Princess Phoebe

Phoebe has clearly been enjoying her time with Kami, Ava, and William. Kami has been watching Phoebe since Alisa has started work (which we are very grateful for!). Today Alisa arrived to a very pleased princess talking about "some necklesses" that she was wearing.

Ava and Kami were doing Phoebe's hair in "piggy tails" last week when I arrived one day.

Halloween!

Phoebe and I started the week carving a pumpkin. Alisa sewed Phoebe's puppy costume mid-week and Phoebe talked about her "grey hat" and "paws" for the next few days.

Tonight is pretty lively on our street. Right now it sounds a bit like a block party run by 8 year olds out our door. Our neighbors all outdid us with ghosts hanging from trees, steroes blasting spooky sounds out their front doors, and gravestones in their yards. I was proud of our pumpkin.

Across the street, our neighbors have frogs ribbiting on stereo. Phoebe's been asking all night: "Why the pumpkins squeaking?"
We only visited a handful of our immediate neighbors, but Phoebe did a wonderful job of saying "trick or treat," "thank you," and then "bye bye."

It's great to live in a house on a block with such a great sense of community!

Trip to Maine

Alisa and Phoebe travelled out to Maine last Sunday and I joined them Thursday. We had a good chance to see Ben and Leslie's home at the perfect time. The timber frame was up and no panels were up yet. This allowed to see the unique joints used to hold these beams together. Very cool.

Phoebe enjoyed time with Oma and Grandpa as well as her cousins, aunt and uncle, and Glenn and Arlene too. Phoebe got some time with the "Goaties" at the farm too.

Missing Phoebe and Alisa

Alisa and Phoebe left for Maine Sunday morning and overall had a good flight and a safe arrival. I have a 6am flight Thursday and we'll all travel back Sunday.

I've been working like mad to get some painting and other odd jobs done. Most importantly, I'm painting the stairs while they're away . . . for obvious reasons.

The pictures of Phoebe in her pink dress are from Saturday. As we were getting ready to go to Ashley and Doug's wedding Saturday, Katie stopped by with some ladybug jammies for Phoebe. Thanks Katie!

Phoebe's also been into wearing our headlamps lately as you can see.

Guys and Shoes

I've come home from work a few times now to find Phoebe's guys (specifically, pig and cow) settled nicely in Alisa's shoes.

We've been working away and are going to paint Phoebe's room this week. I'm stripping the many layers of paint off the old trim so hopefully we can have a complete bedroom upstairs in about 10 days or so. We're thinking if we get Phoebe's room all set (minus the baseboards, which I dread the thought of after seeing how wavy the floor is in there!), we can finally move our stuff in from our storage unit. We won't be able to fully sleep up there until the other bedrooms are complete, but at least we'll start gaining some rooms around here.

We're also looking forward to not seeing any service guys for a while, despite the fact that they've all been great. Phoebe's taken to discussing the many "guys" who come around: furnace guy, gutter guy, electric guy . . . but no cable guy? Hopefully we'll have ourselves settled up in our bedrooms in November so we can enjoy the winter and the holidays without thinking about any projects (at least major ones).

Micaiah was enjoying pheeding Phoebe the other night when the joined us for dinner. She also enjoyed watching him jump off the stool and has talked about it every day since.

Potty Training!

Alisa was the better parent and saw the opening to start with potty training. Phoebe's been showing an interest in the toilet so Alisa bought a little potty. We've mostly been reading her stories while she sits on it while nothing happens, but there have been a few pees and one nice poop on it. It seems like a start and a good practice, but I'm sure parents with multiple older kids are smiling thinking oh, how ambitious!

Twice now, Phoebe has said "Phoebe pee?" walked over to the potty, sat down, and peed. We were pretty impressed to say the least.

Katie and Michael spent some time up in the Boundary Waters at the Hungry Jack outfitters. Phoebe got a sweatshirt out the deal. Thanks Katie!

Phoebe's "car." The laundry baskets and her wicker crates have been vehicles lately as Phoebe has developed an imagination. Micaiah even got a car ride this week!

Summers Over!

We tried not to work too much on the house this weekend and enjoy our last long weekend as a family for awhile. It's been much cooler than the 95 degree humidity we just had a week ago. It's dreary, wet, and in the 60s these days. Fall came overnight. But Phoebe's still up for her "walk around the block" every day as you can see below.

She enjoys walking around in Alisa's shoes, has re-discovered her love for reading, and is learning faster than we can go! She knows her colors and is working on the alphabet. Alisa's making great efforts to potty train, but Phoebe sees the potty as another toy to toss around the kitchen. So far, it's still a clean piece of plastic.

I have kids at school tomorrow for the first day. I'm looking forward to it. Teaching is a better job when you have students to teach. Last week, meetings and work time just made me anxious and miss Alisa and Phoebe. Not a good start back. But I'm confident tomorrow will be better.

All Good Things Must Come to an End . . .

I guess this could mean summer, as we paid our visit to the State Fair today. But what I refer to is my 15 month stint without formal employment. I look at Phoebe and really do not want to go back to work. The last year of my life was truly my best. My year teaching abroad is up there, but nothing compares to this past year.

It's especially difficult when I now see the advantages of being around friends who also have kids. Spending time with Shelly and Matthew and their kids has made "child care" much easier. I don't mean to whine here, but after a year with no family or friends, I realize how much easier being with a child all day is when you can get together with a friend who also has kids!

Anyway, we went to the fair today and saw lots of cows and even one that took a "big poop." Zach Vernig was a winner in his catagory (Cow/Calf) so we got to see him show. Phoebe liked the cows and sheep.

Phoebe really enjoys walks around the block with her wagon. We have 23 kids under the age of 12 living on our block. That makes for many greetings from our new neighbors as we walk around.

Alisa picked out a piano at the St Olaf piano sale last week. It's a beautiful piano and Phoebe really likes playing on it. When the lid is down she knows it's "sleeping," but often asks if she can play it "one more time."

Sidewalk chalk is a hit. We have the "ABCs" and many other drawings she enjoys.