Sometimes anticipation is half the fun.

Lucky for us, we have two nights to rake in the goods, and enjoy all the costume-y fun of Halloween. And two full days of Little Bo Peep and two cute Bats asking,

"When are we leaving?"

(one little bat really just says, "Do bye bye!")

Aww, what a sweetheart!

There are 2 people in this world lucky enough to get this look;

Me and S.A.M.

We're special.

Yesterday we had a family day. And what outing do you think we picked?

The apple orchard?

The pumpkin patch?

The corn maze?

No. We went to the city water park.

Even Tyler got in on the fun.

It's wrong. Just wrong.

Hi Delany,

I read your funny letter. It was funny that you had the same shirt. It made me kind of a little laugh.

I miss you so much.

I love horses like you, Delany.

I can't wait to see you again. When I see you, Delany, I would be twins with you if I could. When we get together I wish we could have a little party. We would maybe have some cookies.

What are you going to be for Halloween? Well, I am going to be Mary Had a Little Lamb. I guess you might be a lamb.

What I like to do, Delany, is draw a lot. I guess that's the same as you. I like to draw pictures of, like, horses and flowers and rainbows and all sorts of stuff. You might like to, too.

I like to ride my bike a lot.

I love making recipes. And I love cooking, too. You might like to, too.

I like animals. My favorite animals is horses. You might like horses, too.

What's your favorite candy, Delany? My favorite candy is Candy Corn. My favorite pie is apple, and your might be the same.

I hope you are doing well. I miss you so much, Delany.

I remember you doing my hair and my doing your hair one time up in Salt Lake.

Goodbye, Delany. I hope I see you soon.

I love you, Delany,

Mademoiselle

Speaking of cousins, we went with a bunch of them to their Stake's Fall Festival, where the kids got to enjoy face painting,

snow cones,

and jumping castles.

Oh, my heart. Aren't these three adorable?

Mademoiselle and her 2 cousins are the best of friends.

Mademoiselle is 7, while the other two are 5.

(Please don't tell her she's the shortest of them. She still hasn't noticed, and we'd like to keep it that way.)

In their world, imagination still reigns supreme.

They pretend to be horses.

They pretend to be ghosts and monsters.

They pretend to be pioneers.

They pretend to be princesses.

They pretend to be teenagers.

They pretend to be ballerinas.

They pretend to be sisters.

He's 2.

(notice the shiner)

Proof:

He's still happy to fall asleep in daddy's arms

after a long and busy day.

He's learned the word "mine" and is not afraid to use it.

Even when it isn't his.

He reeeeally wants to be big like S.A.M.

This is how he insists on dressing, whenever he can get away with it;

Pajama pants

Shirt with a truck on it

Hat

and

(last, but not least)

SHOES.

Shoes sometimes get worn 20 hours a day.

Yes, he wakes up in the night to make sure I haven't taken them off.

And I have.

He makes this face a lot.

When he sees trucks.

When he hears trucks.

When he sees his truck shirts.

When he is pretending to be a truck.

Every time he makes a truck noise.

He thinks her food and her water

taste better than

his food and his water.

And he's super cute, too.

Many times a day, S.A.M. tackles me with a huge hug, and tells me:

Mom, I yove you.

Yots!

jbhalper via flickr

"Fuzzy blankets!," I exclaimed.

"Fuzzy blankets!"

His looked at me with a blank stare over the top of his book.

"I just tucked all the kids in with an EXTRA blanket! It's cold. CAN-YOU-EVEN-BELIEVE-IT'S-ACTUALLY-COLD?!"

And within minutes I cast my own book aside and decided it was time to nestle in bed with my own fuzzy blanket to keep me cozy.

-The fuzzy blanket that was S.A.M.'s first blanket when he started sleeping in a big boy bed.

-The fuzzy blanket that somehow ended up at my house even though we gave it to my parents for Christmas 7 years ago.

-The fuzzy blanket that my Nana used to drape over her legs those last few years as she watched her soaps.

-The fuzzy blanket that was given to our family by our branch on the Hualapai Reservation as we moved away.

-The fuzzy blankets thoughtfully made and given to us as Secret Santa gifts a few years ago by some loving cousins and a loving aunt.

