Snow/Sleds/Canoes, Pumpkins

This past week we slipped a bit further into the fall. For the past two years, it seems that falls in North Dakota are short. The snow comes before we plan it to and the crisp days with leaves and harvest moons fleet away quick. 

We were notified on Wednesday night that Grady has been a close contact, which encouraged me to do a drive-thru testing with both kids. They've done this with us before. However, when we did it, it was only Matt and I that got tested. The other time we did a drive-through was for flu shots. I was concerned they'd think this testing was similar. I had a secret weapon with me. A bag of Doritos. Here's how this played out. I told them about said bag o'chips. We went through the drive-thru event and before it was our turn I told them after we were done, they'd share the chips. This may have been the smartest thing I've ever done. They didn't want the kids out of the car so they sat in the front seat with me for their test. E was nervous despite the techs convincing her to show them her tongue and stick out her chin. I told her she could hold the chips. Grady was the same and very reluctant to expose his throat. They attempted to coax him by encouraging a dinosaur rahr. I was able to secure the win with the threat that if he couldn't open his mouth, E would get all the chips. I've never seen that mouth open so quickly and so widely. The chips didn't last the drive home. The tests all came back negative a couple days later. 

The close contact forced him (and then also us) to quarantine him at home. Daycare was closed for a week and a half and we arranged our schedules. Matt was lucky enough for the city to provide some quarantine time, shifting a little more of the responsibility to him. The snow helped and hurt as it shut us in a bit because of the cold BUT on Saturday, we headed outside to burn a little energy. I convinced Matt to take down the sleds from the garage storage. Ains sat down immediately and E pulled her a bit. G ended up getting in one too. We went for a "walk"/pull around the loop. Luckily no one had shoved and there was enough to make it a great morning. They even pushed themselves down the outer loop side. This year may be interesting as they've figured it out. When we went to put the sleds away, Ains was MAD - she was perfectly content sitting and being pulled around the yard. 

Saturday night, we carved pumpkins. Each got their own pumpkins. Vern and Sue had given us a few and we carved them. It was a bit unorganized this year keeping everyone moving. G thought it was great. Ains just wanted to wash hers down and E was interested in doing what everyone else was. We did get it done and each picked out their own design - well, Ains went along with what Matt determined for her. 

 

 

We played it lowkey on Sunday. The kids have started playing "with" each other. I say that loosely because it seems there's always 2 vs 1. E and G decided to make a fort in the corner so they could play "mom and dad". The problem with this, besides the obvious, is that Ainsley was destructive to their "house" so they were sure to build with the main objective of blocking her out. Her size works against her in situations like this. We are, after all, not quite 20 pounds yet. 

EER see sleds - there are three total.
EER: What are we going to do with these canoes?
As we pull them on the sidewalk, she begins to sing to herself and ARR

EER: Canoeing, Canoeing, I love to go canoeing

Carving pumpkins
MJR: There all done, what do we think?
All three kids look at their pumpkins.
GRR: I want a face.
MJR: But you picked out a spider.
GRR: I want a face.
MJR: But you got a spider.
GRR: And now a face?
They stare at each other.
ALR: Doesn't your spider look amazing!

Final ride, Selling Coffee, vocab

The nights are getting darker quicker and snow is coming, you can just feel it. I'm not ready. The trees aren't ready. The kids think they are ready but they aren't ready. We have been working on raking leaves. I've raked quite a few as we go for a couple reasons, to stay up on it and to also give them a pile to jump into. I had to laugh the other day when I looked out at the pile I made in the front yard. This pile could easily fit all three kids. Sitting in the middle was a little girl that I'd never seen before. An adult watched her play and I just chuckled. Obviously, there is something irresistible about a giant leave pile. 

Matt's been busy at the airport, there's been a few guys out with contacts or sickness. He's been pulling extra shifts to ensure the work is covered. I feel for him as I know he's running himself rough. In my eyes, he's the glue to so many places and I admire how he takes it on and figures out how to make everything work. 

We've been working with Eleanor to sell coffee for school, it's been rough going. The sales pitch is never consistent and she's a bit rocking in the ask. I giver her props for trying but man, preschool fundraisers are RUFFF. Preschool has been changing her life. I see her thinking about things, making letter sounds, and I watched her build the other day. She's built cities before but what she came up with looked so good. I also like seeing the pride she has in things that she's worked on. Matt is scared for the first time she comes home and loses some innocence but I'm scared for the day when she gets self-conscious of her work. 

We may have taken the last bike ride of the year too. I think Ains likes riding in the rickshaw alone and E has really embraced riding her pedal bike. I'll admit, I was a bit concerned when she first started as it was frustrating for her and I together to try to figure it all out but the other day she just started going. She seems to get a bit caught up sometimes and still wants to treat it like her glider bike OR she gets very agitated when Grady pulls out in front of her but she's doing so well. I anticipate next summer her figuring out how to use her brake a bit more versus using her shoes and feet to come to a stop. 

Kim and Scraper sent a box of dress-up clothes to our house... this is a favorite among my kids - especially E right now. She had a blast looking through them all. G liked the box that they came in!

Ains's words are starting to come and everything those other two do, she wants to do. They fill their cup up with water. She insists on filling her. They bang on the table and get in trouble. She bangs on the table and gets in trouble. She's easily at 20 words just in time for the milestone. Her greetings are probably my favorite. 

