Crunch under foot

Fall is here, or so it feels. I think the equinox is still a few days away but frost has hit and the leaves are turning. There is a crispness in the air and a crunch underfoot, the smell of fermenting apples and the buzz of wasps and other little critters getting ready for winter. The sun has been warm but the breeze cool, refreshing!

I drove past this house today, a few blocks away from where we live and couldn't help but snap a pic. I love the decorations at fall....well all seasons actually, but I thought it was so cute and just had to capture it.

We have a little kids craft table in our living room (you have most likely seen it in many posts) and it seems to become a catch all and whenever Kaitlyn wants to do something we have to clear it off or just play on the floor.
So This week I decided to was going to be our project table and every day we would do a new project. We now have a tea party day, play doh day, coloring day, and sticker day....so far. Any suggestions for other projects? Please share!
Anyway, today was coloring day and for some reason she decided to color her legs. When she looked up and me and saw that I was watching she stopped and said "oops." I had to laugh, it looked so fun so I didn't scold her (I may regret that someday) and just told her it was bath time. Of course they were washable, actually they were labeled wipeable so even better, and once she stepped into the tub the bubbles and water around her legs turned blue, it was so fun!


If you notice Ethan in the same picture is trying to stick his finger in a pen cap, he is obsessed with doing this and spends up to half an hour sticking caps on his fingers then tapping them and waving them about till they fly off.
Of course I must keep a watchful eye on him as he does this for fear he may decide to stick one in his mouth. I am sure they are way too big to swallow but I don't like to take chances, so he has to sit in front of me to play with them and then I have to take them away when I have to do something in another room and try to replace it with some boring safe toy. He really doesn't seem to like me in those moments!
He also reached two milestones today. He stood all by himself, no support, not touching anything, for three seconds! Yipee! Progress! The other milestone was that he climbed a whole flight of stairs all by himself. My hands were so ready to catch him if he faltered, but he just kept climbing. This was at my sisters condo, were there are more than just six steps to the next level. You should have seen his face, he was so proud!


My youngest sister Emily. She is so beautiful.

This afternoon we stopped by my parents place to pick up Kaitlyn's dolly and ended up staying for a while. Both Kaitlyn and Ethan had to give uncle Phil a bit of advice with his school work.

Both he and Em are still home schooled, so we kinda interrupted their day. Kinda like a really long recess, with blanket rides around the island between the kitchen, living and dining room included.

Tonight after supper we went for a walk down to the lake to feed the geese the left over buns from the last few days. I have learned to take almost fresh bread or buns.....not expired, since a certain little daughter of mine likes to eat twice what she feeds the "ducks." It turned out to be a crisp walk but a fun one, and adventurous.
Poor Kaitlyn...she wears Dora pull up diapers since the "Elmos"(regular pampers) hurt her. The tabs always seem to rub her hips and cause almost a rash so the pull ups are great.

However they are a little big and once she has wet them a few times they get heavy and start to fall down, especially when wearing a dress. And tonight was no exception. We had just reached the lake and she was holding them up trying to run and crunch leaves so we had to take it off. She was wearing underwear over her diaper (she wants to be a big girl like Auntie Emily) so she wore them for the whole walk.
We had just gotten home and were unloading the stroller when she started calling "mommy, oh, no, pee, pee.....pee, pee" She tried to hold it too and though she had a bit of an accident she also sat on her little potty and finished. She is growing so fast!

Somehow I forgot to mention in the drama of our evening walk that a goose pooped on Kaitlyn's head. Getting goose poop out of hair is gross and messy.
Note to self: tell husband to stop scaring the geese and pigeons and making them fly up so they don't poop in hair!