Beaver(less) Meadow

The weather has been beautiful this weekend -- sunny, dry, and warm -- so we took the boys to Beaver Meadow, a nature preserve about an hour from our apartment. I had specifically selected this preserve because the website led me to believe we would get to see a real beaver habitat (with real beavers!). It was a beautiful drive through farm country and old-timey small towns.

When we arrived, I asked if we would be able to see the beavers, but the information desk lady told us that they left 3 years ago! Their dam and resulting beaver pond are still there, but the dam is leaking and eventually the pond will drain and will become a running stream again. So, we were a little disappointed about not seeing real beavers, but the preserve was beautiful and we got to walk out on top of the dam, which was neat. There was a visitor's center, and inside there was a discovery center with lots of nature-related stuff for kids to play with. The boys enjoyed that, and Peter was both horrified and highly entertained by the beaver puppets!

So, our outing wasn't exactly what we hoped it would be, but it was enjoyable all the same.

In kid news this past week, Jack tied his shoe by himself for the first time! It's been a struggle to get him willing to learn, but he knows how to do it and now he just needs more practice. It was pretty neat watching him do it all by himself for the first time! His schoolwork is going pretty well, minus some "I don't want to" moments and some craziness from Thomas and Peter. It's been more difficult for me than I expected trying to organize my weekly routine and get everything done that I'd like, but hopefully I'll get in a good rhythm in the weeks to come.

Thomas has been upping the sassiness level a bit, which is expected considering his being 3, but it's a little trying on the patience! He's been coming up with a lot of interesting questions, and he isn't satisfied until he gets and answer and understands it completely (and even then he might ask again just because). He's especially interested in Jesus, heaven, and all things religious -- I like to think of him as a little philosopher :).

Jack and Thomas have been playing pretty well together, but sometimes they resort to calling each other names. Quite a while ago they were calling each other "stupid", which I put an end to, but the other day I overheard what they thought was a sneaky insult -- they were calling each other "steward"! I think I deflated it pretty well when I informed them that being a steward is actually a good thing :).

In Peter news, his ankle seems to be feeling pretty well. He's cruising around on it, but hasn't really tried walking by himself yet. He has developed a very loud streak, and just learned the word "Miiiine!" at top volume. He's also learned "cracker", "waw" (for water), and a very loud, long
Maaaaammmmy!" for "Mommy". He is a funny, feisty little guy, and I'm thoroughly enjoying his baby antics and sense of humor!

David, Jack, and Thomas at the start of a Beaver Meadow trail.

David and the boys on top of the beaver dam -- the water tricking down toward the right is the leak in it.

Beaver puppet fun.

A real life (albeit sleepy) owl in the visitors' center.


Peter enjpying a snack on the benches outside.

Halloween roundup

We had a kind of dreary Halloween, but the boys enjoyed it anyway (mostly thanks to candy and glow sticks). We were supposed to go to one of David's co-workers house to trick-or-treat with a bunch of little kids, but they called and cancelled because their kids had the flu.

We decided to trick-or-treat at a few apartments in our complex, but the weather became terribly cold and rainy right as we walked out the door, and on top of that, no one answered their doors! Ah well -- we decided that next year (wherever we are) we'll make a point of trick-or-treating at houses that are well decorated for Halloween --that should increase our success!

Yesterday, Peter got his cast off and we're all grateful for that! He had a long soak in the tub, took a good nap, and was literally bouncing around when he got up. He was spinning donuts on the floor, bouncing on the couch, he was so thrilled to be out of that cast! The doctor said he probably won't put any weight on that ankle for a little while, but so far he seems to be treating it normally. In two months they want to X-ray it to make sure it has finished healing correctly, but other than that he's good to go.

Today, we had a playdate with one of Kim's friends from college who now lives in the Buffalo area. It was such a treat! They have 2 little boys and a lovely, huge old farmhouse complete with chickens and lots of land. They also know of other young Catholic families in the area and offered to let us know about any group events that might be going on. I'm excited about that possibility!

Jack as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Thomas as Luke Skywalker.

Peter with a Superman sweater (I thought that complimented his cast nicely :) )

Our pumpkins -- David's autobot symbol, Jack's scaredy pumpkin, and Thomas's goofy pumpkin

The Jedi Knights again.

Say cheese!

Wild boys

So far, the best word to describe the weather in Buffalo is "gray". It's not terribly cold (yet), but most days it's either drizzling, raining, or threatening to. The other day I posted about the beautiful fall leaves being a "nature's bonus", but now I realize they do have a purpose -- they are a gift from God to brighten up the dreary grayness a little :). It definitely makes me appreciate (and miss) all the days of sunshine that we get in San Diego.

