September

September 2017 in [mostly] pictures...

First day of 2017-2018 preschool

Taking a break while biking on the W&OD trail

Making pizza dough

When Abby had her four-year-old doctor appointment in June, I asked whether it was unusual that she had never attempted to write her own name. I knew lots of three-year-olds who could write theirs, but Abby was never interested in learning. The doctor was unconcerned. But I was very relieved one day in September when Abby nonchalantly handed me a piece of paper with this written on it. I don't know where she learned it - it wasn't from me! But I think she did pretty good.

"What do you mean I'm not big enough to ride a bike? I got up here on my own, didn't I?!?!"

Toddler footprints. Be still, my heart... 

This was an activity at the library where the kids attempted to design/build boats that could hold the most stones without sinking. Abby and I made this "sailboat" together - her idea. Whenever we put stones on it, the front of the boat would tip down into the water, dump all the stones into the water, and then spring back to the surface again. It was indestructible! Abby howled with laughter every time. 

I found them like this one morning, reading books together in their fort 

"Look, Mom, it's Fall!" [throwing leaves into the air]

Enjoying those last few days of hot weather before packing away the swimsuits

The kids and I had a blast one day making "garden soup" together. They were totally focused and silent for at least half an hour. Astonishing!

Early in the summer, Jacob found a gas grill that a neighbor was throwing away. It was in terrible condition, but Jacob spent all summer working on it and voila! He got it cleaned up and working again! So now we have a gas grill that I think must cost hundreds of dollars new. We got it for less than $50 (replacement parts). Well done, Jacob! 

Rolling out pizza dough (this is a different day...how much pizza did we eat in September?!?!)

 A few pictures from our town's Oktoberfest celebration:

Abigail and Thomas went down this slide over and over and over and over again. It was definitely the highlight for them.

Taking Mouse's temperature

The princess built herself a castle

What to do on a perfect September day? Have a picnic in the park, of course! 

One day I gave the kids a block of ice with a bunch of their toys frozen inside it. I also gave them some salt, water, plastic spoons, and those syringes you use for baby medicine. Their mission: to get their toys out of the ice! They were hard at work for an hour and twenty minutes! An awesome activity for one of the last hot days.

For years I've been telling Jacob that I wanted to have a "kitchen scraps" garden (using scraps to grow food instead of seeds). One day he cut off all the roots of a bunch of store-bought green onions, planted them outside, and within a few days we had a planter box full of green onion stalks. We haven't bought green onions in weeks. It has worked beautifully.

Goodbye September!