What We Were Up To In November

Lots of elving has been going on.

A trip to an alpaca farm with our homeschool group.

We fell in love with alpacas.

Mother and daughter.

Penelope wanted to take them all home.

Alpaca craft.

Real alpaca fleece glued to an alpaca puppet.

A friend came over to do a Thanksgiving craft.

Many long walks in the woods with another friend.

And one walk in the woods with an uncle.

Swim lessons every Sunday.

Leaving swim lessons with candy.

Homeschool science class with some friends.

Playground time with friends.

Beautiful girls on the beach.

Big bubble bath.

Thanksgiving dinner with an uncle and a friend.

Warm hats and coats.

And mittens too.

Candy canes after a visit with Santa downtown.

On the bench.

Pouring through catalogs.

Trying new gluten free recipes.

And trying to get a decent photo of these girls for holiday cards!

Sometimes you just have to hold the smaller one down!

This Moment, Friday, November 30, 2012

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Fall is Really Here

Fall is really here. Leaf jumping time, thankful tree making time, soup in the crock-pot time. We are finding ourselves inside more than outside these days, but still outside a lot. We are spending more time working on crafty things, decorations being made, that sort of thing. I am feeling that almost time to hole up for the winter feeling creeping up on me. It usually fills me with dread, but the dread has not hit me thus far. I think the reason I am not experiencing the panic of being inside constantly may have a lot to do with the fact that Penelope is suddenly a much quieter child, calm and thoughtful. Violet, on the other hand is rather like a pack of golden retriever pups all by herself. She tears through the house, loud and wild. She rips the paper off all the crayons, dumps all the toys out of their bins, scatters blocks everywhere and pulls all the clothes out of the drawers. She can do it all in the 10 minutes it takes me to take a shower and get dressed. But it is only one child doing this, not two, and somehow that makes a big difference. I'm thinking that maybe this winter we will enjoy our time inside, not just survive it. Although, you may very well find me singing a different tune come February. Right now I'm looking forward to lots of games, art projects, books, and coziness as the weather turns colder and our days shorter. A winter of sweetness to come with my two favorite girls.

This Moment, Friday, November 9, 2012

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Little Swimmer Number Two

Waiting for it to be time to put on her bathing suit.

Pen jumping off the diving board.

Violet in the locker room, bathing suit in hand.

First step into the pool.

A little pre-lesson swim with Daddy.

Pen having her lesson.

Violet waiting her turn.

Steve and Pen enjoying family swim while Vi has her lesson.

All done!

Very happy with herself.

Pen and her friend.

Steve's flip.

Attempts at a family photo.

Pen sharing her candy with Vi.

My tiny girl had her first swim lesson yesterday. She has been asking for them for so long now. Her lesson is right after Pen's and there is family swim at the pool at the same time, so lots of swimming was going on.

Violet was nothing but thrilled and excited. She wasn't nervous for a second. She had a blast, and then enjoyed family swim after her class with Steve and Pen. She was totally delighted to get her own treat out of her swim teacher's candy bucket after class. I was once again left wondering why every thing for kids seems to involve food of some sort, usually the really unhealthy kind, but I was not about to wrench the huge green lollipop she earned from her tiny grasp.

Penelope was very proud that during her lesson, her teacher asked her to demonstrate the backstroke for a new student. And she had a blast at family swim with Steve and also one of her friends who came for family swim with his dad.

My tiny girl is less tiny each day, it makes me happy and sad at the same time. She was so thrilled to finally have these swim lessons she has been asking for. She was completely worn out though, she fell asleep just before dinner was ready. I'll have to remember to set the crock-pot next week so dinner will be ready when we get home.