Small Projects and Big Responsibilities

We have completed several small projects around the house, with substantial help from our neighbor, Don. The back porch repair project is finished (save final painting) in time for the fall chill to set in. Also, the shoe dresser now graces our entry hall, and Eliza’s chair and the small side table are finished being painted, again just in time for fall’s chill, which means they’ll be put away soon. 

New home for our shoes

New home for knickknacks 

New home for patio furniture

Glad to see all this mess gone!

New paint on old furnishings

We replaced the front railing on Eliza’s crib. Turns out she still sleeps better in her cage. Also, she has not climbed out at all this week.

She insisted on getting this tattoo. Once she got it, she didn't seem so impressed. 

On Monday, we celebrated the first day of October with a Kinder Surprise egg, our monthly tradition. It's a little like playing the lottery, so getting a prize usually means learning to deal with disappointment. Every once in a while, though, someone gets an awesome or really weird toy. In the meantime, Landon's looking forward to November.

We were all jealous of Eliza's cool blow-up cat. 

Later in the day, Don got out his super tall ladder so he and Mike could repair and replace portions of the underside of the roof that had come loose and fallen some time ago. We had to evict a couple of sparrow families who had built nests under the roof line, but fortunately the work did not require substantial structural repair. In the evening, Mom cooked enchiladas. Yum! 

Mike took a series of pictures of the change that the trees across the street underwent during the week: 

Still a bit of green, and few leaves on the ground 

Check out how the sunrise glows through the leaves.

Now you can see the branches through the leaves, which now litter the ground. Fall is here in earnest!

We have not taken pictures of other fall leaves in the area, but we have had a bumper crop of color. It sort of makes up for the fact that we won't be making a fall foliage road trip this year.

We bought Eliza a balance bike like the one Landon learned to ride on. It arrived on Wednesday. While it’s still a little too heavy for her to manage all by herself, it should be perfect for her by next spring. She doesn’t seem to mind taking it slow until then.

OK, enough riding. On to more interesting things, like baby Henry!

Landon was the leader at his preschool class on Thursday. When Hallie picked him up, he explained to her that “a leader works hard and does his best, and that’s what I did.” Mike is now looking for ways to get this insight published in an educational leadership journal.

Mike went with Landon to his Friday morning class as the parent worker, so Landon got to be the class leader for the second day in a row, plus he got to do show-and-tell. Mike saw first hand what the leader gets to do (such as calendar, head the line, help set the snack table, choose the snack, among other responsibilities). Landon did us proud! He showed his teddy, Bailey Bear, and his cowboy blanket. We played with blocks and cars, painted with watercolors, sang songs, and read Eric Carle’s The Mixed-Up Chameleon. Landon chose yummy popcorn to go with our apple juice, and all the children had fun showing Mike how precocious they could be. It reminded Mike of the fun times he had teaching elementary school.

Showing off his watercolor chameleon

The weather took a quick turn from sunny and warm to cool and wet by the end of the week. Trees all through town are showing off their red, orange, and gold hues. We had our church’s general conference this weekend. Prior to the first session, Mike and Hallie decorated the front room and porch for the fall with our own autumn-themed knickknacks and colors. We did our best to listen to the sessions live with two active kiddos and felt inspired by what we did hear. We were especially intrigued to hear that young adults will be able to start their missions when they are younger. Landon especially will be affected by this change, as he will probably be closer to 19 than 18 when he graduates from high school. Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk "Protect the Children" resonated particularly with us. 

Hallie experimented in the kitchen while Mike attended the priesthood session, baking up some outrageous pretzel bars from the kitchen of Gail Simmons that she saw on Good Morning America: 

Image courtesy ABC News. Our own bars may not have looked as presentable, but they do taste outrageous!