sun, 9/12...day 255

Today was the Ice Cream Social at TLS, and although it was a gray day - thankfully, no rain!

Cory was totally clingy when we were first arrived, a condition not helped by me wanting to have a few minutes to catch up with my friend Kim, who had to leave early.





But finally, we spotted Melissa and she waved at Cory, so he ran over to visit with her. That helped, and eventually we found Cory's friends, and then he was off to play imaginative games with them. It's so fun that he's been playing with Max, my friend Samantha's son. Apparently they've really hit it off lately, playing in the sand pit in Extended Day.

Along with regular ice cream stops, Niall enjoyed playing a game of "Frisbee keep-away" (that's what it looked like, at least), and also hung out with Julian, Clay, and other friends from class. He's so independent these days.

sat, 9/11...day 254

The lovely bridge from Oregon to Longview, on our way back from Astoria.

After a last minute crunch by the auto shop to finish reassembling the engine, the van was indeed ready today (which I found out at 9:00 this morning!). So Tynor, Niall & I headed down to Oregon in the 4Runner (leaving Cory at Grandma's), got the van, and found and hooked up the tent trailer. It was in a U-Haul lot "nearby"...with no U-Hauls in it. So just a tad hard to find. Fortunately, Niall spied it out the window as we were driving by.

Tynor drove us home, swinging by to pick up Cory from a friend's on the way. It was a faster trip than I'd expected - hooray! Just one stop on the way (to get lunch at Subway in Longview) and one on the way back (Starbucks treats, right next door to the Subway!), and we made the roundtrip in less than 8 hours.

Whew. Glad that's over, and so very happy to have the van back.

fri, 9/10...day 253

This is hopefully the last day we'll have the 4Runner to herd around. The van repair work is finally done, and we're heading down to Oregon tomorrow to pick it up!

Can't wait to have cupholders, working electrical plug, little kids in different rows, more room, comfortable seats, and more! Plus Tynor will be able to drive me around again (he isn't allowed to drive the rental - just me).

thu, 9/9...day 252

Cory and several of his classmates (including his new friend Audrey) are passionately recreating the second Harry Potter movie, "The Chamber of Secrets." This morning, Cory showed me some of the props they'd been making, including a Nimbus 2000 broom, Tom Riddle's diary, and a basilisk tooth.

Love seeing him so eagerly engaged in creative work with his classmates, and expanding his group of friends too.

wed, 9/8...day 251

There is a canned pumpkin shortage! This may not be on everyone's radar yet, since it's not the holiday season and few people bake with pumpkin year-round.

But we do! Pumpkin muffins are a staple at our house, especially useful for popping into school lunches for children who will not eat sandwiches unless they are made on the spot (a topic for another day).

Here's the sad scoop: when I went to Fred Meyer seeking canned pumpkin recently, I couldn't find any or even empty shelf space where they should be. I asked when they would be getting more, and they said there had been a round of serious pumpkin disease last year that had wiped out the supply - and they didn't know if they'd even get them in time for Thanksgiving. Yikes!

Fortunately, my friend Anne (Theo's mom) was ordering from Amazon Fresh just as I posted this sad story on Facebook, and she noticed that they had some canned pumpkin. So she ordered a half dozen cans for me on the spot. Saved by online ordering! For now anyway...

tue, 9/7...day 250

Walked into Niall's room the other morning and saw Clown sitting bolt upright on his bed, her usual smile on her face. He must have propped her up there when he got up in the morning.

Just struck me as so cute. I love how attached he still is to his dear stuffed friends. Especially Puffer, Picachu, and Clown - most special of all.

mon, 9/6...day 249

I tackled a few of the big "clutter spots" in the house today, since it was a day off from work and school, and (yay!) I wasn't still sick.

As my reward, I found a big Tupperware with all kinds of old papers and pictures from when Kellen and Tynor were about 8 and 4, including these photos that my friend Susi took (cool panorama shots, from a trip to the Children's Museum). Kellen is on the left, then Max (Susi's son), then Tynor.

I mounted them on scrapbook pages so they won't get hidden away again. Love them!

sun, 9/5...day 248

I had a nasty cold Friday and Saturday, but today I felt much better! So I spent part of the afternoon attacking the Giant Blackberry Forest that is threatening - once again - to take over our side yard. Got lots of pokes and cuts along the way - ouch.

But the boys came outside too - since I was there - to help me clear blackberries and to play, so it was good for all of us after a LOT of inside time (and screen time) while I was resting up from my cold the past few days.

We've let the blackberries go for so long that there are actually ripe berries now - meaning that there are canes from last year that we never cut back. Whoops. So as another perk, I picked some berries while I cut down the canes, and ended up with enough to make a little pie and a very little crisp. So we got a tasty treat as a reward for all the work.