The boys are doing pretty well, but they seem to be having a delayed reaction to the move and the new routine. They were so good for the first week and a half -- Jack did his schoolwork eagerly, and they were reasonably good natured and obedient. Let me tell you, this last week or so has been really rough -- I feel mentally and emotionally exhausted by the end of the day just trying to keep the peace here. Jack is really resisting his schoolwork, and they've been picking fights and having tantrums about the tiniest of things. Even Peter is getting in on it -- one of his new tricks is to plug his ears and then do his loudest and longest baby shout (so loud it makes Jack and Thomas cry!). I fully expected some adjustment period for the boys, but it's a little different and a little more trying than I expected. Fortunately, I am blessed with a pretty stubborn nature, and I am doing pretty well at not playing into their drama.

Tomorrow we're heading to a Halloween get-together with one of David's co-workers and his young family. The boys are going as Jedi knights, so we'll be sure to get pictures of them in costume. Monday morning, Peter's cast comes off, and I am really looking forward to that so we don't have to worry about it getting wet (which is a concern when the ground is almost always soggy here!).

Weekend outing

On Saturday, we headed to a nearby park and let the boys ride their trikes around. The fall colors are absolutely stunning! David and I were talking about what a "nature's bonus" fall colors are. To my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong!), there is no real natural advantage to a tree's leaves being brightly colored before they drop to the ground. There are lots of brightly colored fruits in nature, but their colors serve the purpose of attracting birds and animals so that the seeds can be dispersed. Some plants and animals are brightly colored to warn off potential nibblers because they're poisonous. But I can't think of one good reason why it matters what color a tree's leaves are as it's preparing to go dormant for the winter. The beauty just is, without needing any reason, other than God decided it should be that way, and thinking about it that way makes me happy :).

There were lots of puddles because it has rained the day before, so the boys' shoes and socks got pretty well soaked. I made sure to seal up Peter's cast in a plastic bag, because he kept gravitating to the muddiest and deepest puddles to play in. I'm debating whether or not to buy rain boots for them (just the rubber kind that go over the shoes), but I'm sure as soon as I do then the snow will start and we won't need them anymore!

This park, when the snow and ice do come, has an ice skating pond and a sled hill! That should be a blast!

Today the weather has been gorgeous, and the boys and I started collecting colorful leaves in hopes of preserving them. They got a kick out of that. I did a little research, and there are a handful of ways to preserve fall leaves, so we'll try one this afternoon to see how it goes.

Ever wonder...

what it would look like if all of your family's clothes were put through the washing machine and thrown into a "To Fold" pile?

How about something like this:

Augh -- my eyes!

In theory, any clothes that went into the moving boxes clean should have come out clean, 1.5 weeks later, but I felt funny just putting them away. They seemed contaminated with invisible moving dust, somehow, so I went ahead and ran everything through the wash. Never before has Mount Washmore looked as much like Mount Everest!

In other (better) news ... we have renters for our house!!! They're set to move in next month -- they're a military couple with a small dog, and they passed all the screening and checks with flying colors. I'm so glad the house won't be vacant anymore, and the rental income will definitely come in handy.

Need I say more?

Apparently the ankle is indeed broken, although it's very mild, so the cast comes off in 2 weeks! The dr put the cast over his knee, so he couldn't stand if he wanted to, in order to help keep his weight off of it so it can heal.

Peter doesn't seem to mind the cast too much, thankfully. He can still crawl pretty fast, and he seems comfortable.

What a day, though!!

Peter's ankle not in the clear yet

This morning, the Urgent Care office called me and said "Well, we had a radiologist look at Peter's X-rays, and he thinks there might be a buckle fracture there after all...". So, they've scheduled us an appointment this afternoon (at 2:45PM -- smack in the middle of naptime!) with an orthopedist to check it out.

Of course, I'm very glad that someone took another look at the X-ray, and that they called us to let us know, but it's frustrating to be right back in the "it might be broken" camp again. I'm kind of hoping the orthopedist will look at the X-rays and tell us that he doesn't see anything there, and then we'll be back to ankle sprain, but I'm preparing myself for another baby cast. In any case, I'm glad we're getting it looked at closely, because I'd hate to mess with his growing ankle and have things heal improperly and cause him long-term problems. I'm also very grateful that it's very minor, as injuries and illnesses go, and we've done this before with a toddler, so we can do it again if we need to!