Fall outings and pumpkin love

Fall is one of my favourite seasons - beautiful clear air, blue skies, and cool enough to spend lots of time outdoors. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch and then to the grasslands for a hike last weekend. So much fun! Finn's eyes never left the tractor, and Amelia hunted for the biggest pumpkin she could find.

The hike on the grasslands was a great romp from rock to rock and before long Amelia had demonstrated and then persuaded Finn to leap from the rock into her arms... total trust...

Toad summer

This summer, toads have been plentiful. In fact, we've had a whole colony living in our yard all summer. It started with finding MR. Toad under my kayak in the front yard. He loved it there, and we saw him often. Then the kids brought home a buck of tiny toads from the lake, then another... you can imagine the joy of all the children in our life who came to play at toad world. The sandbox was repurposed as a toad habitat and there was endless searching,  scooping, rescuing, holding and chasing of the tiny creatures. Thankfully they all managed to escape (or were perhaps eaten by birds?) by the end of summer. But it will always be known as Toad Summer.

Fall outing

 We often go out to Horsefly in the fall to see the salmon run. 2010 was a good year - seemed like lots of fish. The kids love to be outside, so we spend lots of time there.

Finn is loving his jolly jumper and it keeps him out from under foot when I'm cooking dinner...

Hands...

I signed up for a photography course in the summer of 2010, in addition to signing up for a baby followed by single parenting... Ha! One of the assignments was 'hands' and these are two of my favourites...

Summer baby...

We love the wild woods, so we set off for a hike and had a feast of wild strawberries...

I'm back... I think... sort of...

I've been in baby neverland for nearly six weeks and have finally begun to come up for air. Part of what's kept me in neverland is a serious lack of sleep and time to focus on anything except keeping life afloat. I'm blessed with two very busy little souls, neither of whom believe sleep is actually important. I happen to disagree, which my daughter understands (she drew a picture of each family member doing their favourite thing, and I was in bed, asleep... ha!) but won't cooperate with. Little Finn I think just doesn't want to miss anything...

However... I'm determined to shake off the sandman dust and most mornings I'm way overly optimistic that I'll get more done that I can imagine, including fun stuff for me. Ha again!
I did (optimistically) sign up for a photography e-course this summer (check it out here: http://www.persistingstars.com/) and am so far 2 weeks behind, but it's pushing me to get my camera out and to take photos of things I wouldn't otherwise. Here's a sample, or stop by my flickr stream.

Home and new normal

We're settling into new routines and getting to know each other. We've been nesting for a week, helping Finn get to know us and his new home. We ventured out for a quick playground visit today, which was fun but also seemed to overwhelm him a bit, though he loved the swing. We'll keep him mostly at home for another few days as he's had so much change in his little life and needs to feels secure and stable. He's settling in pretty well I think. He seems to feel comfortable with us and definitely wants me when he's upset and needs soothing. He's exploring the house more vigorously every day. My dad came by today and installed a gate on our stairs so he doesn't take any tumbles.

Finn is a cheerful fellow and loves his sister - pulling hair and squealing. He looks so much like she did as a baby, though his personality is different. He is quite happy playing and exploring on his own, while Amelia really wanted to be with me all the time. He's also not as 'tough' - Amelia has a very high pain tolerance and is too proud to cry in front of anyone but us most of the time. Even as a baby she rolled and bumped her way along without complaining much. If Finn falls from standing and bumps his head he wails and needs cuddles to comfort and settle him down. We're loving getting to know him more each day. We're definitely up for visitors, so those of you who are close enough are welcome to give us a call and stop by to meet the new man.