After bath...
ALR: Okay, say goodnight to everyone.
ARR: (kissing sounds)
ARR to EER: (kiss)
EER: Good night my little kitten baby pie.
ARR to GRR: (Hug, where GRR hugs ARR's Face to his chest... if you listen closely you may hear her kissy sounds in his chest)
ARR to MJR: (kiss)
ALR picks up ARR: Okay, good night everyone.
ARR: NIGH-NIGH! NIGH NIGH! (wave ensues)

Apples, Potato Head, Bike Walks

 

The leaves are our favorite past time. I rake them up. They rake them up. They jump around. It seems that everyone has helped me build the pile. I have one in front and one in back. They are huge. Their favorite thing is to back all the way up to Mr Vern's pickup. Count down (or up) (or in general, depending on the loudest counter) and run at the leaves. This is where I'm not sure what's happening. I don't know if they are trying to run through them and they are getting stuck. I don't know if they are running at them and falling in them. I don't know if they are trying to race each other to them... I'm not sure but it's always the same. Counting, running, leaves, laughing, and then starting over. My biggest worry is crashing into each other or running over Ainsley. 

E has started to dabble a bit more with her pedal bike. We are now letting her take it for walks with us. She can't keep up with us on family bike rides but she's on the verge of getting it. G hasn't tried using the bike for a while again now and has gone back to his strider again. 

Apple season is winding down. We have gathered all the apples we think we need. Matt has made apple juice - for those of you wondering about why you haven't made homemade apple juice, there's a reason. Don't do it. It was a lot of apples for a very thick syrup. I think there were better options but the kids thought it was a good idea. He's a good dad for seeing them through to the idea but I believe we've now learned our lesson. We also made and finished up apple sauce this week. We tried a new processing technique this year, we ran everything through the food mill after it steamed a bit. Worked like a dream. We have not canned this year as we have in the past and it's something I've missed but the mess and the sticky in my kitchen is not something I miss at all. 

I was alone with the kids on Saturday. Matt pulled a couple extra shifts at the airport due to COVID. I was pleasantly surprised at how things are changing. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy street but there were moments of bliss. Don't hear me wrong either, these weren't hours or solid blocks of time past 10 minutes but there were moments. Let me explain, I got each dressed or assisted where needed. E has been dressing herself for so long, I don't remember the last time I actually pulled a shirt on for her. Sometimes she does need some assistance in zipping up her dress or tieing a sash or turning something inside out or getting her shirt forwards from backwards but the girl knows what she wants to wear and I'm good with that. Grady is a moving target and Ains is still allowing us to select ensembles for her. So back to the point, I was getting the herd dressed and as I got one done, they'd meander off to find something of interest. As I moved into my room, they'd bring me things to look at or ask me questions on but I worked with it. For an hour, with very little fighting, they made approximately 49 trips from their room to ours to read books, show me toys, have me unknot knots but it was all very harmonious and they played fairly independent. I actually even got the vacuum out and was able to run the whole upper level. Later they also decided that they were going to play at the table alone together. Meaning, they each played potato head or barbies, if you are E, but they did it together. That was a wonderful 20 minutes. The next day wasn't as simplified, they attempted to pick at each other, bite each other (way to go Ainsley), irritate each other, steal each others' _fill in the blank_ and drove me crazy BUT we had a an amazing Saturday morning where I did more than keep them alive. 

EER and ALR come home. 
GRR is in the garage.
GRR: Me going to the backyard.
EER: Me too!
The two head off.
Unbeknownst to ALR, they've taken the long route to the backyard through Mr. Vern's yard, to his apple tree. They pick the low hanging fruit that they can reach and proceed to the yard. 

Kid Interest, Outside Play Yard

The weather has been amazing. The kids aren't hardly even wearing coats for the fall. They are playing outside and it's been so nice. They have been playing in their house and their new sandbox. We took one of the garden beds and dumped their sandbox into it. We had the cute little box that I had been given from Kerri at Commerce and it was fine. For one child. The problem when you have more than one is that you can either have kids in the box or sand in the box. Not both. HOWEVER, when you look at the garden bed that produced only one flower bloom and one pepper it was determined that there could be a better purpose at play. Right now, I venture to say there's too much dirt and it's easily coming out as they play but I guess we've been there before. The other thing that makes me smile is E pulling Ains around on Buckey, the horse that was given to me when I was 2 or so. I've looked at Buckey a few times and wondered if his time was up but haven't brought myself to the point of getting rid of him. He's had some wild rides. 

Here's where the kids are at personally for interests:

Ains: Babies. Everything with babies. She rocks them, she shushes them, she carries them, she puts them in blankies, she pulls them out of blankies. She will feed them and also push them around in their stroller. And if her rotten siblings wouldn't take away a baby OR the blankie that she deems important to wrap them in, life would be fine. It's when they don't that the anger BOILS out of that sweet tiny child, who has been wearing size three diapers for approx a year now. 

E: Cutting and gluing. The girl goes through glue sticks like a crack whore on a labor day weekend. Everything needs to be cut and when it's cut it must be glued and we can't ration our glue - noooooo, the more the merrier and if you don't lather it she seems to think there's no chance of things sticking. But things stick - to each other, to my socks, to my counter. There is stick and tiny scrapes of paper, that are sticky, everywhere. 

G: Tools. He loves his tools and fixing things. And it's sweet. That is so sweet but nothing is broken. So there is he with his screw driver and his pliers and wants to fix and use them but now they appear to me more like weapons. He works at his tool bench constantly banging away. At NOTH-ing. Just hammering to use his hammer. I love that he's excited and interested and I gave him some scrap metal to have a change of subject but I feel like creating a project for his father just so he can help. 

Ains also has developed a solid grasp of "nuh-uh" which is the verbal grunts for no and is dabbling in the head nod. I always thought Grady did this adorably and she gives him a run for his money with the head nod. The negative grunts are only half amusing as her resistance can be painful sometimes. 

Upon being home and getting dinner ready one night with Matt, I looked out the window and saw this... this may be the most beautiful thing I've seen... top 10 for sure. They started doing it each night with an apple. Snacking and chatting and laying together. And my world stops each time they do it.