Sometimes I wonder...

What the girls are telling other people about us?

Let's Freeze Time...

Right about here:
It's been quite a week: birthday night on the town with Erin, celebratory dinner at church, count them 1,2,3 Costume Parades, more pumpkins, Jack o'Lanterns and two little girls that I think should stay just about this age...

I have many pictures to share but as we all know uploading pictures to Blogger requires the strategic planning of implementing a Shuttle Launch (not to mention I think there are two stray cats mauling each other outside my door right now- where do I live?!)...so I am off to bed, oh wait, I mean to clean the kitchen. More to come...

Significant Birthdays

And in the most exciting news of the week...two of our favorite families have joyfully expanded!

Hatch and Shannon welcomed Anna Kathryn last Monday. Baby Anna joins eagerly waiting twin brothers Hudson and William. I first spent quality time with H and S many moons ago in a Nicaragua orphanage. Our paths have crossed and entangled many ways since then - my favorite connection possibly being the one we have over a certain Chevrolet Caprice Classic (LT model, Travis will always add.) That is all from another time, for another post, but I must say nothing seems more right and beautiful to me than seeing Shannon's arms full of her babies.


Then on Thursday, Dave, Megan, and Big Brother Noah welcomed Micah Jeffrey! We have much history with the Rathbones as well, including the lovely detail that Dave and I lived in the same college slum, umm , garage, umm, apartment (?) a year apart. And we live parallel child-birthing lives two years apart, with different genders. When I visited on Saturday I even realized Megan was in the same hospital room as I had been in with Olivia almost exactly two years ago. I was thrilled to get a peek at this perfectly adorable little guy in the nursery before I was kicked out upon failing to convince the staff that I was the grandmother. I'm so excited they all got to go home as a family today!


Congratulations friends! May you get as much sleep as possible. And if not possible, as a consolation, may you have many wonderful casseroles delivered to your homes - our favorite part of baby recovery over here!)

Two Unrelated Highlights from this Week:

Here is one of my favorite fairys attending a "Fairy Tea Party Birthday Party." Best part? No strange feats required to earn your wings. They were handed out at the door.

And...if you are headed to Lynchburg, perhaps to visit colleges, wineries, or my sister's in-laws, you must stay here:Yes, that is a red heel. This is a Boutique Hotel housed in what was once the Craddock Terry Shoe Factory. I was delighted by the small ways the shoe theme is carried throughout the design and operations - down to the "shoe boxes" you leave outside your door with your breakfast order! The rooms, furniture, and resturants are all outstanding - and all so unique. No, you are not at the Marriot anymore - and you won't want to be.

Field Trip #1: Pumpkin Patch

Sophia's first field trip of her academic life (not counting the ones initiated by her mother to neighborhood construction sites) cost $3.50, and yes, following Strickland Family Private School Small Fee Tradition...I wrote a check. And I went. And so did Buela. And so did Foo. Holly Fork Pumpkin Patch was wonderful...no creepy plastic witches and no placards of Bart Simpson(sorry Pumpkinville).
Just lots of chickens, a few pigs...

And a rooster Olivia was determined to pet.

And since it was a Pumpkin Patch...there were hula hoops.

And lots and lots of pumpkins!

Class Picture ( I really need more skill or a better camera or both)

They asked us to dress the children in their school shirts. I am such a rule follower- when I remember. But most people didn't - and now I wish I'd put her in something more festive , you know, for the pictures...

It was a beautiful morning and a fine start on the journey of many field trips...And I feel like I get to do it all over again - without the dress code.

My Favorite Tree Huggers

Love those pigtails...

Batteries Not Included

(Photos in this montage are courtesy of Sophia) I've always appreciated Elmo's enthusiasm about well...everything.
How does such a face with so few fine details communicate such emotion?

Surprise, excitement, contentment...and, in this case, it's all about grocery shopping.

Elmo had a big day last Sunday. Sophia and I went through the toys and made a list of everything that needed new batteries - which was everything that used batteries. My Mom had this rule when we were growing up that we couldn't have toys that used batteries. It ranked right up there with the "no sugar cereal" rule. We felt greatly deprived. Of course now I consider my mother a prophet as 1/3 of our nation is obese, quite possibly from a large intake of Lucky Charms. (Now we did always have Pop- tarts in the house...but those provide 8 essential vitamins and minerals.)

And she was right, once again, about battery toys. I thought she banned them because batteries are expensive, which they are. But I've now learned the whole truth the hard way: battery-operated toys are annoying. Batteries = noise. Batteries = broken. Batteries = devastation-when-it-worked-yesterday-but-it-doesn't-work-today-because-it-was-left-on-all-night.

These are my reflections - After I spent a full day buying and replacing batteries for toys and then asking myself why. Elmo can now talk about how thirsty he is and how he needs to go to the potty. And if Sophia rolls over him just right in his sleep, I can hear those startling sentences amidst the Strange Sonic Birds over the monitor. It's unsettling. For Christmas, I'm commissioning Buelo to widdle them Laura Ingalls Wilder-esque toys out of wood. What was the Pioneer version of Elmo, I wonder?