Fun times fall

It seems kind of funny to be writing this post, since I never even wrote a summer post. Eh, that can come later. We're now one week into fall, and we've already had lots of fun.

Which is a little surprising, really, because fall totally snuck up on me this year. Usually, I'm happy and ready to greet new seasons, but for some reason I was unprepared. Being back on campus with all the undergrads and going to back-to-school events seemed almost...disorienting. Ads for fall clothing and decor seemed out of place, and football was rather unappealing.

I think it's because spring this year came sooooooo sloooooooowly, and then the summer was relatively cool. Plus, the summer seemed to fly by even faster than usual with Nellie at home and a class to teach. I hardly feel ready for cold-weather clothes and long winter nights!

But here we are, and so far the Wernets are making the most of it. Kevin's been doing some hunting, of course, and last Saturday he took Nellie up north for the whole day. She loved it! Then Sunday we drove out to Holland to Our Brewing Company, which is a wonderful family-friendly microbrewery, to watch the Lions game, drink root beer (and other kinds of beer), and visit Kilwins for treats.

Yesterday was the American Heritage Festival. It was sunny and warm, and the leaves are just starting to change. It was a great day to be outside all day! We ate, went on the pontoon boat, rode in the horse-drawn wagon, petted the farm animals, and got sunburns. We're having fires in the fireplace and the house is decorated with pumpkins, leaves, and scarecrows. (And one angry-looking turkey.)

Next weekend in is the fall festival at LCS, and the weekend after that we'll have a mini-vacation/long weekend at John's. We're starting to think about Halloween (Nellie wants to be a bat, Annie wants to be a princess super hero) and Thanksgiving. So, fall, here we are.

Nellie walking with my dad, and learning proper gun safety

Kevin's at home one day a week this semester, so Annie and DJ got their turn to go hiking, too

DJ at the American Heritage Festival

Sister secrets and cornhusk dolls on the wagon ride

Nellie, age 6 (and 2 and a half months. Better late than never!)

Are you excited to be six?  
YES! 

What kinds of things do six-year-olds do?   
They like to do homework and play with their friends. They can write only one capital letter in a sentence, instead of like, 5.

What do you like best about 1st grade?
Friends!

Who is your best friend?   
Avery.

Who is your favorite person to play with?
Leah at school. And my cousins, and Annie.

What do you love about your friends?
Leah and Avery like to play princesses with me. They're really great friends.

What kinds of things are you good at?
 Drawing pictures, reading, saving money, helping Daddy with his work [particularly stacking firewood, which we did today.]

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Um, a teacher. 

What kind of teacher do you want to be?
Fifth grade.

Why do you want to be a teacher?
I think it would be fun to be a teacher. You could get to do the calendar a lot.

What’s your favorite song?   
The "Ode to Joy" song from Psalty 4.

Favorite movie?   
Sleeping Beauty

Favorite book?   
Meet Kaya...and all the Kaya books

Favorite color?   
Pink and purple and blue and green and red. There aren't really any I don't like.

What’s your favorite thing to play?   
Basketball. 

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
I really like bats. [Today] I like to have fires. [We're having one right now.] And I like to stack wood. I like American Girl dolls. And milk.

Dinnertime without dad

Kevin's working late tonight. The girls made cornhusk dolls at the American Heritage Festival today, and they've been playing with them all evening. While I was cutting up quesadillas, I overhead them (the dolls) having this conversation.

Nellie's doll (Wood): Did I tell you I do gymnastics? I fell over backward and broke my ankle.
Annie's doll (Hannah): I don't believe you.
Wood: Well I did. Look on facebook. I wrote, "I broke my ankle." Read it!
Hannah: I still don't believe you.
Wood: I did! Didn't you read my text? I texted you that I broke my ankle.

Cornhusk dolls these days.

When I went to bring DJ his quesadilla, he was dipping apples in salsa. Also, one of the girls had brought him his portable Lightning McQueen toilet seat to hold while he waited for his food.

And that's how it goes, sometimes.

Lesson learned

My friend just posted a very affirming (to me) story about how Americans are too quick to throw away food that's reached the "best by" date, resulting in tons of wasted food every year.

And that reminded me of a story. We ate at Cancun Grill the other night with my dad. At one point I looked up, and saw that Annie looked like she was about to cry. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, "the milk smells like...bugs." I smelled it and Kevin (brave man that he is) tasted it, and we confirmed that it was sour. Annie had already taken a good long drink of it.

So the moral of the story is, at restaurants, always give your kids' milk a quick sniff before they drink it. And, maybe bugs smell like sour milk?

Keep calm and carry on

This is what I keep trying to tell myself moving into and through this semester. Life just really revved up for us, with school starting (and all the waking up early, homework, lunch-and-backpack-packing that goes with it), the first day of hunting season (read: solo parenting), teaching a remedial math class and the senior preservice teachers (which is rewarding but not for the weak of heart), and collecting data for my dissertation (two days a week in 7th-grade classrooms).

Yeah.

I'm just really trying to take things one day at a time and trust that everything will happen more or less when it needs to happen, and that I'll have the energy to keep going. Basically, I'm trying not to panic. Every once in awhile, though, I can feel it start to bubble up. Like today. And at these moments, this favorite clip of mine from My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic comes to mind.

Sweet Annie

It's nap time, and I just finished reading Annie some books.

Me: Okay Annie, now I want you to lay your head down and get some sleep. I need to do some work, or my boss is going to say [in a growling voice] "Jaaaamieeeee."

Annie: [Giggling] I don't care!

Me: I care! I don't want my boss to be mad.

Annie: [Serious] But you'd still be my Mom, and I would still love you!

School starts!

First day for Nellie

She likes creative poses

Annie's first day of preschool! Maybe not the greatest picture, but I love it!

The girls (and I) survived the first week of school. Nellie woke up on Wednesday and asked if she could switch to every-other-day first grade. Everyone is worn out, but happy. Today (Saturday) was mostly about recovering. Nellie wanted me to teach her to sew with our little emergency sewing kit, so I passed along everything I know...it took about 5 minutes. But she spent the afternoon mending two pairs of leggings and a hole in Annie's blankie!

And...we gave DJ a [very appropriate] tattoo.