Readers

I love to read. And I love that they love to read.

Of course, there are no photos of Madie reading because she is the Clandestine Reader. I found out only a few months ago that she had read a bunch of books on the bookshelf in their room that I didn't even know she knew were in there. 

Me: "You know a book we should read, Finn? The Wind in the Willows."

Madie: "Wait, is that the one with a toad?" 

"Yeah." 

"Oh, yeah, I've read that book."

"Where?" I thought maybe a teacher read it to them at school.

"It's in our room."

"Well, okay, I know. I didn't even know you'd read it. I mean, I only ever see you with Fudge or Harry Potter."

She just looked at me like I was weird for not getting it. "Well, it's not like it's long." Meaning she read it in an hour or so, and I didn't even know.

"How many of those books have you read? I mean the ones in your room."

"All of them."

So, that's Madie. Sorry, no pictures.

Madie-Made

Some of Madie's most recent art pieces returned from school. Mike and I were duly impressed. I'm particularly impressed by the one on the right--it's the first self-portrait I've seen of her that has any shape to the face other than oval.

Feast Your Eyes

Some Amity love for you all.

Enjoying a walk along the shore.

Doing her sit-ups.

Being cute.

Taking a snooze in the park.

Petya and Friends

It's fun to see Petya really come into her own now that she's the big kid at home. For a while after Finn and Madie started school, Petya would keep asking if we were going to see our friends, "Logan and Caroline." I kept explaining those were actually more Finn's friends than hers, and that they were in school now too. 

"But," I'd say, "we will see Viv and Emily!" 

Finally talks about her own friends and is excited to see them when I say we're going anywhere. The cutest kiddo to see her with is Emily. These two are wicked sweet together. I came around the corner to get Petya ready to go and found them sharing a bean bag and looking through a book together. 

They are like this all the time. It kills me.

The Blankie

Thanks, Aunt Holly, for blankie #4. They are all well-loved and even Madie and Finn still keep theirs on their beds.

Nell never really got attached to hers though. 

Sugar Cookies

For Family Night last night Madie had the treat. I think every Family Night of the summer that Mike or I weren't in charge of treats we had ice cream. Finally, half-way through October, when Finn said that he wanted ice cream for Family Night and Mike rolled his eyes at me, I realized we had achieved the previously-thought unachievable: Mike had grown tired of ice cream. I mean, he still ate it, but he took to listing all the other treats we were missing out on:

"Pie, short cake, brownies, blondies, pudding, clouds, cheesecake--come on man! You could have anything you want!"

But Finn wanted ice cream, so ice cream we had.

Last night though, Madie finally broke and chose sugar cookies she saw in the Hannaford food magazine. She asked Petya if she wanted to frost them for the activity (which was Petya's choice this week) and she agreed, which was great for me!

Pajama Sale

Every year, starting some time before we moved back to Maine, the town started an annual pajama sale on the second Saturday in November. This year, since we have decided not to do Christmas gifts aside from stockings, I didn't think we'd go. I realized though, when Mike came home Friday night with two grocery bags filled with sausage, eggs, tater tots, and cocoa for hot chocolate, that the pajama sale had reached holiday proportions in his mind. 

"We're going to have a big breakfast--7 am sharp!--then head to the sale in town."

"But, why? We're not buying anything."

"Well, we need a new park pass," (they're discounted during the sale), "and we can get the free fudge and taffy at Acadia Country Store and just window shop!" 

So that's what we did! I think this was my favorite year yet, since Mike and I stayed together instead of trying to avoid each other while we shop for gifts. It is a really fun morning, and I like the festive feeling--a lot of people about buying Christmas gifts, people from other parts of the island running into others they don't see so much, and a lot of the shops have coffee, hot chocolate, and baked goods out. We still have never stayed for the bed races, which I'm told are hilarious. Maybe next year. 

We did hit up Serendipity to stock up on some winter gear--they all found hats they like, so we grabbed those and a pair of brand new pants for Mike. Scores all around.