Call Day #133, 9/27/15

After church, we went to lunch with Nanny and Papa. The kids liked the flowers outside. It looked like a nice spot for a picture.

Posing with Nanny.

Papa made sure I was included in a shot. Call days are indeed spent with me behind a camera.

Oliver does his cute version of jumping jacks.

The girls gathered flowers. They know they are only supposed to pick up blooms that have already fallen to the ground. Claire is wearing the backpack she used for taking things to spend the night at Nanny and Papa's house last night.

Found a few flowers to wear.

The girls spent the afternoon with friends who live across the street. After Oliver woke up, they played some at our house.

Everyone wanted to have a picnic.

We ended the day with a movie, The Secret Garden.

Oliver sat so he could eat and watch at the same time.

Call Day #132, 9/17/15

Entertaining themselves while Eleanor did her school work with me. Oliver (who asked to have no clothes because "I want to be funny") gets pushed around in a clothes basket.

Between school subjects, they wanted to have a "math puppet show." They asked each other math questions that the dolls answered.

After lunch, we tried to catch up on chores we haven't done for the past few days. Eleanor and Claire decided to help each other with their chores. Dueling vacuums resulted.

Oliver was unusually content playing trains and Legos by himself today. He spent a lot of time going between the two.

After the girls had French and Art lessons with Nanny, Oliver napped, and we all Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa it was time for a movie with popcorn. We all needed to relax together. Bonus: Robin Hood includes lots of references to our history lessons this week!

Call Day #131, 9/15/15

Just another school day this morning. Claire practices handwriting.

Oliver shows off the track Eleanor built for him this morning.

And listens while Claire reads to him. This was after she'd already read to me as part of her school for the day. She got a new pile of easy reader books from the library yesterday and was enjoying them.

We released two butterflies this morning, having raised them from caterpillars off of Nanny's herbs.

They didn't fly away quickly so we sat around and waited. Claire volunteered to read to everyone.

The girls went to Nanny's house to do their art and French lessons. Oliver and I went to Sam's. Oliver likes getting a "smile face" on the receipt as we leave.

When we got home he started trying on Erik's shoes. This was one of many pairs he modeled for me.

He found Claire's missing hamper (behind the brown chair in the living room--things end up in such weird places) and used it as a hoop to play with his new little basketball.

This afternoon the Carnahans came over. We did a science lesson and they stayed for dinner. Fun way to end the day when both fathers are away.

Call Day #130, 9/12/15

Today was the first game day of the soccer season. Oliver tried to get the ball from Eleanor while we waited for Claire's game to start.

Claire and her team, the Unicorns.

Oliver played hard from the moment we got there. Soon had grass all over his clothes.

Dirty legs.

Eleanor needed to be at her field before Claire's game was finished. I wasn't sure how we were going to make that happen since there is some distance between them, but we met another family who has kids on both teams. Thankfully, that mother walked Eleanor over.

Love her freckly cheeks!

And her sweet face.

It was fun to watch Claire today. She kicked the ball 21 times! This is a new record for her as she has often shied away from going after it at all.

Meanwhile, Oliver entertained himself. As you can see, he wasn't much interested in watching Claire.

Eventually, we made it over to Eleanor's field. Unfortunately, we missed almost half of the game because Claire's game ran so long. I was told that Eleanor had played really good defense and was sorry to miss it.

Going after the ball.

This afternoon we went to a birthday party for our friend Lydia. Swinging in a hammock.

Tossing water balloons. Claire caught this one but it tumbled out of her hands and burst. It's hard to catch something when your eyes are shut tight!

Oliver preferred playing inside. Other people's toys are always fun.

Building with marshmallows and toothpicks.

Claire's creation.

Eleanor made hers pretty tall but it was hard to keep it standing.

My new friend from China came over for dinner tonight. It was really good to see her again! She got to meet the kids and Nanny and Papa. She really likes children and enjoyed getting a tour of our house and the things they wanted to show her.

Call Day #129, 9/9/15

Oliver played with Legos all morning. After being sad that Daddy wasn't around to build giant towers with him, he got into building a castle. Eleanor and Claire took turns playing with him when not doing school.

At naptime, Eleanor volunteered to help Claire clean her room (shocking!). They stayed in there together and played dolls. Despite Claire's affection for any doll, they rarely play with them together.

The girls had soccer practice this afternoon. Oliver ran around practicing too.

Passing the ball back and forth.

Claire just looks super tall to me lately.

After pointing out a few minutes earlier how some of Claire's teammates were sitting on their soccer balls, I turned around to find Oliver trying it himself.

Asking me how the camera works and what each button does.

I got to see a few minutes of Eleanor's practice. She was running hard and pushing her way towards the ball. Wish I could have watched more!

Everyone was hot so I surprised them with ice cream on the way home.

Finishing off the cones from the bottom.

They discovered a wobbly parking stop and had to climb on to play for a little bit. A few minutes later, Oliver's finger got pinched underneath it. No lasting damage, but we headed home with a sad, hurt boy.