meg's first day

Meg's first day of pre-k 4 was last week and she loved it, just as we knew she would.


Less than a minute after walking into her new classroom and before I could even say goodbye, she made herself at home with the train tracks, lost in her own world and totally happy:

four

Our sweet Meg turned four yesterday. She only had a few requests: Chik-fil-a for dinner, time to play on the playground there, and party hats. Done, done, and done.

unexplained behavior (park edition)

Ever since Katie was a baby, she has closed her eyes when she is on the swings and sometimes sucks her thumb. I don't know if it is a deep relaxation thing or a feel-the-movement sensory thing. Maybe someday she can explain it to me.

the learning curve

All the girls in our house are learning something and are on that spot on the learning curve where all they seem to do is repeat, repeat, and repeat. And then repeat.

Meg is learning how to whistle. So far she can whistle just one low note, but it is loud and clear (as in, I can hear it across the house). This is what she looks like almost all day:


Katie is learning to use the toilet. This is not my favorite area of toddler parenting, but we are in the thick of it and she is getting the hang of half of it. I won't go into those details. This is what she looks like almost all day (pantless):

(She was helping me husk corn! Meg and Katie are turning into awesome helpers. I love it!)

Claire is learning what is food and what isn't. I spend a lot of time fishing things out of her mouth. This is what she looks like almost all day (she especially loves this fake carrot):

the great pear experiment

I knew almost nothing about pears until about a month ago, when I picked a bagful of hard little pears from a tree in my parents' yard in South Carolina. They didn't even feel ripe, so I googled about what to do with them on the ride home.

Did you know you are supposed to pick pears when they don't feel ripe yet? I didn't. After you pick them, you store them in the refrigerator for 1-4 months (!) and then let them ripen on the counter.

I've had these pears taking up an entire drawer in my fridge since July 4, so I was really excited to try making pear butter. I did it yesterday in the crockpot and I think it went pretty well! I don't have a food mill so I had to peel about 25 of those little suckers, but that was the hardest part. It sat in the crockpot all day and then I just blended it up and then boiled it down until it was thick. Pretty easy and I'm excited to try this again next year.

hannah

We have been a little heartsick around here...our babysitter-turned-almost-family-member Hannah has left us to teach at a Christian school in Lebanon. She has been watching the girls since Claire was 2 weeks old and Katie could barely walk and has an amazing rapport with little girls. She was just excellent and we will miss her!

For some reason I never took a picture of them all together, but thankfully Hannah attempted to take one with her phone...not an easy job: