Leaves!

We love the wooded setting against our backyard for many reasons, but the shedding of the leaves in the autumn is certainly the biggest drawback. Jim spent countless hours raking and blowing in the back yard. Luckily, the forest behind the house makes for a great dumping ground just on the other side of the fence. We did take some time one weekend to enjoy the best part of the season, jumping in the leaves!



Playtime is over, now back to work!

E,I,E,I,O

Claire's singing has really taken off lately! She loves to sing along to the ABCs, Old McDonald and Row Your Boat. It's too cute!

You better watch out. You better not cry.

Since Monday, the limits have been set with the Halloween candy around here. A day of indulgence was allowed initially, but now I'm cracking down. I let the girls pick one piece to have with their lunch and dinner. Maggie caught on pretty quickly and hasn't balked much. Claire, on the other hand, is not too happy about this. Today after eating her mini box of Milk Duds at lunch, she was asking for more candy. I told her no more candy and assured her she could have more at dinner. (Not that she has any concept of delayed gratification at this point.) Well, she goes into full meltdown mode. Screaming and thrashing in her booster seat while proceeding to pull the table cloth off the table. This quickly escalates to include throwing her remaining lunch on the floor. I promptly remove her from her seat and tell her lunch is over. Claire then heads to the island, where the pumpkins are sitting, and starts hanging and trying to climb up to reach them. After many unsuccessful attempts, she throws herself to the ground (finding the plushest area rug in the kitchen first) and starts kicking and thrashing about. When this does not produce the results she wanted, she comes over and starts trying to hit me and again pulls the table cloth off the table. I firmly repeat "no more candy" as much for me as for her. The screaming and thrashing continue.

Meanwhile, Maggie is happily sitting next to me eating her turkey sandwich and watching Claire's every move. At one point, I look over at Maggie and her eyes are wide! She has an expression on her face that's a mix of sadness and fear. On the verge of tears she says, "I think Santa's not going to be able to come 'cause Claire's not listening to you!" And then she adds, "If Claire doesn't listen to you, Christmas won't come!" I put my arm around Mag and assure her that Christmas will definitely come and thank her for being such a good listener today. The funniest part is, I have only resorted to the "Santa only comes for good girls" form of bribery one time. I guess it left an impression!

Trick or Treat

We had a fantastic time Trick or Treating this year! Grandma and Grandpa Flynn came down to adore the girls with us. Our neighbors had us over for a slice of pizza to fuel up for the big night. Poor Maggie was terrified of the boys who were dressed as a spooky goblin and gorilla. She clung to Daddy at first, and then kept reassuring herself, "It's just pretend!" Claire wanted to dig into her candy after the first stop, but quickly caught on that if she could just keep up with Maggie she would get a lot more in her pumpkin.

Maggie and Claire ran excitedly from house to house, with the occasional wagon ride in between. After each stop, Maggie would triumphantly declare, "I'm going to eat all the candy!" Watching the girls excitedly discover this age-old tradition was one of the best motherhood moments in a while. Their unbridled enthusiasm had me smiling from ear to ear. I turned to Jim at one point in the evening and said, "This parenting thing is starting to get really fun!"

Partners in crime

Checking out her whiskers

Claire, rooting through the pumpkin from the start

"Wait for me Maggie!"

Bizzare toddler behavior: preferring lollipops to chocolate!