Weekly Update

Last weekend we were lucky enough to spend some time with our good friends Dolores and Shawn. Of course, our other wonderful friends were there to share the day and we left feeling very lucky to be a part of such a special group of friends. It was SO good to see Dolores and Shawn and to celebrate their visit home. Sadly, they had to go back to evil Alberta and we miss them already.







I watched the movie, "Forks Over Knives" last week and, although I wasn't surprised by most of what I saw, some of the health facts did take me aback. A couple of weeks ago, inspired by Tanya's foray into veganism and her diehard research into nutrition, J. and I decided to stop drinking cow's milk. I was hesitant because we are all vegetarian and since cow's milk provided some of the whole protein we needed. However, I learned that our diet provides enough whole protein without cow's milk. After having watched the movie, I am so glad we made this decision. Not everyone will want to watch the movie. It challenges the way we currently nourish our bodies. Sadly, I think most people enjoy treating their bodies like garbage cans and don't want to change. Most people are complacent about the notion that they are killing themselves with their current diets. Denial is a beast.

We signed the kids up for their respective lessons for the Fall. Chick is taking gymnastics for 19 weeks and Pea will start swimming in a couple of weeks until the end of December. In the Spring, they will switch it up - Pea will then take gymnastics and Chick will take swimming lessons. We almost had to mortgage the house to pay for the lessons. Chick had her second gymnastics class yesterday morning. She's a natural and totally impressed the coaches and other parents.

Yesterday, J. happily watched football while the kids were napping. Bear was snuggled up cozy on his lap. I love lazy Sundays.

Butternut squash is roasting in the oven, fresh-from-the-farm organic strawberries are ready for dessert, the windows are wide open, and it's 67˚F in the house. I love this cool weather!

One of my trivial first world problems: finding shoes for Chick that are not covered with princesses, Dora, or pink glitter. I just want plain "I'm a girl who likes to run, jump and climb" shoes without the consumerist marketing or stereotyping.

We are so lucky to have the friends and family we do. Not only are they smart, funny, and supportive, but they have collectively dressed our children for yet another season! The one thing we have to buy is a pair of rain boots for Chick. That's it. How lucky are we? These are the kids' closets after having switched over from summer to fall clothes. Seriously.






And, this doesn't even include what is in their respective dressers. Crazy!

Chick has been nursing her two-year molars for quite some time. Her hands have been in her mouth and, though she is still in good spirits, we can tell that they are bothering her. Her teeth have taken a long time to come in and now it seems that the last of her primary teeth are coming in all at once. Teething is practically the only thing that slows this girl down. This morning, she went up to her room, grabbed her blanket and her Elmo, came downstairs and cuddled up on the couch. Not typical behavior for her at all.


I've been crafting some quick play ideas that the twins have enjoyed. One of the crafts was this ball rolling apparatus. It took mere minutes to make, but it wowed the kids and they played with it for quite some time.



This week, I took some painter's tape we had in the garage and made a series of roads for the kids to push their cars around. Pea thought it was the BEST!



And there you have it! A weekly update from our little space in the world.