Computer Problems

Dear four people who read my blog,
I have sent the computer away for a last ditch life-saving procedure, it is in the hands of the tech-Gods at Independent Computer Consultants and if they can't save it, no one can.  NO ONE.
Since my last post we've had Matthew's birthday, gone apple picking, started Halloween costumes and more.  I hope to bring the blog up to date before the end of the weekend.

J-dog.

Matthew Tells a Story

Matthew made up this story this afternoon...
Part One:



At this point, I turned off the camera to help him find the fox toy that we have but we couldn't find it so I just made him one out of beeswax and the story continued...  (We also took a candy break, so that's what's in his mouth.)

Michaelmas Play at School

Joe was so excited for the Michaelmas play today.  He was a gnome...

It was a half day at school, so the rest of the day was spent playing quietly.  For all the hassle that Legos cause (namely:  1.  They are constantly everywhere and 2:  They are hell to step on) they do provide a lot of harmonious moments...

House of Baba

Okay, I glued this pitiful house together in about three minutes...  Don't laugh at how crappy it is...



What is it? It looks like something made by a second grader. It's already falling apart. But this little house, made out of a milk carton and some felt, has been one of the most useful things I've made in a while. It is... a baba house.

Danny loves him some pacifier (baba = pacifier) and we reached a point where there was one in his mouth pretty much all the time.  He was beginning to sound like Sylvester the Looney Tunes cat.  So I threw together this little baba house for him to keep his babas in when he's not in his crib.  I can't believe how well it's worked.  When he wakes up in the morning he puts all his babas in the house and then at nap, we go in and knock on the baba house door and then he dumps them all out, "BABAS!!!"  He's perfectly happy to put them all back in when he wakes up and to store them there until bedtime.  It also makes going to bed easier, "Let's go knock on the baba house door!"  And he doesn't seem to mind if we find one randomly in the house, he just goes and puts it in the baba house.  I'm hoping that limiting their use will also protect his teeth from an overbite.  I'll discuss this with our super awesome dentist in October, when Danny has his first appointment.

Magic/Apple Cider

Joe and his friend from school had a discussion in the car today about what they believed in.  They were talking about magic and Joe said, "I believe in magic in nature.  Like how a spider knows how to spin a web without being taught."
This was on the way to the Pittsfield Grange, where they were having "Apple Day."  We got to press our own cider, and now I want to own a cider press.  It was soooooooo tasty.

For some reason around here, cooler weather means poetry.  I'm wondering if Joe's discussion this morning was fueled by this poem I read at breakfast:

The Ways of Living Things

Jack Prelutsky

There is a wonder past all wonder

in the ways of living things,

in a worm's intrepid wriggling,

in the song a blackbird sings,

In the grandeur of an eagle

and the fury of a shark,

in the calmness of a tortoise

on a meadow in the dark,

In the splendor of a sea gull

as it plummets from the sky,

in the incandescent shimmer

of a noisy dragonfly,

In a heron, still and silent

underneath a crecent moon,

in a butterfly emerging

from its silver-spun cocoon.

In a fish's joyful splashing,

in a snake that makes no sound,

in the smallest salamander

there is wonder to be found.

Poems especially resonate for Joseph.  I've also been reading Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field since it's so seasonally apropriate for us right now.  We were eating breakfast the first time I read it and he asked me to read it four times.  He just sat there quietly, intensely, looking stright ahead, eyes squinted.  It was like I could see his little mind working.

Something told the wild geese

    It was time to go.

Though the fields lay golden

    Something whispered- "Snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,

    Berries, luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

    Something whispered- "Frost."

All the sagging orchards

    Steamed with amber spice,

But each wild beast stiffened

    At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese

    It was time to fly-

Summer sun was on their wings,

    Winter in their cry.



We've discovered this variation of our usual apples and peanut butter snack:  Put honey and dried blueberries on top of the peanut butter.  It's delish...

I found these long-coveted books at a church rummage sale for fifty cents each...

Paddle to the Sea isn't hard cover, but still, I was excited.
And the making has started for Matthew's 4th birthday...
Felt leaves for a garland...

Needle-felted acorns, useless maybe, but fun to hold and look at...

And acorn cap jewels for party favors...

Today at the park...

I've been meaning to post this video of Danny on the scooter for a while, he's very confident on it...

And check out how awesome my cell phone bill is this month.   I LOVE not using my cell.