2021, October 11-17

Now it's really feeling like fall! Lots of orange color all around and a crisp chill in the air. We had a visit from Lily this weekend. 

The kids had a short school week, so this meant we could spread Eliza's schoolwork out a bit. As part of October and spooky Halloween, she's had monster-themed writing activities. Here is the monster snake she is writing about. 

We got our flu shots up at the university in the afternoon and then got some delicious cookies from Milk and Cookies. Apparently Landon felt a bit more than a little under the weather after getting his, as he got sick at school right at the end of 6th period. Fortunately, Dad was there to pick him up and take him home rather than to gym. 

Hallie had virtual jury duty on Tuesday, which basically meant a long day sitting on a computer waiting to see if she got picked for a jury. By about 2:00 p.m. Hallie found out she did not get picked and was released from duty for another two years. Later in the evening, Fergus graced us with a surprised blep. 

Wednesday proved to be quite the busy day. The adults have decided to donate plasma because we want a bit of mad money (or "blood money", as our neighbor calls it. What we thought would be a fairly quick intake took longer than expected and did not involve hoped-for child care. Fortunately, the Grands came to the rescue, and Eliza enjoyed some time with Grandma. 

We're getting snow on the mountains and chill in the air. 

Eliza and Jordan carved up one of her pumpkins, and it's beginning to feel like spooky times. Boooo!

Thursday meant no school for anyone, except Mike. For Mike, it was another day at the office; however, with no Eliza in tow, he got quite a bit of his "other" job done. We had fog and intermittent rain. No views of Y Mountain today, but the locust tree was bright.   

Do you think Landon enjoys his fruit-flavored rice cereal? He added a little bit of "healthy" to his breakfast by eating a pizza Lunchable with it.

We had a meeting with the therapist who did Eliza's evaluations a couple of weeks back as we took her and Jordan to horseback riding. We can now say for certain that she has dyslexia and writing difficulties, and it appears that the interventions we've been doing are the ones she needs. It's a lot of work, but it's validating to know that your child's learning struggles can be addressed and overcome with the right tools.  

We were treated with skies alight with dusk's closing rays. 

Eliza is thriving in her new-found sport. We're grateful for all she's doing and learning. 

On Friday, Mom and Eliza ran a few errands up north. She found this beautiful butterfly rock hidden by 801 Rocks. 

Hallie did a little pampering on Saturday morning, and Mike and the kids got the chance to take Lily over to Jaker's for some fun. 

Note the sign in this photo. Rule breaker. 

Now that it's harvest time, some interesting insects are out in force. We've had a number of praying mantises in the neighborhood. 

Lily came over again on Sunday and helped us take down the garden (now that we've had our first hard frost) and do some weeding on the playground. Mom made us all a yummy breakfast, but Landon and Eliza seemed more interested in gaming than eating. 

Later in the day Eliza, Lily, and Hallie went to visit our gymnastics friends, the Maynards. They had some more bugs that they had collected from their part of the neighborhood.  

Even Mom got in on the action. 

Meanwhile, Landon got started on a concealed weapon project.  

Later, the kids and Jordan carved Jack-O-Lanterns. 

Aren't they adorable?