In truth, I am writing this well after September - the trees are nearly bare, the sun goes down way too early, and winter's arrival is coming fast. So looking back on the gift of summer-like days that we had in September is a real treat. The sandy toes (and in Atticus' case - the sandy face after he face planted and was so good natured about it), the water park, the sand buckets, warm bike rides and t shirts slowly gave way to rainy day puddles and rain boots.
The kids are taking it all in stride as they plan out their marvellous winter playground that they would like to build in our yard this year. And I am busy pulling out the winter gear to figure out who needs what to be adequately warm this year.
But all that winter stuff aside - this is about September. And in September we still had plenty of warm weather! And captures of sleeping Phineas - so cute!
Days discovering new parks, with ducks that we fed (and later learned we weren't supposed to feed...) and a beautiful playground and paths to explore. The light was so beautiful that day. Milayla was over the moon about getting her picture taken - she has such a gorgeous smile and sparkle in her eyes. She has also taken a liking to wearing a couple dresses that I made her when she was littler as tunics and it's really precious to see her loving them so much. Atticus was most concerned with getting some bread to those ducks (him and ducks have a long history extending back to some wonderful days in The Netherlands). And the kids couldn't stop talking about the golden reflection of light across the water. It was really, really, beautiful. There were surely some magical moments of everything aligning on this particular day. Such brilliant building blocks of childhood to be in nature.
And then there is the sibling play time in the playroom. These kids can be pretty silly. Though, they seem to think that I am the silliest around here. Atticus says that he is putting together a joke box for me because I am always joking. They think it's all so funny though, and I love to see them laugh. The favourite one they set me up with around here is when they say "you're silly!" and I reply, "No, I'm Mommy but glad to meet you all the same". The giggle and shake my hand. It's pretty cute.
Phineas is really trying to be just as big as Atticus and Milayla. He puts up his hand to volunteer to say prayer and he repeats phrases that they say. But since he can't say all the words he mimics their pitch perfectly. For example, every morning the kids wave goodbye to Jason out the front window as he leaves for work and they call out in a sing-song voice, "Bye! I love you! Be safe!". Atticus and Milayla use the same notes and sing-song voice every time and Phineas can repeat the notes perfectly. I need to try and video it one morning. It is a very sweet moment. I would always tell them how lucky daddy is to head off to work to that each morning and now they say how lucky daddy is to head off to work each morning with that. Melt my Momma heart.
And Phineas went through a phase of sitting in things to play with toys. Not entirely sure where it stemmed from. But Milayla decided she ought to join him one day. They sure loved it.
Speaking of Phineas, I still haven't cut those curls. They are starting to get a bit long, but I cannot bring myself to do it. They just seem to be such a part of him. He's a full walker now. And looooooves to give hugs and kisses. Along with showering some love on the stuffed animals that we have around here. Not to mention his awesome car noises. And he hangs out in his diaper a lot. He won't keep socks on - so those are pointless unless we're headed out. And we went through a period where our house was just heating up so much that he maintained the most comfortable temperature while waddling around in his diaper. And it's pretty darn cute to see those legs at work with his wobbly walking skills. Funny enough, when Atticus had to draw a picture of his family for french class, he drew Phineas in a diaper. And just a diaper. Ha! Nice way to stick to realism, Atticus!
Milayla went through a 'take-my-picture' phase which was lovely, because she hasn't always been so excited about it. I love capturing her smile!
And we had some play dates thrown in there. I wish I was better at getting pictures of the kids with their little friends. But I never seem to remember to pull out and take a photo. On one particular day, Milayla specifically asked that I bring my big camera to take a picture of her and her friend Sadie. Atticus is friends with her, too but he just didn't smile for the picture. And Phineas is so eager to play with those three!
Then there was the supermoon night, which was cool in a sense but not as cool or big as I was thinking it would be. Not long before the supermoon, there was a big harvest moon (and again a little while later) and we are all a lot more in awe of those. They are stunning. The superman was cool because we knew what was going on to make it happen. We had woken Atticus up to see part of it but he really wasn't interested. Where as, we were driving home with the kids when there was a large, stunning harvest moon and the kids just couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it was!
And then there is reading time. We read a lot around here. We are on the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia series. Atticus has reread several of them not once, but twice! He is a veracious reader. And Milayla is gleaning and understanding way more from them than I thought. I am so impressed with her reading comprehension. It's awesome! Especially with our scripture reading. She has a stellar memory for those scripture stories. Both her and Atticus do! And while nothing could ever fill my heart like cuddling with my children and reading them books, it is pretty precious to see them reading books to each other.
It was a good September. And I really needed to blog this today as I have been feeling pessimistic about winter and these photos and moments have been a great reminder that the kids and I always find ways to enjoy our time together. So, while I may not enjoy cold weather very much, we will bundle up, get outside and make the most of it. Or make some fun inside on those really chilly days. Meanwhile, we need to start figuring out how Jason will get to work! Will be an interesting one to sort out for the winter months! It will all sort out though - it always does. So grateful for these moments and this family of mine.
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