Snowy Halloween

Come snow, come sleet, we'll trick-or-treat!  I've shoveled an inch of snow off our porch throughout the evening, for crying out loud, but our clown and Pippi Longstocking persevered and scored a good pile of loot!

Big kid news

Look at him go!  We have had a great summer, and this big guy is definitely ready for kindergarten next week!

Chug-a, chug-a

Our commuter rail service has been on a hiring frenzy lately--check out their two newest engineers!  Chug-a, chug-a, toot, toot!  No, really--it was a Metra visit day.  We had an excellent time exploring the inside of a locomotive and a passenger car (well, we'd explored those before, but we were never allowed to run around and climb the stairs so much before!), we visited the shops and saw how they fix sick trains, and we met some very cool workers who keep our trains running.  And we learned that, to make the train bell ding repeatedly, the engineer only has to press the button once!  There's another button to make it stop.  Rachel and Nathan put both buttons--and our eardrums--to work.  Thanks, Metra!

Crazy hair day, year two

Last week Rachel's school had Crazy Hair Day.  She wore a stunning green wig--which changed her appearance more than I would have expected! 

And, in case the wig got too uncomfortable to wear all day, we made her real hair a little crazy, too!

Hoops time, minus the hoop

One of the coolest things about my kids being at the ages they are now is that they think I'm good at sports.  (I harbor no such illusions; soon they, too, will learn the truth!)  Nathan received a basketball recently and loves going outside to dribble.  (I taught him a few passing techniques, which got me some cred.  He doesn't know that my expertise ends there.)  He's pretty good, and it keeps him busy!

Mustachioed Munchkins

It was Mustache Day at Rachel's school today.  Nathan got into the act, too.  Pretty cute!