Handwriting

My handwriting has never been great. As a child, I struggled to form my letters to my teachers' specifications. For this reason, I don't push Kristen hard when it comes to handwriting. I do, however praise her. I thought some of her math problems were worth taking a picture of and sharing, at least, with family. She has formed better 8's, but I think that she did a great job for a 4-yr-old.

More Fall Pics

Okay, so after my previous post that included the pictures I took today, I decided to cheat and add some I took about ten days ago but never posted.

Here's another street in our neighborhood.

This lane is so beautiful.

This tree was amazing when viewed up close from the ground. I wanted to capture it from a different angle to do it justice, but the people who owned the house were outside. I felt kind of weird getting up close with them watching.

While leaves are beautiful, they must be raked up at some point in time. It's a good thing that Timo had some helpers. :)

A Week Too Late, but Better Late Than Never

I took the kids for a walk this afternoon to get some exercise and sunshine while it was actually both up and out. I had been wanting to take some fall pictures around our neighborhood, but I soon found that I was about a week late. The most beautiful foilage had already disappeared. I took some pictures anyway, although the daylight fades fast these days.

I thought the red on this tree was beautiful.

It was getting dark, so you can't really see the colors on this road.

Here was Kristen pushing her babies -- just like Mommy. :)

Someone fell asleep. This was probably better as we were able to go further than if he were awake.

I love how the leaves cover the path. The trees aren't that pretty, but the fence has some character.

This is a side road that was breathtaking last week. It still has some picturesque qualities, although I am not sure I accurately captured them.

This is a road near our place. You can really see the color where the sun was still hitting the trees in the distance. This was another road that was amazing last week.

Whoa, Baby

My babies have always been, shall we say, healthily plump. At AJ's 2-week check-up, the doctor jokingly asked me if I was drinking cream. Hunter is close to AJ when it comes to his weight. When I pumped one day and saw this head of cream on my milk, it left no question as to why the term "failure to thrive" is not in my babies' vocabulary. (It is kind of hard to see, but if you look closely, it is visible.)

I-K-K-KEA

Most of the furniture in our house comes from IKEA. This is largely due to the fact that we moved very little furniture over here, so we had to furnish a whole house for as little as possible. In keeping with tradition, when we decided we needed a different entertainment center for our living room, we visited our local branch of this popular Swedish store.


My kids are pros when it comes to assembling furniture, and they love helping put everything together. Kristen was disappointed that there were no dowels to insert in the pieces we chose, but she and AJ gladly helped out in other ways.

Kristen sorting parts.

AJ helping with a screwdriver.

The store we visited was out of the drawers we wanted, but we were able to find most of the parts we desired. Oh, and the bonus was that it was all 20% off.

Goin' Buggy

AJ turned 3 last week, and he wanted bug cupcakes for school. I didn't have any green paste food coloring, so I couldn't get a nice, deep green color, but the flash made these look lighter than they really are. Anyhow, here are the results.

I probably could have done something slightly different with candy you can get in the US, but between Swedish candy and having to go the peanut-free route, this is what I could come up with. AJ is happy, and that is all that matters.

Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

This post is not so much about an event that has taken place in my recent life as it is a reflection on growing older.

Most of the time, I don't mind growing older. People my age (just listen to me!) can appreciate "Pinky and the Brain" jokes, remember going to ska concerts, and know what Grover's "Near, Far" sketch is about. It is fun talking to people who "get" you simply because you have lived as contemporaries. I honestly don't miss the uncertain teenage years. I love being where I am in life.

So what sparked this train of thought? Movies. I love old movies. I grew up watching them, and I still will watch them when I have a chance. The difference with watching them growing up is that the main characters usually were older than I, so I got used to watching them from that perspective. That being said, I was watching a movie last night with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly was playing someone who was about 26 years old. Last night, I realized that I am older than Grace Kelly was supposed to be in that movie, and it was just weird to realize that sometime in the past decade, I have made that transition. I don't think current box office hits get to me so much because the actors I watched as a kid are making movies where they are still older than I. The people who play younger characters are people I didn't grow up with, so it doesn't hit me the same way.

Back to Grace Kelly... I didn't finish the movie. I had to go to bed so I could be up when my children got up. I guess that is just another part of growing old. :o)

Unwrapped

Sunday, I sent AJ to "go potty" before he went down for a nap. Meanwhile, I was nursing Hunter. AJ was taking an extremely long time, and he was being way too quiet. This is what I found.