I have the weirdest kids in the whole world. And I love them dearly.
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Oy, soccer.
Soccer. It seemed like a slam dunk for Neko. Constant running. Kicking of a ball. There’s even a good friend on her team!
But soccer? Neko hates it.
I’m not sure if it’s that it’s organized activity. Or that she’s not the best one on the team. Or that she has sports-challenged parents who haven’t properly immersed her in sport. But omigosh, this season has been a struggle.
She begrudgingly follows along at practices, and at games she stands stock still in her position, sometimes picking dandelions. But the minute the hour is up, she comes dribbling the ball to me like she’s been doing it all her life.
Mid-October cannot come soon enough.
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Captain Underpants
Tom has been reading the kids the Captain Underpants series. Shep has taken this character to be his own like most kids latch on to Batman or Superman.
So most of the afternoon is spent in underwear and cape, saving the world.
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Tagged and ready to fly
One of the dads at Neko’s school is involved in Monarch Watch, a program dedicated to the conservation and research of monarch butterflies. At the back-to-school picnic, he made sure every child could took home a caterpillar (or six) to watch the process up close and personal.
When the butterflies emerge, the kids can bring them to school to be tagged before they are released. I brought our new friends to school when I picked up Neko. They were tagged, but, um, not released.
Tomorrow, someone has promised me. You know, after she’s done loving them.
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New release
And Tom thought the best thing that would come out today would be the new Beatles box set.
Wrong-o, my friend.
Our first two monarchs emerged while we were out this morning. Our junior naturalists are ecstatic, but having a bit of a hard time thinking about letting them go.
Unbelievable to think they all started out as this tiny caterpillar.
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WARNING! LIBBY! CREEPY CRAWLY THINGS AHEAD!
Tom discovered this spider while cutting grass. She has made a nice home for herself on the side of the shop. She seems to be so comfortable that she’s unpacked some luggage and even her egg sac.
I knew instantly that this was a yellow argiope spider, as my friend Amy W. has been blogging about the one living on her raspberry bush all summer.
How appropriate that we just began reading Charlotte’s Web to Neko. I have a feeling we’ll be keeping an eye on those baby spiders.
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Car wash
Sheesh. I’m feeling like Boring Mom these days. Every time I turn around, Tom is doing something fun and inventive with the kids. Today while I was putting together the shards of my sanity, he held a car wash with the kids.
Watermelon. Car washes. Never know what you might get yourself into when you head down our driveway…
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Arrangement by Shep
Christmas for Shep this year is going to be easy. Give me about one hour at Hobby Lobby and then another 15 minutes to hop over to Staples, and I’ll be done.
This kid doesn’t want toys. He wants THINGS.
He spends his days with big hunks of Model Magic, filling hours working it into one big brown lump. He adores a big box of paper clips. A fresh box of crayons is heavenly—not for drawing, but for taking them in and out and admiring the colors. Loads of time was spent this week tearing pom-poms apart into a big pile of fuzz.
Last Christmas I couldn’t figure out what to get him. Now I know why. He didn’t know where we stored the office supplies yet.
Today? Shep discovered the colored toothpicks. A little slice of heaven on a Saturday morning.
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Lovely
I’m doing a project for a senior organization, so I was in their neck of the woods with camera in hand this morning. I caught this shot of beautiful Nona in the courtyard.
