November chill

Since our snowfall on Wednesday, there has been a chill in the air.  It seems a permanent change in the weather has come, officially moving us closer to winter.  The time change tomorrow will surely further that cause.

It feels good to finally move past Halloween, the celebration of which spread over several weeks.  The paper chain we made to count the days until our Thanksgiving road trip is getting shorter.  We made motel reservations and mapped the 2,000-mile route, so the trip seems more real!  It is fun to anticipate seeing so much of our family on both sides, even if thoughts of the drive are daunting.

Basketball season started last week for Gavin and Zach.  They are both playing on teams for the first time and really loving it.  Time will tell, but we think Zach may have found his sport!  He hustles after the ball and seems to have some natural ability.  Most of all, he really enjoys playing!  Gavin took his first game very seriously, charging from one end of the court to another.  He is a little distractable, but so are most of the other three- and four-year-olds on his team.

Kate and I are still figuring out a feeding routine.  If I nurse her every two hours, I'm out of milk by the end of the day, and she is growing less satisfied.  Despite my elation earlier this week that she is growing, I am still waffling between nursing and formula feeding. Kate has refused formula until today, but Garry finally helped her have success.  My opinion changes by the day, but a painful bout of mastitis this week didn't do much to nurture my commitment to breastfeeding.  

The kids sold us their Halloween candy for $5.00 each on Wednesday.  They each reserved ten pieces to munch on and handed over the rest.  (Gavin and Lexi chose a small toy at Walmart in lieu of the cash.)  I chucked most of the candy, but did freeze some of the chocolate and kept a stash of M&Ms, Skittles, and the like to eventually use when potty training Lexi.  I casually mentioned to Lexi that if she started using the potty she could have some of that candy.  She is thrilled, and has taken it upon herself to use the potty a few times this week.  I might be willing to make a more serious effort after our trip.

Tyler conducted the experiment for his science fair project today.  He is testing how bicycle speed is influenced by tire pressure, so he did some time trials on the walking path behind our house.  Garry helped adjust the tire pressure and timed each ride, I recorded data and took pictures, and Zach raced alongside Tyler's bike.  We all had a good time, and I'm glad to have the outdoor portion of his project complete before winter really descends. This afternoon we also recorded his second video report.  Perhaps when the project is finished I will post all of the videos here.   They are turning out to be pretty fun.

On this Saturday night, as I am rather under the weather and wishing for a fairy godmother to mop my floor, iron the kids' church clothes, and prepare my Sunday School lesson, I'm trying to feel glad about all the check marks in the "done" column this week. Sick mama or not, the pace of life around here never slows down!