snuggly inside that sack!

Took a break from the baby knitting to whip up a quick cowl for myself.  I got this cool yarn on our trip to Colorado, I'm really excited about this one!

Father & son beanies for big V and baby R.

This neckwarmer is a gift for someone. (Kinda mysterious, huh?!?)

And I have cast on my first sweater.  I'm starting small, a newborn size shouldn't take too long, I hope... 

Bedtime

I was reading one of my favorite blogs today and it was a post about bedtime routines.  It really got me thinking abut our bedtime routine around here.  Because I work in the evening I am not typically home for bedtime and big V has full control of the bedtime round-up.  I have always had this idyllic idea of what a bedtime routine should be (quiet time to wash up, light conversation reflecting on our day, a meaningful story), but let's be honest, in real life you do what you have to do to get the kid into bed at a decent hour, then you try your best not to fall asleep right next to them.

Regardless of who puts little V to bed one thing is always included, story time.  We all know the importance of reading to your child to help them gain literacy skills (blah blah blah) but to me those few minutes of story time are magical.  I have always loved to see her reaction to a new story, see which books become favorites, hear her retell a favorite part of a story, watch her response to the illustrations, ask questions and explore her own ideas.  And now as she is learning to read herself, it's amazing to see the way all of those same aspects of story time are evolving.  Now she always wants to follow along to my words with her finger, attempt to read some of the stories on her own.  I know that any day now she will be reading the bedtime stories to me and I don't think I've ever been so excited for something.

I've always loved to read, to be transpoted to another time or place through the magic of a well written book,  I hope little V loves to read as much as I do.  (I think she's already pretty crazy about her books!)  Now that idyllic bedtime idea has evolved a little.  Just imagine, little V, me and a new baby R all cuddled up together with little V reading to her little brother...

What are some of your favorite bedtime stories?  I'm always on the lookout for new books!  We have been on an old fashioned fairy tale kick for about 2 weeks now.  (Rumplestilskin, The Pied Piper, The Fisherman and his Wife - remember those?) But some of our favorites include:  If you Give A Pig a Party, What I Be, Madeline, Fancy Nancy, Zen Shorts, and Olivia. 

Bummer...

Well, I was hoping to post today about how much fun I had volunteering in little V's kindergarten class, but we'll save that story for another day.  Instead, I got the first sick call from school.  Yep, it's fall and the first sickness of the year has struck.  Thermometers, tylenol, fluids, tissues, blankets, dvds, coloring books, you know the drill.  Let's hope this sickness is a short one...