Crazy hair morning. Lydia's hair is getting so long!

Wednesday nights Grandma comes to babysit when I go to Choir rehearsal. Lately Diane, who spends Wednesdays on the farm, comes, too. Ben and Liddie like to play togather - and compete for Grandma's attention.
Ben LOVES seeing the boys. Too bad the boys go to bed shortly after I leave for rehearsal.

Lyddie helping herself to Daddy's lunch - except there's nothing in it. She's pretending to eat yogurt.

Caleb is the Planet of the Apes guy between the superheroes. He wanted to be a gorilla, and this is what I could find in Sherburne two days before.
Josh wanted to be a caterpillar again this year. Lydia is the Duck costume we brought from Grandma Camilla's last year. We're not big Halloweeners. We didn't go trick or treating. Josh went to the phone company with nursery school and collected a lot of candy. Caleb shared the spoils. That night we went to the farm for a donut party. Saturday we wore our costumes to the nursing home to visit Grandma Grandma and another friend in Columbus.

This photo was not planned - the bird costume photographed in front of the egg box!

Lydia is so interested in the snowfall. She points out the window and makes a noise. I pushed the ottomon to the window so she could look as long as she wanted.
Hanging out with Josh.

The family that spins together...

After a day visit to Ben and Diane Josh didn't want to get buckled in again. He'd rather ride in the back dash. It was a lovely day, the last of the fall colors.

My happy walker! Just weeks away from her first birthday, Lydia is learning how to go out on her own. She's not up and running yet, but she's getting braver all the time.

Outdoor bike time.

She just climbs on and off. Doesn't really go anywhere.

I went with Caleb's Art Club to the bird cabin at Rogers Environmental Center. They chose a taxidermy bird to draw. It was interesting to see the variety of skill levels among these elementary students. I enjoyed going. Josh and Lyd were at the farm with Grandma. Caleb and I took advantage of the time alone after the field trip and went swimming at the high school pool before the kids came home. He was cold the whole time, but he went off the diving board for the first time! Once he got the hang of it he wanted to do it again. Of course, he wouldn't go until I did first. Wow! It's been like 8 years since I did that.

The Wipes Game

Lydia likes the wipes game. She'll take them out and put them back in over and over. You can hear the sound of Daddy coming home during the video. She looks up and smiles.

Pumpkin carving FHE. Josh did much of his carving alone.
Lyd wants to play, too.

Daddy helped get the seeds and goop out! We lit the jackolanterns the next night. We had them on the porch facing the front window so we could watch them as we got ready for bed. We also lit them on Halloween night at the farm.

Caleb wants to be an archer. We found a bowed stick in the yard. The arrow is a pencil.