Our houseguest

 

A lost opportunity

You were right, CPS, I should have learned F-i; but, how was I to know?  Ugh.  And it's too late now: my memory is weak and the time is short.  

Meals in the raw

 

Each Sunday, our food for the week is delivered by our trusty farm, LotFotL.  I then separate the veg into meals and make the list (to assuage Girum's voracious appetite for plans), before putting it away.  

A labor of love

 What in the world?  Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!  Who takes on...?

Well, I've been talking about it long enough.  The fabric has been in my closet since April.  And G has had to leave off using his baby blanket altogether, for fear of complete disintegration.  At least I have a bit of help.  Stay tuned!

You know that song...

 ... London Bridge is falling down?  

Well,

Yeh.  

Trigger day

 It's incredible what a few words will do.  Triggered.  And out.

Thankfully, God allowed it to snow overnight, which gives a happy reason to cut school for the day.  Interestingly, it also happens to coincide with what the twins and I read in Madam How and Lady Why (one of my most favorite books) yesterday.  

    "And the more you laugh and shout, the more pure air will pass into your blood, and make it red and healthy; and the more you romp and play... the quicker will that blood flow through all your limbs, to make bone and muscle, and help you grow..."

And so the children are out romping and shouting in the snow.  Thank God.

The South

Thanks to generous friends and family, we've just had our second annual Family Thanksgiving in South Carolina.  Last year, Rob was a champ and drove straight down; this year, we stopped for the night on this side of the mountains and slept in a Tree-pi.  It was so dope.  Before I had gotten halfway up the steps with our overnight bag, I heard the scratchy tunes of Christmas songs.  Ty had gotten up and found and figured out the record player.  I felt so Hemmingway.

Then we continued on to our destination on the beach.  Let's see... lo destacante?  There was the crazy wind storm, including pancakes cooked over a fire amidst the gale.  Ty swam in the ocean, even though the air temperature was just shy of 50 degrees F.  My favorite photo from that time, though, is:

And then we moved into a comfy house with all of the kitchen items an Amy needed to make Thanksgiving dinner and a washing machine to keep Rob happy.  There, upon Ty's picking up a lizard to remove it from the house (and like last year, I was strangely calm), the creature released its tail... which kept wiggling on the floor, detached.  -ugh-  During that latter half of the week, the boys got their first barbershop cut, including a shaved-in design for Ty.

We all had a great time.  G caught a fish.  Sophie got to go to the Serpentarium.  Ty was able to swim, swim, swim.  Rob futzed with campfires.  And Vacation Mamá came back for the week.  Mochas for everyone!