A Couple of Weekends Ago

Several Saturdays ago we were oh-so-productive around here.

We woke up and made breakfast (I always let the kids sit on the counter with me. . . they love to help cook):

I had cleaned up much of the yard a few days before this, cutting down all the flowers and raking the yard like crazy and putting away lawn furniture. So, while Tim worked outside on finishing up the leaves, cleaning the gutters, and doing other winterizing, the kids and I brought all our toys and books to the living room and started sorting:

I guess I should have taken an "after" picture, because the results were astounding. We put some toys away for a rainy day, and got rid of one large box of oddly-shaped/annoying items that I'm hoping somebody else will enjoy more than I.

Two weeks later, the toys are still pretty much sorted out. It helps me feel peaceful knowing the nativity set isn't mixed in with puzzle pieces, and books aren't spilling out of every available corner.

Kate and I continue to color a lot, after we have practiced her "walking", standing, and ball-chasing. She is almost 17 months, and still not walking. I'm starting to be concerned. Her 18- month appointment is in December, so I guess I'll find out if I should be worried at that point.

Now that it gets dark so early, we have to have our family time inside. Here we are playing Rockband "as a whole family", as Ethan likes to call it. On this particular week, we also went to the mall to play and happened to meet Ethan's friend Jonah there. After Ethan wrestled Jonah, he got on the top of the slide and sang for the entire mall. "Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum, I'm flapping my wings. Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum, I'm flapping my wings." He can really sing. Turns out, this particular tune works nicely with other lyrics, such as "Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum, I'm shakin' my hips." and "I'm bouncin' my bum." We've been singing it a lot in our family. It's quite catchy.