I can't get over how fast this year is going and yet how it stretches out so long at the same time. Are they all going to be like this from here on out? Eek!
The kids have another full week of school, barring any fog delays, of course. There are also stripe tests this week for karate, which means the instructors check the skills they've taught since the last test and remind the students to turn in their homework if they'd like to graduate with honors. I think all our Thingz have Knowledge homework turned in already because we read so much around here. The Respect, Goal Setting, and Self-Discipline ones take a little longer.
I have been known to tell the kids that if there were Anti-Self-Discipline homework papers that they would fill up in no time around here, judging by the papers strewn everywhere and laundry that appears to be cultivating right out of the carpet. I shudder to think what it's going to look like once hats, gloves, scarves, boots, and big fluffy coats get added to the mix.
A certain cute Thing left his hoodie at school last week, so he had to wear his beloved puffy vest to school for pajama day. Being that it is, unlike his hoodie, hoodless, he also needed his hat.
This week the nights are supposed to be in the 50s with highs during the day in the lower 70s. Being an optimist, my sheets are hanging outside along with Carrie's summer curtains. We've had fires in the fireplace the last two or three nights as I refuse to turn on the heat yet. Denial, I guess.
These are mainly for Aunt Chris, but just in case the rest of you are wondering what Lalaith Havens looks like right now:
I love to watch the morning mist across the street in the fields. Liam calls it "bean creep" because, when the beans are still there, it looks so creepy coming out of the plants...
See the itty bitty slice of moon in the picture below?
The squirrels are everywhere and can be heard gnawing away at our walnuts. We have brown squirrels, gray ones, black ones, and some little red ones. Every so often we'll have to chase them away from the sunflower seed feeder out front and the suet one out back.
One of my very favorite things about Lalaith Havens are the white-breasted nuthatches who visit. They are the cutest little birds who look like tiny puffins but with sharp little beaks. They zip and zoom both out front and out back, and their chirps just make me smile. They actually sneak seeds out of the feeder and hide them in the bark of other trees to save for when food is scarce. They can land upside down underneath a feeder, twist and turn fearlessly along the branches, and will hop headfirst down tree trunks like a squirrel.
Good ol' Cheeky Beaky, puking into our bushes. I guess he can be forgiven. It is a college town. And that would make for a great children's book... a plastic flamingo that comes alive at night and partakes in college town activities... hmm, I guess it'd make better adult fiction, after all. Poor Cheeky Beaky only has one metal supporting leg, and he's a bit top heavy, so he ends up in compromising positions often. Grandmama especially laughs when she visits, quipping that the first thing she sees when she pulls in the driveway is "Cheeky Beaky bum!"
And we can't forget Carrie's froggies. I checked on them this morning as I added another mosquito larvae killing disc to the water. They looked as fine and dandy as usual...
Dada borrowed an apple cider press from someone at work, so he tested his first batch of pulverized apples last night. Everyone is really pleased so far! It's becoming a matter of "now where do we PUT all this (cider, chips, bars, everything apple- insert here!)?!"
Time to reheat my coffee, again. Have a good week, everybody!
