Us... Lately

A particularly warm day in early October.

Risky Business  :)

Marble Works rocks our socks.

The day of our friend Jagger & Charli's joint birthday party, Sophie wasn't feeling well.  So she stayed home with me for a nap while the Rethman fam picked Will up to attend the party.  (Craig was working.)  Will was ready to go about an hour too soon and could not wait until it was time to be picked up.  I let him call Casey to check on her status and ETA.  He looked so grown up dialing and talking all on his own.  Scary foreshadowing!

Just 30 minutes to go!!  :)

Birthday card for Jagger.

We've really expanded the chores that Will occasionally helps with.  There isn't one specific job anymore that's exclusively his (except being responsible for his own things and room) but he's beginning to do a plethora of odds and ends.  Usually one day each weekend, the kids and I spend some time cleaning and they appreciate whatever simple chores they can help with.  Then Craig fills in here and there when he can.  One of Will's most frequent jobs is collecting the little waste baskets throughout the house and then returning them with fresh bags after I empty them all into our kitchen garbage for him to take out to the garage and Craig to burn.  He also does a lot of the glass cleaning and dusting and has learned how to start the washer and add soap with my supervision.

I almost saved this for Sophie's quarterly update, but decided to include it here.  Sophie has invented a name for the cozy little spaces she creates for herself in various nooks and crannies around the house using pillows and blankets.  She calls them "camp outs" and is forever "building" them and snuggling down in with her baby for a surprisingly long and contented time.  I've always known Sophie likes small spaces and snuggling.  I think they make her feel safe and peaceful.

So, here she's piled her bed pillows and the couch pillows along with some old receiving blankets in the space between the coffee table and window in our living room.  Other previous spaces have included the corners on either side of the couches or chair in our living room, the corner of our dining room beside the buffet or just in her room somewhere on the floor.  She's not selfish with her spaces.  We're always invited to "come in her camp out" and snuggle with her.  And inevitably, she sucks her thumb and plays with her belly button while in her camp outs.

Hey look!  It's a couple of Garman kid wannabe's!  :)

Will and Sophie were watching daddy work outside one evening and laughing as he acted silly for them.  ;-)