How's your autumn?

Well, let's see. Point form will probably be my best bet here.

-D started kindergarten
-Hubby started a new job
-D, my grandma (GG), my dad, M, and my mom had birthdays, in that order
-both of my grandmas passed away within days of each other, meaning two funerals over two weekends
-I've been teaching David Platt's excellent and challenging book, Follow Me, at our women's Bible study
-we drove to Southern Ontario for a reunion with our old Bible study group (known modestly as The Best Small Group Ever)

So, it's been busy and somewhat stressful, to put it mildly. Not surprisingly, there's been a measure of illness added to our daily routine, more so than in an ordinary year because of everything D brings home from school.

Mixed in with the sadness of losing my grandmothers, we had the joy of visiting family. The day after Gams passed, my brother and two sisters drove from Toronto and spent several days here. We had family dinners every night, and it was better than when we were growing up, because everyone's kinder and more mature. And there are little kids to play with and pregnant bellies to pat (my sister's this time). All of my cousins were there for the visitation and the funeral, including one from out West who travelled with a toddler and an infant. (We later had a fun afternoon play date with them!) The six great-grandkids proved a happy distraction and were pretty well-behaved, although my two certainly had their moments.

GG's funeral wasn't really like a funeral; it was a visitation at my parents' house, and people came and talked and ate and saw pictures from my Grandma's life on screens in various rooms. Once everyone had gone except for immediate family, we shared memories of Grandpa and Grandma, funny ones and serious ones.Then we went out to Swiss Chalet for dinner, which was GG's fave. I am so glad to have been able to spend as much time as I did with them, both when I was growing up and in these early years of my daughters' lives. Even though it may become increasingly common as people live longer, I think it's a pretty amazing thing to get to see your grandchildren become parents.

I've been hanging out with this kid a lot

She's been wearing this dress almost daily

They've had a least two naps like this recently

Small victories

Today wasn't a total win, but there were several ways in which it was not terrible:

-M and I made it in and out of Ikea in less than 30 minutes with only the items on our list
-several rooms in my house are partially clean, and the girls helped pick up their toys in the living room
-dinner was ready (thanks to some sacrificed quiet time) when Hubby got home
-D shared the names of three more classmates, so now we know of 14 kids in her class, out of a possible 19
-M's favourite French words today: ouvert, fermé, camion, attention, encore

The one we used to call Snaggletooth

I don't need to go on in detail about the bad mood I was in this morning, the joujouthèque toy that D broke, the shorter-than-usual naps and resulting post-nap weeping. I only mention them to keep it real.

School for D, M's mornings with me

School is off to a great start for D; she's not as tired as I had anticipated, although she has fallen asleep twice on the bus ride home. Stories from school come out slowly, a piece at a time, and she tells different (though not conflicting) details to Hubby than she does to me. Names of classmates, descriptions of activities, songs, rules, routines. Among my favourites: the daily report of who got to be the "chef" (leader) that morning. D is anxiously awaiting the day she will be named chef. Typical eldest child.

It amazes me how fearless she seems to be. Her whole life up to this point has been spent mainly with me, although she's often been looked after by other people, including family, Sunday school teachers, babysitters, nursery volunteers, etc. And all of a sudden, she's off on a school bus five days of the week, getting used to new routines and ways of doing things, in English one week and French the next, and she's fine with it all.

Something that I quite love about Catholic school is that they start the day with prayer, and (I think, from what D has told me) they say grace before snack time. D has informed me of the need to have "nice praying hands" (held flat together, not with fingers interlaced), and that's led to some conversations about why we close our eyes and put our hands together, and whether the exact way we place our hands is as important as focusing our attention on God when we talk to him. I anticipate lots of conversations like this, and I look forward to them! It's a neat way to explain why we believe what we do, and why we act the way we do.

In the meantime, M and I have been greatly enjoying our mornings together. Her first choice from the joujouthèque was, not surprisingly, a loud, somewhat obnoxious, ride-on toy. Besides play group and Wednesday morning Bible study, we've started going to a Mom & Tot yoga class at a studio relatively nearby. It's a nice half-hour walk straight from the bus stop, and I get more of a workout from the walk than I do from the class. M sort of participates, but it's only been two weeks so far. On the other days, we go to the park, read books at home, and do chores. It's really neat to watch her play by herself. She's started narrating her toys' actions, interspersed with disjointed bits of songs, just like D did at that age, and continues to do! "Hey teddy bear, whatcher doooing up there? Come down now. H-I-J-K-Q-R-S-T-U-V-DW all wet." And so on. This kid cracks me up, and I love spending time with her!

Attempting to start a trend of wearing sunglasses around one's midsection

The real first day of school

D's sort-of first day of kindergarten was last week, with a small sub-section of her classmates. I drove her and M was along for the ride, and the only tears that morning were from the baby sister who insisted, "Me, too! My turn!" as her big sister headed off down the hall without a backward glance.

Tomorrow, I'm sure a variation on that scene will replay as D takes the bus to school. But whereas, on Friday, M and I just ran errands all morning, we've got play group tomorrow and since D won't be there, M gets to choose what we get from the toy library, or "joujouthèque." I'm hoping this will stave off her jealousy somewhat.

A dollhouse with Little People is always a big hit

"You mean I get to choose?"

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a backpack to prepare and a season finale of The Amazing Race Canada to watch. Cheering on the Mitic brothers!

