Things are starting to cool off around here. The mornings have been as cold as -10 and my flowers that were still in bloom a week ago have all died off in the heavy frost. We've been spending time outside each day but usually waiting until the afternoon when things have warmed up a little. The boys aren't very fond of this new arrangement. They will cry most of the morning, "uh sie"!! They adore running, climbing and exploring outside. The boys are both teething and have terrible runny noses for the second time this month. They seem to be dropping their morning nap so our schedule has come up with "plan A" and "plan B". Both work out pretty good, however the lack of a morning nap sure makes for a long morning!!

Our green wagon that Aiden received as a Christmas present from Gigi when he was 16months finally packed it in so Bupee bought the boys a new blue wagon as an early Christmas present. The day it arrived, Alex woke up from his nap first. He climbed in and happily played until Jordan woke up from his nap. Alex was not impressed that he was expected to share his wagon!

One thing I love to do is take pictures. I don't know very much about photography but is just something that I find enjoyable. The kids have been asking to take pictures. On Thanksgiving Sunday, Aiden and Caileigh took turns going around our yard taking photos.

This one is compliments of Caileigh. I think maybe I'll allow them to experiment more in the coming months.

Aiden is doing well in first grade. He still loves Math and Science the best. We're studying the grasslands and he loves finding "specimens" as he searches around the yard. A lesson on ancient civilizations had him spending weeks trying to hunt a squirrel in our back yard. I am thankful that the squirrel seems to have finally gone into hibernation. I think that is a safe idea!!

Piano is another favorite activity as it fits in with his plans of becoming a famous musician/song writer one day. He practices every day and I often don't even need to remind him.

Caileigh is enjoying her school year. It is nice that they are so close in age because they are able to participate in the same curriculum, with the exception of math. Her favorite subjects are History, art and listening to stories. She spends a lot of her day drawing pictures and reading books. Caileigh suddenly seems so "5" even though we still have a few months before this comes official. I notice an extreme independence developing (more than before) and with this comes some of the lovely (spoken sarcastically) behaviors. Lot's of hugs and hopefully this will pass quickly.

Mikayla has been participating in a few activities herself. She gets to color letters, glue items to paper and listen to stories. She is extremely "monkeyish", however, and can't be left alone to her own devices. She loves to eat felts, bingo dab walls and rip the pages of books. Just last week Mikayla "cried wolf" and told us she had swallowed adult Extra Strength Tylenol. After an impromptu visit to the ER and some blood work it was confirmed that there was 0 trace of Tylenol in her system. She then cheerfully responds, "I didn't eat the medicine!" I'm pretty sure this experience may have given me my first gray hair.

Sean is continuing to work a lot, however there are some changes happening for him and hopefully we'll see a change in his extreme work schedule soon. I seem to think I have written this before? He is so hard working and we're certainly proud of him! When I do see him, you can usually find us camped out on the couch watching a movie or one of the new fall sitcoms that we've started to enjoy watching.

Me, I'm good. I've been realizing more and more how quickly these early years go. While I'm happy to see all the exciting things we'll be able to do as a family it makes me sad that my babies are growing up. I like this stage, however hard and extremely trying it can be......and it is! I have my days of pity parties but I try and start fresh the next day......and eat some chocolate.