Call Day #96, 11/15/14

Claire made necklaces with beads and pipe cleaners this morning. She's wanted to do it for a while after doing something similar in Sunday school one week.

Everyone played with Grandma for a long time. I think they were playing "outdoors."

Watching the Cat in the Hat with Grandpa before lunch. Check out Oliver's smile!

After lunch we went to a library-sponsored event at the mall. The kids made ladybug and bee crafts since the theme of the day was an appreciation for the critters that live in our yards and gardens.

The highlight was all of the creatures there were to see like this black rat snake. Claire was willing to touch it, but Eleanor didn't want to. Oliver made hissing sounds.

There were also toads, a salamander, a tarantula, and two kinds of cockroaches.

Everyone got to leave with a new book!

Claire thinks it's fun that there is a store with her name.

The mall has a carousel.

I wasn't sure how Oliver would do, but he quietly rode on his horse, looking up to see the mechanism that lifted him up and down. After the ride was over, he didn't want to get off, cried, and asked for more.

Sewing time while I read from our current American Girl book. Claire stacked spools of thread.

Grandma offered to let each girl pick out a pattern and fabric for a new, self-designed dress she would make for them. Claire got to go to the store first because Eleanor was happily embroidering and watching football with Grandpa.

After dinner, it was Eleanor's turn. Looking at patterns with Grandma.

Call Day #95, 11/12/14

Grandpa and Oliver at the Museum of Life and Science this morning.

Oliver liked pretending to gather eggs from chickens in the barnyard.

The girls were most interested in digging for fossils and shells in the dinosaur area.

Oliver sifts through the dirt too.

Building a dam.

Oliver enjoyed his chocolate chip cookie after lunch by picking out and eating only the chocolate chips and leaving the rest behind.

Oliver used to be afraid of the mist, but enjoyed it today. He, Eleanor, Claire, and Grandma even played hide and seek in this area.

Sitting in the mist.

Wet boy watching kids play. Reserved at first...

Then, even though he can say "more" just fine, I saw him signing it. Enjoying himself.

Headed inside after many hours enjoying the lovely fall weather.

When Grandma and Grandpa come, everyone gets lollipops!

With his first BIG lollipop of his very own. (He didn't finish it.)

Eleanor helps with dinner.

After getting upset from bumping his head, Oliver calmed down as he sat next to me while I did dishes.

Another coffee table collision. Thankfully no stitches like Claire. Just bruising/swelling. Time for the coffee table to go?

Picked up my phone and pretended to talk to Daddy. This is an enthusiastic "Dada!"

Call Day #94, 11/10/14

Covering his eyes and crying. There was a fair bit of crying this morning. He is still sick so I'm attributing the extra crying to that.

Nanny joined us for lunch and then "played ship" with Eleanor and Claire. Oliver found a cozy place on her lap and got to share some of her tea.

We started a Thankful Tree at the beginning of the month. The girls are adding leaves listing things they are thankful for. It's fun seeing what they are thankful for and the tree keeps getting more beautiful each day.

Eager to see neighborhood friends and take them some notes they'd written, the girls wanted to go for a walk. We ended up spending a while at their house, playing outside. But first, everyone wanted to check out the fall decorations.

Nanny and Papa joined us for dinner. Everyone got to pick a piece of Halloween candy afterwards.

Oliver's joy at having M&Ms.

Call Day #93, 11/6/14

Eleanor's been learning to do her laundry. She still needs help reaching a few things but is doing an increasing amount of it herself. Claire helped her transfer things to the dryer this morning. Claire had picked her Easter dress to wear on her date with Nanny today. Since she has been working hard at "being a young lady," Nanny decided to take her to a fancy restaurant with waiters and white tablecloths.

Eleanor chose to have lunch at McDonald's. Sharing dessert...

Though he'd rather have it all for himself.

After returning home from shopping at Sam's, these two played very happily together in Oliver's room for quite a while.

This afternoon, Eleanor decorated framed pictures of her and Claire. We are finishing up our Operation Christmas Child boxes for the year and are including their picture this year so the recipient can see who sent it to them.

They also filled out sheets to be included that list some of their favorite things, give them spaces to draw pictures of themselves and their house, and show on a map their home country and state.

Meanwhile, Oliver ended up in time out.

Call Day #92, 11/4/14

Claire asked for a carrot as I was getting the crockpot set up for our dinner tonight. She picked the biggest one in the bag and ate it all up.

Oliver was up much of the night last night. He has a cold and, as usual, it made his breathing difficult. He was still not feeling well this morning and was happy as long as I kept him close. That meant letting him peel a garlic bulb on the counter as I worked next to him. Eleanor came in and read to us all.

Then, he helped me do diaper laundry. He sat on the lid of the washing machine for a few minutes watching the water pour into the tub at the beginning.

Then, the girls and I went to the playroom to do the reading-heavy subjects of our school day. We almost always read in that room in hopes that Oliver will entertain himself with some toys while we read. Today he didn't come join us but cried and cried from another room. Knowing I hadn't been able to make him happy most of the morning, I didn't think I could help him and just tried to push through our reading. Only in the last few minutes did he stop crying. When we went to investigate why he had finally become silent, we found him on the floor of the living room. Sometimes you feel bad enough to just lie down and give up right where you are.

We made it out to vote. It has been a while since we've voted so it was new again for the girls. They watched me fill in bubbles and feed my ballot in to the counting machine. (In this picture, Eleanor is pouting because Claire's arm is front of her and she has to stand in back.)

Eleanor pours tea for our afternoon apple tasting.

Nanny brought over several types of apples and we each chose our favorites. Eleanor picked Rome and Claire honeycrisp. One favorite they agreed on--the caramel dip!