Ramblings...

It's Friday. It's raining outside and I can hear my two big boys upstairs in their "quiet" rest time (I use the term quiet loosely here... Finny in particular is, I think, the loudest person that God has created on this earth... though Goose might be a close second.) as they jumble about and play with their Playmobil guys and Lincoln Logs. I think frontier forts with pirates and knights battling it out with a pack of dollar store plastic policemen (like little army guys only they're police) is the current theme of most of their bedroom play time. Oh, and last I checked there was a handful of little Indians and a plastic gorilla involved, too. And one monster truck.

Goose is finally napping. He's skipped nap for the past two days, so I am very happy for him (and myself) that he's napping today. Thankfully when he skips nap he still somehow manages to be quiet and happy in his bed for two hours, give or take. Alone. Sounds pretty amazing, huh? Might make you think I have this whole Mommy thing down to have a two year old who will play alone in his bed quietly for two hours, right? Well don't be fooled. It took getting through two very finicky sleepers who have always loved waking up hours before dawn and fought sleep terribly for most of their infant and toddler development before God obviously felt sorry enough for me that he threw me a bone and gave me one who actually likes sleep and quiet time. Thank you for that, Lord. ;o)

Girly Pie is also down for a nap. My girl has the first speck of her first tooth showing through today. It's bittersweet, the whole first teeth thing. It's so great on one hand, to see them growing and developing so well. Those two tooth grins are just stinkin' adorable, too. But on the other hand, my baby girl is getting bigger much more quickly than I anticipated that she would. I mean, she was just born, like yesterday, right? Surely that's not my baby that is just spitting distance from the six month mark. Surely not. She can't possible be heading into the second half of her first year ALREADY, can she? But alas, it's true. And as much as I have enjoyed her early babyhood, I know I'll enjoy these coming months (and years) even more. She's just a delight, and such a blessing to us all. And as much as I'll miss that toothless, gummy little piggy grin she's been flashing for months, I know that new toothy little smile will completely melt my heart.

We've done a good bit of school this week, in that Punky and Finny both learned a lot even if I did sort of toss the workbooks aside more days than not. Punky is working on telling time with an analog clock. It's been fun guessing times together and playing a game I made up to help cement his fives times table (Do they still call them times tables? Or is that way out of date?) so he can easily look at a clock face and see the minute hand's location and know what time it is.

Oh, and we've played hangman. I loved that game when I was a kid. I can't say I know for sure where Punky learned how to play it, though I think Sunday school is the best bet. But I know for sure I didn't teach it to him! I started seeing him draw gallows with little unhappy men hanging from nooses on the steamy shower glass and figured he'd been playing the game for a while. So now we pull out our little mini dry erase board and play hangman on there a lot. Even Finny loves to get in on this game. He's our little artist and he's very particular about the features drawn on the little fellow dangling from the rope. He must have hair, you see. And not curly hair. Straight hair. And eyes, a mouth, ears, a body, arms and legs, AND feet and hands. And if he's really lucky Mommy will give the guy a peg leg, a hook hand and one patched eye. Then it's really fun, even when you're not really winning. Of course Finny can barely read and neither boy can spell worth beans. But we have a great time regardless.

We've also been learning about ancient Egypt. That's been fun. I can't believe how much I have learned while teaching my FIRST GRADER that I swear I was not taught even in high school. Seriously! And yesterday my boys both brought out chapter books that we'd read before and each boy wanted to start a new book. I love that. Finny wants Dr. Dolittle and Punky wants Mr. Popper's Penguins. It's just so fun to see them drop their Legos and Playmobil guys and home made cardboard swords (Punky's current favorite craft item) and grab a beloved book and beg me to start reading it NOW! So we'll be starting a new book soon, now that we've finished our current read aloud. So all in all, it's been a good week full of fun and learning.

And today is Halloween. That's a borderline holiday for us. We don't do the trick or treating, nor do we go out and buy costumes. But the kids do dig out from their bountiful collection of dressup clothes and hand out candy with bible verses attached to them to the trick or treaters in the neighborhood. They seem quite happy with this arrangement. It's not a holiday I feel great about honoring at all, in that I can't see that it brings much glory to God, but then I did grow up doing the whole thing and it was fun and I didn't turn out bad. So that's our middle ground. Hopefully they never feel like they've missed out on all that much. Really. I mean it is cold and wet out there anyway. And we let them eat the candy we bought. So it works out in the end. We also have our good friends coming over to share in the fun with us, and we'll be making some cookies together to boot.

So there's my rambling update of today. Oh, and my hubby's baby brother just became a father last night! His wife gave birth to their son at 9:52pm on October 30. He was 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and that was 11 days overdue. So just a little peanut of a guy! But we are thrilled for them and can't wait to meet our newest nephew/cousin. They only live an hour away, so we'll see them soon enough! And also we are so thrilled to get to meet Mary Grace and clan's newest addition, little Mr. Manolin. They're the lovely friends coming over today. We are so excited for them and can't wait to see this smiley, giggly little man we've heard so much about!

Ok, so NOW I am done rambling. ;o) Just a rambling, rainy kind of afternoon, I guess. I'm one blessed and happy woman. It's a wonderful life! And at this moment, I'm just so thankful for it all!