So spring happened. Ok, and summer. Despite all appearances, we are still alive and happy and the kids had a great time getting to know their neighbors, going to camp, having visitors like Oma and Papa Joe, Beverly and Al, Aunt Jennifer and her gang, and Nana and Grandbob, not to mention our other set of cousins with Aunt Joanna when the Schindhelm half of the family went to Smith Mountain Lake for a week and, with the aid of many flotation devices, lived to tell about it. (See! That's why I don't have any time to update this thing!)
Now, we're settling into the fall routine which has been a bit of an adjustment. Waking up is not Annie's strong suit. In fact, I am ashamed to admit it, but there have been days I've dressed her while she's still asleep... no easy feat. Oscar started his Montessori school and it's a great fit. I even noticed him pushing in a chair after getting out of it at a restaurant. That, in itself, is a huge accomplishment. He's having fun tracing shapes for shape books, pin punching continents and countries, and making friends. Along with the beginning of school comes the beginning of Activities (and yes, it deserves a capital 'A'). Annie's doing ballet, piano, Daisy Scouts, and swimming. Oscar is easing himself into being overscheduled and is just doing soccer and swimming. Luckily two of Annie's Activities happen at her school, so the shuttling isn't so bad (I'm holding off on the minivan). She loves it all and it's fun to watch her learn a musical instrument even if she gets impatient with practicing after basically sitting down at the piano. We're working on it.
Oscar is at that lovely almost-four age where a kid's personality starts to come through and he's just so fun to talk with. He loves anything that involves using his hands, so when I suggested he help me make pumpkin ravioli yesterday, he insisted, "No, mama. I want to make dessert." So we made chocolate chip cookies instead (hey, you don't have to ask me twice). I got this little gem of a video. You can see he does not suffer from a lack of self esteem. He's also a great snuggler still and loves to give "moodgie" hugs where he basically grinds his face into your upper body while hugging you. Annie gets a little tired of it, but I love it, as Oscar would say, "to pieces and bits."
We are also happy to report that we have next-door neighbors who became fast friends with our troop. Caroline, 9; Kate, 7; and Will, 5; are a joy to have around and despite the daily destruction of their bedrooms (if I could bottle the speed with which they dissemble their toy bins, I think I could win the Indie 500), it's so nice to live in a place where the kids are happy and comfortable.
On a sad note, we lost one of our chickens to (most likely) a raccoon one night. We hadn't been locking them in their coop at night during the summer, and have thus, learned our lesson. We will miss you Henny Penny.
