I sit here on the hardwood floors of my bedroom with a fan blowing (pointed at my bed, not me). On the bed, Dorien is sound asleep buried under a quilt. Periodically, I hear a sniff from him. Down the hall, Brooklyn is spending her nap time playing (mostly) quietly in her room. She sings to herself, draws, rearranges her toys and sketch pads (of which there are many). Every now and then I have to go whisper to her to please be quieter. This is because August's room is right next to hers. And even though his fan is on and he is also buried under quilts and sound asleep, enough noise generating from the direction of Brooklyn's room will wake him up.

I realize it is now 4:08 and I wonder how. The kids and I woke up at our usual 9:30, threw piles of laundry around (clean stuff onto the extra bed in August's room and dirty stuff into the washer), ate eggs and toast, got dressed and did our schoolwork.  I don't do this often, but we actually didn't get any school at all worked in yesterday, unless you count the everyday lessons of maneuvering mini grocery carts at Kroger, locating the shaving gel and scanning items at the self-checkout.

Today as we were doing school, most successfully, I might add with relief, I asked the kids what today is (for our calendar stuff) and Brooklyn chirped TUESDAY! How she knew this, I don't know. I totally thought it was Monday. My six year old is more on the ball than me. 

We worked on number bonds today and managed to do so without breaking any mason jars. Last week, Dorien gleefully smashed two empty jars (emptied of their linking cubes) together and shattered them.

Dorien is mimicking the numbers the kids say, which can only be a good thing, right? 

He has gotten so much easier to work with during the kids' schooling. 

He likes to be involved, so we just find ways that he can be. Ways that don't involve glass breakage. Or crayon eat-age.

Brooklyn has lost her first tooth and it was a big moment for our household. There was little drama. It fell out one night as she was brushing her teeth. Fortunately, Kyle managed to snag the tiny thing before it fell into the drain. I almost cried. Brooklyn was beside herself with glee. And rightly so! Big moments!! The Tooth Fairy gave her a dollar. I'm not sure what teeth go for these days, but that seemed reasonable. 

 I received a package from PurlSoho yesterday and am hoping to begin work on some Christmas presents this week! I also got the latest Ken Follett book in from the libary - Winter of the World. It's huge and probably gonna get me, emotionally, as it covers the Holocaust and that always tears me up.

 Dorien is bound and determined to feed himself. Hence the enormous bib. 

Brooklyn made the hilarious comment the other day that she might never get out of car seat because she seems to be getting skinnier. Her exact words. Kyle and I howled with laughter. This is true. She is a rail. I love it. But she may not move out of her seat anytime soon. It was a funny observation. 

I also recently finished one of Kyle's favorite books last week - Enders Game. It was fantastic! I now have the second one at hand - Speaker for the Dead. Speaking of those...there are two super cool videos I'll share with you that Kyle did from a design perspective. My husband is way talented. 

Design Project - part ONE.

Design Project  - part TWO.

I am also doing some serious introspection along the lines of wounds. More on that later.

In the meantime, it has been very cool outside which means my a/c has been given a much-needed rest. We're wearing long sleeves and jeans (yes!!!) and I made cocoa the other day. It is my absolute favorite time of the year. And I am going to try hard not to be jealous as my husband spends the next few days in Chicago where it is even cooler and more fall-ish. 

That's where I am.