Fall Fun Begins

Over the course of last week, I wrote down reminders to help me remember the best parts of the week. Oddly enough, my list starts with “Wet bed, sleeping bags.” Ava having an accident on Emily’s bed at bedtime was not the highlight of my day, but listening to the girls chatter while rolling out their sleeping bags came pretty close. They were sharing blankets, helping each other, and being generally pleasant. Then I heard Emily explaining to Ava that all the people in the world couldn’t attend the same school because then no one would be able to get through the lunch line in time to eat lunch. Quite logical, really.

Earlier that day, we had our annual fall family fun day. We decided to forego our usually trip to Burt’s and visited Kinsey Family Farms instead. We perused pumpkins and took a hayride around the farm.

Pokemon pumpkins. Perfect for David's latest obsession.

Browsing through plants while waiting for the tractor.

On the hayride.

He liked sitting away from the rest of us.

The tractor stopped so that the kids could feed catfish in the pond.

Feed me.

The next morning, I taught Sunday School for Ava's class, and Ava was my only student. The class for her age-group is new, and so far our highest attendance has been two students. Ava doesn't seem to mind the one-on-one attention, and I have to admit that I rather enjoy it myself. It allows me to see my daughter in a completely different light. I'm still "Mom", but I'm also her teacher, and she treats me as such. She knows that I usually have snack packed, but she'll wait a decent interval before inquiring about it. She asks all-important questions like, "What are we doing now? Will we go outside today?" The most interesting moment was when we were coloring our worksheets and listening to soothing music over the sound system. Ava cocked her head slightly and said, "What's that mean?" I said, "What? The music?" "Yes." "It's just pretty music that we can listen to while we're learning." "Oh. It sounds happy." A couple songs later, she remarked, "That sounds sad..." I find it fascinating that my three-year-old is noticing certain song elements and labeling them as happy or sad. For the most part, she was right. 

I worked overtime most of last week, and the only other item on my list says, "Literal conversations with David about figures speech." It don't remember the exact conversation, but you can imagine how it went. David is a very literal kid, so figures of speech don't always make sense to him. If he hears one often enough, he accepts it and recognizes it for what it is, but new ones always throw him for a bit of a loop.

The weekend flew by, and our whirlwind trip to coastal Georgia seemed even shorter than normal. Ava was fine when she went to bed on Friday night, but woke up with a barking cough and a moderate fever on Saturday morning. She spent most of the day curled up on the couch or playing with building blocks. I took a few pictures of Meghan and Simon while Johnathan and Stephen went to pick up a new TV, and my father-in-law cooked a delicious dinner of sweet and sour pork.

David had a den meeting this afternoon and was thrilled to get his pocket knife. He spent a considerable part of the evening "whittling." 

Ava is still feeling a little puny, but I'm hoping she will rest better tonight. When I was wiping her forehead with a cool washcloth last night, she looked at me with blurry eyes and said, "...I just need you, Mom." Needless to say, she slept between Johnathan and I last night...although I'm not sure any of us slept much with all of her tossing and turning. She hasn't had a fever since early this morning, so I'm hoping the worst is over. I can definitely use an undisturbed night's sleep.

All in all, it has been a good week. I'm feeling fairly relaxed and more than a little hopeful. I feel like we're on the edge of good things.