Iain

The photo says it all: he's moving, he's happy. He tells elaborate tales and remembers the names of movie characters, friends at school, our parish priest back in Atlanta. He scribbles, and explains his drawings in detail. He asks his siblings what they did at school, and poses questions like, 'What did you have for lunch today, Anna?' At church last Sunday he said the Hail Mary with the rest of the congregation (despite usually fidgeting and refusing to say prayers at home), and paid attention to the Eucharistic liturgy, making observations that were astounding. He loves school, and is happy to get home again. He puts things away. (That may be the biggest miracle of all!!) He really does seem to be growing up.

...but he's totally uninterested in potty training. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Farm shop

We visited a farm shop a couple of weeks ago. Lewis is running out of charcoal for the Big Green Egg, and I wasn't keen on another day trip to the Edinburgh area--which is where we picked up the last lot. Not that I mind Edinburgh, of course. Not only is it a lovely city, but it has a Starbucks. Still, it is a long way to go even for charcoal and a latte.

So he found a farm shop on the far side of Newcastle that seemed to carry just the sort of charcoal he needed. (If you want to know, you'll have to ask him, or check out the Big Green Egg website. It's hard to say which would represent the Egg and its surpassing greatness with more enthusiasm.)

Of course the farm shop itself, though really lovely, was not the ideal place for Anna, Thomas and Iain to let off steam. The end of a rainy morning inside is a good time for a trip to a playground or a walk on the railway paths. A neat and rather upscale farm shop--not so much. Lunch was not our greatest success, either. But the thing about Thomas, Anna and Iain is that they like being outside as much as their parents do. A path seems almost magical in its ability to bring out the best in all three children (not to mention their exasperated parents). And there are Anna and Thomas, doing on the path what they refuse to do on those occasions when a simultaneous smile in the direction of the camera is required.

So much for the cute Santa photo: this is about as good as it gets.

first frost

A couple of Saturdays ago, I went out for a morning walk, and the trees and grass sparkled with frost. Amazing--the fall is slipping away and I still have to get busy with the Christmas shopping.

Part of the reason the time is flying is that I started a new job on November 2. It's only half-time, but with what I was already doing, it fills up my schedule pretty completely. So I have neglected the blog, all my friends on Facebook, and the housework. The kids have each had a bout of illness, too, which doesn't help. Fortunately, their bugs were extremely short-lived and not passed on to the grown-ups.

What we have been up to otherwise is, of course, a long story, covering the last six weeks or so.

We carved pumpkins:

And we took a wonderful family trip (with Tommy) to Hadrian's Wall:

...and we keep on doing the usual sorts of things--building towers out of Legos and blocks, creating ever-more-intricate railroads, walking on the railway paths and playing at the picnic ground.

The next few weeks promise to be busy with work, birthday parties (two next Saturday and one on the 29th of November), and a Thanksgiving celebration on the 28th--we don't have Thursday off! Just in case you're wondering, Atlanta friends: we still miss you! Look for a card, eventually, and send us your address if you think we may not have it. We'll send you photos and love across the ocean in time for Christmas (and Hanukkah), I hope!

Anna draws

Anna didn't ask to watch television this morning. Usually, we have Dora, Diego and Maggie & the Ferocious Beast before school. But this morning, she began by brining in the magna-doodle and showing Lewis what she'd been drawing: faces. He offered her paper, keen to have some of this new work to post on his office door.

This is a real advance for Anna, who has been scribbling for years joyfully, tracing figures and copying them occasionally and with much prompting, and otherwise not being especially interested in forming shapes or coloring inside the lines. So today we were all smiles as she drew circle after wobbly circle and added eyes (usually two) and a mouth and nose. Eventually she added legs--just like Thomas used to when he first learned to draw people: a big circle with eyes, nose and mouth, and four appendages sticking directly out of the circle, for arms and legs.

The best thing about it was how pleased Anna was with herself. She's been watching Thomas draw--quite possibly his favorite indoor activity--everything from shapes to castles to houses with 'for sale' signs, and to write letters and numbers with increasing accuracy (and decreasing size). Now she can participate in that in a whole new way.

And Iain has decided he wants to join in the fun: today it was ovals. Thankfully on the paper, this time.