Happy Veteran's Day!

Recovering

Mere hours after the harmonica video was posted, the remnants of Hurricane Sandy blew into town and knocked out our power.  We slept peacefully in a quiet, dark house, happy to get the phone call that school was cancelled the next day.  In the morning, I dug the coffee percolator out of the camping gear and set about making coffee by lantern light.  It was setting up to be kind of an adventure.  We had no damage to the house or the tree and I expected the lights to come back on soon.  But, it got colder inside.  By noon, it was down to 62 and we made the decision to head off to Nana and Papa's for the day.  We packed up enough gear and clothes for the night.  Weren't we optomistic? 

We stayed for a week.

Aside from the unease of not knowing and the long commute to work, it couldn't have been better.  The girls were thrilled to have all sorts of time with Nana and Papa.  Nana stayed with them Wednesday and Papa had all day Thursday and Friday morning.  There were many rounds of , "Noooo, Paaapaaa!" and much approval for the wagon ride from the shed.  Upon arrival at the woodpile, both girls declared, "That was awesome!"

Everyone painted and drew and discovered Thomas the Train videos on YouTube.

My parents are saints. 

Seriously. 

All told, I have very little to complain about.  So I won't.  Here are pictures instead.

Before the freak weather, we had a week of gorgeous sunshine and warmth.

Would you like this leaf?

Here is Naomi, exclaiming over her 'tiny baby leaf'.  Mama Leaf and Daddy Leaf were discovered in the driveway soon after.

Now, both girls have a tiny baby leaf.  And they are quite pleased about it.

After the week of gorgeous sunshine, there was a weekend of blah.  But, in that there was Boo at the Zoo again.  Where, again, I failed to take any pictures suitable for publication.  The ladies really seem to be getting into it, though, pointing out the decorations and costumes. Naomi was totally enchanted by a woman on stilts with a bubblewrap skirt.  Both girls were quite terrified of Papa in a turkey suit.  Seriously. He had to go change in the car.

Because of the disgusting weather and total lck of electrical illumination, Trick or Treat was postponed until Sunday night.  We were home with a few hours to spare.  (The big 3 birthday party was supposed to be that day!)

Aunt Pat made amazing fairy costumes this year.  Complete with hats and tops and skirts and wands and masks and matching sparkly tights and butterfly doo-dads for their shoes.  I would like to have it down for the record how hard I negotiated to get them to wear all the pieces at once.  And how hard I failed that negotiation.

Apparently, sometimes, fairies are terrifying.

 

Trick or Treating itself was kind of a bust.  With power so newly on, few familes were home and fewer kids were out.  We went to the three houses on the street that actually had lights on.  I think two of those were false alarms; folks had left their porch light on the previous Monday and weren't home to turn them off yet.  But they still loved it.  Running down the darkened sidewalk, tutus fluttering behind them, cackling and practicing the recitations and clutching the treat bags they'd made with Nana earlier in the week, it was still a thrill. 

Most importantly, we got a 'kip kap' bar. Apparently that was what it took to get Lillian into the hat.  Naomi's price is a little higher yet.

And lastly, this:

Look Out, Bob Dylan!

 Lord help us.  The three year olds have figured out how to play harmonicas.

What's in a Name?

Look what Naomi can do!  They practice tracing their names at school a lot, and now they are encouraging her to write the letters on her own.  I think she's doing a great job, don't you?

Fall Photo Attack

What is it about autumn? Is it just the colors?  Is there something about the sunshine?  Is it knowing that we are dangerously close to being trapped under an oppressive grey dome for the next six months?  We've been basking in a gorgeous 3-day fall weekend and we have lots of pictures to show for it.

We hustled out Friday night to Horseshoe Lake park, chilly as it was, to feed the ducks again. This time, we took advantage of the beautiful firepit.  We warmed our hands and roasted stale marshmallows.  (PSA: If you have hung onto last season's marshmallows, don't use them.  They're stale.)

 

And the, another perennial fall favorite: Apple Day!! The sun always shines on apple day.  We've been heading out to this same local fruit farm with Nat and Amada since Jack was tiny.  It's a beautiful way to measure the growth of our familes, from babes in carriers to leaping, running children in the gorgeous colors of Ohio in the autmun.  This year's apple crop was nothing short of meager, but, to be honest, that's not why we're really there.  We are there to sample fruit straight from the tree, walk the rows of the orchard and take hundred of photos (Some of which are credited to Nat.  If some of you also read Amanda's blog, you might notice that this weekend's entries are remarkably similar.  We spent a lot of time together.)

   

Ballerinas

 All of the ballet or dance classes I've seen don't start until the little dancers are at least three and fully potty trained.  We're a month away from one of those things.  And lord knows how long from the other.  I'l pay any of you a million dollars if you can potty train these children before their brthday.  A million.  Any takers?

Never!

For the past few days, whenever a disagreement has popped up between the girls, this conversation has ensued:

Lillian: You'll never get that job!

Naomi:  I'll get that job.

Lillian:  YOU'LL NEVER GET THAT JOB.  ANY WHERE!!

Naomi:  I'll get that job.  EVERY DAY!

Lillian:  NEVER.  GET.  THAT. JOB.

And so on.

I can't figure it out, but it cracks me up every time.  I've asked at daycare, trying to find out if it's rooted in the morning helper assignments, but they can't seem to place it, and the conversation doesn't seem to happen there. For the most part, the girls get along famously, unless they are trying to hurt each other or maintain possession of a toy.  Or if the sun is in Naomi's eyes, at which point, she requests that the sun be moved so it's in Lillian's face intstead.  Under the bus, man. But they are willing to ethusiastically share potty stickers and Naomi tucks Lillian into bed, covering her with puppies and blankies.

Here is virtually the same story in photographs:

Here are some otherwise unrelated pictures: