Thursday Update

My cleaning efforts have been hampered lately by Eleanor's paper dolls.


She makes dozens of them each day


And leaves them all over the house




They are really cute, though.


We had several nights below freezing this week so I've been cleaning up and mulching over the garden for the season. Today we cut down the cannas that grow next to our patio, which means that the chickens will have to find a new favorite hiding place until next summer.

We have about as many leaves on the ground as there are on the trees now.


Maggie isn't doing too well, but for now we're just waiting to see what happens with her. I believe we will have to put her to sleep soon, and it looks like I will have to take her. I'm not looking forward to it, but I suppose when the time comes we'll just do what needs to be done.

Fall fun

This evening, we donned tutus and leotards,

and crepe paper hats (note the buzzy bee airborne in the background),

and Margaret dressed herself up a bit like a scarecrow,

and then we proceeded to the church,

where Anna wore her crepe flower hat for a few minutes,

and we decorated some pumpkins,

had some snacks,

and a couple of hot dogs,

and did some bobbing for apples and ring toss and such.

And a good time was had by all.

Thursday Update

Currently, Sophia and Eleanor are busily making pictures and doing worksheets at the crafting table while Anna is hanging out under the table trying to steal their papers and causing Sophia to shriek at regular intervals.



Last night the towel-clad littles, fresh from the bath, came to visit me in the kitchen while I was making dinner

Earlier this week Anna fed the chickens some leftover stir-fry,

Eleanor came outside to let me know that she was NOT happy (I can't remember why)

and the chickens considered coming inside to explore the kitchen, but decided at the last minute to run away instead.

Introducing...

Sparkey the guinea pig:


I was absolutely not going to get any more pets, even though our collection of elderly animals is dwindling, but some friends of ours were giving him away and he was so little and cute, so now we have two piggies again. They can't live together, of course, because Penny is an old lady and Sparkey is a little boy, but it turns out Sparkey hasn't spent more than a few hours in his little cage in the four days he's been here.
Here he is exploring the house:

and watching TV with Sophia:

Life is good for the Jacobs piggies. :)

Margaret Plays Guitar

I intended to bring Margaret's Flip camera to her recital last weekend so that we could tape her performance, but due to the usual Jacobs chaos of trying to get everyone ready to go, I forgot the camera. I was really sorry, because she sounded great. She consented this afternoon, however, to play one of her pieces for me so we could share it here. Due to some obvious distractions, she didn't do it quite so flawlessly here, but I think you get the general idea:



Margaret also played a duet with her teacher, Jean, but instead of taping her play just her part, she played her recital piece from last year for me:

A Lile Post

I meant to do this sooner, but we've been busy... I've been anxious to move on from the Poo and Pee posts. :)

So, this is a post about Sophia and her dog, Lile. (Lily)



Lile is about the closest thing to a "blankie" that any of our kids has had. She is a webkinz chihuahua that Sophia received for Christmas last year. Lile goes everywhere that Sophie goes. Lile eats off of Sophie's plate at dinner, sleeps at her side at night, sits by her at church, and so on. Lile is Sophie's best friend and also her favorite experimental surgery subject. Lile has had hip replacement surgery, tail replacement surgery, liver transplant surgery, and brain surgery (and a few others, I'm sure). Sophie has a weird fascination with operating on animals, and even though she loves Lile, she regularly snips her open, messes with her fluff, then borrows a needle and thread to sew her back up. To quote my mother, my kids are weird.

Here is Lile's photo shoot (by Sophia, of course)

Front

Side

Other side (I think this one is her good side)

Back side


Note the sign behind Lile, you can't read it but it says "Liel" with hearts and a butterfly. If you look closely, she is also surrounded by paper butterflies. :)

Here is Lile with her would-be dognapper:

Oh no, she's been taken hostage!

She's getting away!!!!


Not to worry, a hefty ransom of a cookie was paid, and Lile and Sophie were reunited later that afternoon. ;)

A little Anna funny

This evening she was walking down the hallway with her sippy cup, and looking rather pensive. I asked her, "Anna, are you drinking milk?", to which she replied "Poo".

Apparently she was thinking about something other than what was in the cup.

Overheard from the bathroom...

at dinner this evening, from Eleanor, who left the table to go potty,

"Alas, I peed on the floor by accident!"

What a kid. Questionable potty skills but extensive vocabulary. Oh well, I guess the one will catch up with the other eventually.

Thursday update

Anna figured out a new way to get into the drawer where we keep the games


Eleanor circled all of the things she wants in the Magic Cabin catalog (which is almost everything)


Margaret is practicing overtime this week to get ready for her recital this Saturday


Sophia put my ankle weights on the see saw so that she and Anna would be more evenly matched


Our garden flowers are blooming and looking very colorful and happy


It's one of those perfect fall days when the sunshine is piercing and the air is clear and the temperature is just perfect and you wish it could be this way all year! I also took this little video of Anna hanging out with the chickens this afternoon. You can see they are getting bigger, but they aren't full grown yet. They are 3 1/2 months old. Anna wouldn't look at the camera for some reason, the stinker. The quality is a bit poor since it was just taken on the digital camera, I really should get a video camera