-The fuzzy blanket covered with hot pink cats that Mademoiselle and I battled over in the bedding aisle of Ross 4 years ago because she thought it was so fancy, and I thought it was so funky, but not in a good way.

And the memories warm me from the inside out.

This is the beauty of homeschooling.

It happens any time, any place, and with infinite materials.

She helped amend the soil. She helped plant the seeds. She helped water the seedlings.

She marveled at their daily growth and was awed by the thoughtfulness of Creation.

She commented on the difference between the many different types, some with large heads, some with small, some all yellow, some deep red and brown, some with one head on a stem, and some with many.

She watched birds and bees and butterflies take interest in what the flowers had to offer.

She recognized pollination in progress.

She sat for an hour drawing picture after detailed picture of them.

She referenced a kid-friendly plant encyclopedia and labeled many of the parts of the sunflower.

She cut some to give as little tokens of affections. She put some in a vase to place on the table as decoration.

She noticed the petals wilting and the heads drooping.

She recognized concealed seeds starting to poke through.

She helped as we gathered heads for next years' seeds. She pulled with all her might to yank out the tired and dying stems to make room for future plants.

She helped lay the heads out to dry. She saw birds come to nibble here and there.

She looked forward to planting the seeds next year.

I love it.

Nature will bear the closest inspection.

She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

-Henry David Thoreau

Question: What should we do with ourselves when dad is out of town?

Answer: Put on a twirly skirt and turn on some twirly music.

Question: What should we do with ourselves when dad is out of town?

Answer: Put your hands behind your back and dance a wild jig.

Question: What should we do with ourselves when dad is out of town?

Answer: Get out the vaccuum and clean as you spin.

Mademoiselle had a her first birthday party this year. I mean, it was her seventh birthday, but her first party with guests and invitations and decorations and all of that. And, because she is a typical little girl, she wanted the party to be girly. She decided to have a flower party, and picked red, pink, and purple as her most favoritest colors.

First, guests arrived at 10 (ish) and started to make their party hats. I saw on Design Mom a post about party hats that were made out of newspaper. They were really adorable, but after a couple of tries I decided they wouldn't work for us. So, my twist on the idea was to take the newspaper rectangles, and, well, twist them. I twisted the paper into a tight rope and then made it into an oval that fit like a crown on the girls' heads. They then attached tissue paper flowers I made ahead of time, that had doubled as table decor around the cake in the first picture.

Doesn't Benefactor look both beautiful AND fancy in his flower crown?

After being flower-fied, the girls went out back and planted a monogrammed little terracotta pot with their own flower. I expected to spend about 15 minutes giving all the girls their turns planting, but Tyler doesn't function at the same speed as most humans do. All the girls' flowers were planted in 5 minutes. At most.

That left us with a little party time to burn before having some yummy cake.

So what does a hostess do with 7 excited kids and a little free time? Freeze-dance, of course. I threw on some girly music (Say a Little Prayer for Me, Wishin' and Hopin', that kind of stuff) and told the kids the rules - when the music is playing, dance like crazy, and when the music stops, FREEZE. If you don't freeze, then you're out for that round.

She gets by with a little help from a friend.


Next on the schedule - cake and ice cream! Mademoiselle's Aunt Jamie made this beautiful cake as a gift. She's very talented. I served the cake with cookie-cutter-ed flower shaped ice cream.


After presents were so graciously given and received, the girls gathered back at the table to make their own flower pens. They all needed one-on-one attention to complete their's. The girls drew pictures of flowery things as they waited their turn.



Parents began to arrive, and children left with a real potted flower in one hand, a flowery crown on their heads, and a bouquest of flower pens tied together with garden twine in the other.



Mademoiselle's birthday wish - GRANTED!

Self-portrait making is just too fun! Throw down a long piece of butcher paper, trace around the kids' bodies, and let them add details to their hearts content.

Mademoiselle added flowers and hearts like bedazzling all over her picture. And really really really long eyelashes.

Benefactor laughed hysterically as I traced him. He's ticklish.

S.A.M. pretty much scribbled. But he's a very talented scribbler. Like Pollack was a talented paint splasher.