[day 262... sep 19]

I was determined to go for a walk today, however short, and Cory decided he'd come along and ride his bike. We stopped to see the horses on the path between our road and the road along the ridge. They were sure we were going to give them something tasty to eat, but not having any treats with us, we just admired them and then kept going. They followed us hopefully on their side of the pasture fence all the way to the ridge road.

Then on our way back a bit later, I noticed that the wild apple tree at that end of the path had begun dropping apples. So Cory and I gathered a few to pass along to the eager horses. They were delighted, and Cory got such a kick out of "feeding" the horses. There were lots more still in the tree, so maybe we'll go back with Tynor and see if he can reach a few for us to try too.

[day 261... sep 18]

Someday, probably not that long from now, this isn't something you'll see in our home: a physical answering machine and a standard cordless phone attached to a Verizon landline. We so rarely use the phone to make calls, and don't often receive them either.

I keep thinking I should switch to just cell phones - except that would leave no phone service here at all if Tynor and I were both gone and whoever was here with the little guys didn't happen to have a charged-up, in-hand cell phone with them. Grandma comes to mind. Or I could use one of the new services where you buy a set of hardware for a fixed fee and it uses VOIP (voice over Internet) to make the calls, skipping the phone lines.

But I haven't gotten organized enough yet to figure out a better (and no doubt cheaper!) option. So for now, the ancient answering machine and landline phone remain.

[day 260... sep 17]

Today my little sister Garland had her second baby, a little girl they named Annabel Elaine. Annabel was breech until just a few weeks ago, but they did a version and were able to get her turned the right way. So Garland was able to have her at home, in water, the way she'd hoped to.

Welcome to another sweet baby in our family!

[day 259... sep 16]

I came by school a few minutes early today, and Niall's class was out in the Big Field with Ellen having P.E./movement time. They were playing some sort of run-across-and-escape-the-middle-people game and Ellen had called them all together for a minute to explain that the wood chip paths were the boundaries. Niall piped up: "Not *those* wood chips though!" The one path across the area they were playing in. He ran over to demonstrate how they'd have to play the game if that path was "out of bounds" too, leaping over the chips.

A boy of action (not to mention "precise correction"), shall we say...

[day 258... sep 15]

My photographer eldest, taking a photo of plush doggies lined up in a row on his window sill. He was taking a break in cleaning out and packing up his room when I came to check on his progress.

You know, sometimes you just have to be amazed as a parent that the baby you brought home, the toddler who laughed and cooed at you, the beaming preschooler, the growing boy...have evolved into this strong, purposeful young man. Life is pretty incredible.

[day 257... sep 14]

Cory has been happy to reconnect with his buddy Theo in school. They enjoy running around this climber, just outside their classroom, as well as sitting at the craft table constructing Star Wars light sabers and sharing Star Wars lore. They both can be pretty strong-willed kids so it's interesting that they get along so well together. Good for both of them, it seems.