Seaweed

Gavin told me I need to chew with my mouth closed tonight.  I have to admit he probably is a little right, but its something to hear your son giving you the same instructions your dad once did.  Monsieur Omnipotent also likes to debate.  Annah was coloring (a favorite pastime of hers) and Gavie was noticing how dark blue her crayon looked.  "That's because it's purple" I told him.  "No, it's not."  "Okay," I said, "look." I colored with the crayon, and showed him a clearly purple line.  "It's blue on the outside and purple on the inside" he exclaimed, holding his first finger up in the air to highlight his point. "I have seen this!"  I don't know how to argue with this reasoning.  He is clearly much smarter than I am.  However, my favorite quote from him this past week was while he was drinking apple cider.  "Cider washes on the shore of my mouth, and it stays there like seaweed."  Where he gets this stuff I do not know, my little poet.

Annah has been her usual and adorable wild self.  She led us in a rousing rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at the dinner table tonight.  I momentarily lost my sanity in the grocery store the other day, and did NOT grab a cart with a baby seat.  I managed for about 5 minutes and and the kids work together to push the cart.  But then Annah got bored, and started to run off.  She disappeared in about 2 seconds when I turned my head, and I found her halfway down the next isle over laughing hysterically.  We like to keep things interesting when we go out.  But we started music class, and she loves it.  It's the only time she sits still.  She is getting by proficient at practicing sitting on the potty too.  Here is a pic of her in her new coat.  Around her head is just a faux fur lining.  Baba was a little confused.

Moxie

Ryan made an observation about Annah that I think sums it up nicely.  I was saying how she has a quality in her spirit that none of the other members of this family have, and I wish I had some of it.  "You mean moxie?" Ryan asked me.  Exactly.  That kid's got moxie.  We went to Target today (because that's about as exciting as our life gets), and she would not ride in the cart.  I don't have the will to fight her, so I typically just give in.  I like to keep my parenting standards at a rather low bar.  Anyway, she promptly ran laughing hysterically to a bra rack, grabbed two florescently colored brassieres, and ran screaming into the pants section, waving them over her head like a deranged pirate.  I finally managed to get her into the shoe section to get her a new pair, and she insisted on putting on a pair of pig slippers, which were way too big, and meandering about the department.  Here is the evidence:

It's a little blurry because I could not get her to stand still.  We also got her a fall coat, which is a really cute little pea coat, and again, she ran screaming down the isles while wearing it.  I am so proud.

Gavin apparently is really loving pre-K.  Although he develops acute amnesia when I pick him up in the afternoon.  Our typical conversation goes like this:

Me:  Hey buddy, how was school?

Gav: It was AWESOME!

Me: Oh yeah? What did you do?

Gav: I don't know.

Me: Did you color a picture?

Gav: Uh, yeah.

Me: Of what?

Gav: I don't remember.

Me: Did you read a book?

Gav: I didn't. The teacher did.

Me: What was it about?

Gav: Something.

Me: Don't you remember?

Gav: No.

Me: Did you play with some friends?

Gav: Yeah.

Me: What are there names?

Gav: I don't know.

You get the picture.  Fortunately he gets updates sent home which are only one-liners, but more than I can get from Mr. Omertà.

We got our Halloween costumes this week.  It might seem early, but all the good ones are gone unless you jump on it.  So enjoy the Halloween preview picture.

We also went apple picking last weekend.  We have been making applesauce, apple crisp, and apple pie.  

Have a great week everyone!

The Big Boy Bus

Gavin has now officially started school.  This morning I drove him to daycare, and he put on his little backpack, his name badge for the bus, and marched up those oversized bus stairs to school.  I left for work late and got out early so I could pick him up off the bus.  Here are his pre-bus pics:

Then he got off the bus this afternoon, and getting information from him was like getting trade secrets from a Columbian Farc fighter.  With the exception of the fact that he didn't eat his lunch (he was told it was too "snacky") and so was given a lunch of corn dogs and chocolate milk instead (here is where I cried), and Joey told him he was mean.  I don't know why Joey told him this, but I was also informed that Joey has a small head.  So it's not entirely clear how it went, but Ryan composed a very nice letter to the teacher asking to give Gavin his lunch that was brought to school instead of hot lunch, and we retrospectively paid for lunch.  So goes day one.

Ani is doing well.  She is a very precocious, very tough, but she loves being a little girl.  She's a big fan of baby dolls and bracelets.  She has a little stuffed monster sho she likes to sing songs to at night to go to bed.  Her language skills are exploding.  She has learned to say "bless you", but she doesn't limit it to sneezes.  She likes to walk around to random people with a little smile on her face saying "bless you" like a little miniature pope.

She also likes hanging out in "Gaggy's" bed now too.  They're starting to play together a lot, which also means their arguments have gotten a little more spirited, and she typically wins them.  Annah told me the other day as we drove home from daycare:

Annah (In a sad voice): "I fall down" 

Me: "oh, what happened?"

 Annah (now very chipper): "I ohhh-Kay!"

We went to a beach at Morse Mountain in Phippsburg yesterday.  We walked along a hiking trail for 1.7 miles to get there, and we watched the kids play in the sand before walking back.  The kids did great - Gav walked most of the 3.4 miles.  Next time I will do my motherly duty and pack lunch, towels, and a kid carrying pack, but it was still lots of fun.  Here are some of our memories: