Happy Halloween!

The first thing Leah said to me after finishing her song was , " I messed up twice!"

Perfectionism is a serious  struggle for her. She did great!!!!

Too much.

My computer is full! I need to empty all the pictures and videos off onto a hard drive. This means they will likely not be looked at for many years now. So her is the final dump of photos from this summer that I want to have easy access to. The new property, saying goodbye to Olive Juice- so many things should have their own posts. But for now....a jumbled mess of photos.

These are some photos from the 40!

Mary and Dave enjoyed some tree tipping.

Yes, this happened. Transporting the alpacas in the minivan.

My egg art. I wanted colorful eggs and I sure got them!

Kate really enjoyed picking and washing all the tomatoes this year.

She really will not leave these cats alone!

We said goodbye to our Olive Juice. Kate still talks about her most every day. She was a very sweet pain in my ass. I loved her so much and will miss her forever.

Leah really got into the owl pellet dissection! We still have all the bones....yuck!

Playing With Blocks

This is how we play with blocks in our preschool! Notice how Dave has all the blocks set up so the kids can easily grab them. Go Dave!

Kate's First Book!

Kate has been ready to read for a few months now. She knows all the letters and sounds they make well and "reads" to her babies all the time. I will admit I have been  putting it off. Not sure why but maybe it's hard for me to think of her being old enough to start reading. She is now only a few months younger than Leah was when she first started. So here we go! So far she LOVES it! Although she does not always like to start at the beginning of the book as you will see!

Lesson 1

Leah's reading ability has always amazed me. She has again reached a whole new level! I am also increasingly impressed with her comprehension and never ending drive to understand and define new and unusual words, then, actually use them in daily life!? What!? I kid you not, she uses the word "entreating" at least once a day now after starting this book last week. But watching her little 4 year old mouth read this is just too fun! She of course is on to lessons 2 & 3 now and can't wait for me to take videos of those as well. Stay tuned!

For Grandma Mason

Funny Pants!

Kate has developed quite the sense of humor. It seems she is always trying to make us laugh. I hope to catch some of her funnies on video soon. Just looking at these pictures makes me want to go wake her up and squeeze her!