Settling into fall

While most families are celebrating the end of the first week of school, we're still waiting on the first day. D and I went to meet her teachers (one English, one French; they trade off each week) on Friday, and met a couple of her classmates as well. Next week she'll go in for half the day, and the week after that she starts on the bus. She seemed to enjoy seeing the classroom and playing with the toys, so I'm not too worried about her settling in.

In the meantime, I've got lots to keep me occupied at home! I'm very much looking forward to mornings with M, and I'm wondering if I might be brave enough to enrol her in gymnastics or swimming (keeping in mind that I will have to participate in any such activity!). I'm also co-teaching a class at the women's Bible study at church, so that's pretty prep-intensive. And finally, there's all the usual housework and crafting. We were the happy recipients of a hand-me-down bedroom set, and the desk was too big for D's room, so we set it up in the basement. It's the perfect size for a sewing work station, and there's even a power outlet in the right spot on the wall to accommodate both the sewing machine and my laptop! Handily enough, the iron and ironing board are already in the same room. Now when I haul out my sewing machine, I don't have to put it away. The desk has three drawers, so that's where my meager fabric collection goes, along with the few notions and patterns I've gathered. Who knows, maybe I'll go crazy and sew more than once a year?

Here's what I managed to make today during the girls' nap: the Little Man Bow-tie Onesie. It was that rare pattern that was easy and quick for a novice like me. I bought three plain white onesies, and used a scrap of fabric left over from a pillowcase dress.

This week's selection from the toy library (I have to photograph it immediately before the girls play with it, so that I can make sure to get all the pieces together before returning it!). It's been a big hit.

Who wouldn't love to spend the morning with this crazy broad? She's super.

Good garden eats

Today's afternoon snack is brought to me by my garden! The last of the rhubarb has been harvested, and I might have a new favourite cookie: rhubarb hamentaschen. My Smitten Kitchen cookbook informs me that these are traditionally made for the Jewish festival of Purim (which, my Bible informs me, was when Queen Esther saved the Jewish people). I'm not usually fond of jam cookies, but these are just exquisite, albeit labour-intensive. I burned the first batch of compote and had to start again, monitoring the heat carefully this time, because I only just had enough rhubarb to get by. Really, any other fruit would make an excellent substitute, I think. I have it in mind to try out peaches next time.

After a period of dormancy, our zucchinis have been flourishing. Hubby picked two large ones out of the garden a couple of days ago, and those were only #4 and 5 of the season (the first three went towards zucchini fritters). I adapted this recipe to make chocolate zucchini muffins, because we were short on time this morning. The cooking time was just under 30 minutes, which allowed me to have a shower and throw all our stuff together for a play date across the city.

We've been experimenting with indoor tomato ripening sans newspaper, which some might call "leaving green tomatoes on the counter". It's worked out well so far; we've successfully had three tomatoes ripen thusly. The first two went into a grilled cheese sandwich and  a couple of black bean quinoa burgers, to delicious effect. The next one is headed for a one-dish pasta that I'm planning to try tonight. For now, some snacks are calling my name while my children are not.

New bed, new bike, new project

There always seems to be a lot going on around here, and the summer is no exception. First, a few weeks ago, M started waking up screaming in the night, and we wondered if it might be time to get her out of her crib and into a bed. (And by bed, I mean a mattress on the floor.) The fact that she hadn't already climbed out is either a small miracle or a testament to how much she loved that crib. Still, D was around this age when we moved her to a bed, so we thought we may as well go for it.

The bed's good enough for her stuffed cat, but not M

 So far, it's been kind of a good news/bad news situation. Bad news? Naps have all but gone out the window since. Good news? She's exhausted at bedtime and sometimes sleeps through the night. To provide some incentive for the transition, we bought M a new comforter and sheets from Walmart, but she doesn't seem to understand about sleeping under them yet.

When naps occur, they are right by the gate, preceded by much crying, with M's face mashed into the floor

Next, my new bike. I finally found a bike that I wanted to buy! Hubby and I had been idly looking for one since the spring, and decided on a light blue model from Costco. It was 230$, and then I had to buy a helmet as well. We're hoping that biking is something we can do as a family to stay active. Hubby has always enjoyed bike riding. I am the reason my own family of origin stopped bike riding. (Something about poor brakes, hills and riding into the wind discouraged me.) Anyway, we've been on two short rides around the neighbourhood with the girls in the bike trailer/kiddie bike seat, and it's gone well!

The most excellent picture I could take

Finally, I am on the hunt for my next knitting project. I had been working on a sweater for my mom, but then I ran out of yarn and it took weeks to find, order, and receive another skein. In the interim, I had no proper focus, and I worked alternately on socks for Hubby, slippers for my grandma, and a doll for D (with one planned for M). The sweater is done, the socks are my travel project, the slippers keep not working out, and I just finished the first doll today. D's input: she wanted a "real green dress". I helpfully made the hair and skin colour similar to D's own. Pale is the new tan, right?

Fun fact: this doll does have a mouth, but it's in such a pale shade of pink that it blends into her white face

Up next? There are a number of very special babies that have been or are going to be born this year, and I'd like to knit for as many of them as I can! I'd also like to do one other "selfish" knit for myself, something less time consuming than a sweater. That may get put to the back burner until this year of no new yarn is over, though.