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1.  Last weekend, I pulled out the clothing bins to change our summerwear for autumnwear.  And I finally switched Carl into 3T clothes!  We dug out all big things Soren was wearing last fall and now Carl is wearing them!  He has looked bigger and stronger and more capable to me all week.

2.  We are getting ready to celebrate Michaelmas tomorrow, so a lot of my favorite moments this week were preparing for the festivities.  Scott repaired the boys' wooden swords and made cardboard shields on Sunday, so that our sons will have all the tools they need to fight evil dragons!  Soren and Carl painted their shields as part of our Kindergarten class on Monday.  We are keeping the armaments in reserve for tomorrow, when the boys insist that we are going to have a special Michaelmas fight.  (I still have no ideas about that.)

3.  On Tuesday, we went up in the mountains with our neighbors to collect goldenrod in the hopes of turning it into a yellow dye.  The mountainside expedition was amazingly refreshing and we found lots of yellow flowers that I am hoping are goldenrod.  My original plan was to dye capes of light for the Michaelmas festivities but we didn't collect enough goldenrod for that.  So, instead, we found some wool roving which we used to felt balls.  This afternoon we will dye them (hopefully goldenrod yellow).  Then I'm going to sew orange ribbons onto the balls so make shooting star toys.

4.  Carl has learned a new trick that he is very proud of: he can jump down the stairs with both feet skipping a step.  It's a big jump for a little boy!  Every time he does it, I feel an irrational surge of pride.  He is getting so confident and strong!  He is learning to use his body and continuing to increase it's capacities!

5.  All week long, I have told the story of St. Michael and the Star Children during our circle time.  Carl has taken to the story with gusto, imagining himself as the archangel Michael, fighting the dragon and protecting the children.  That is exactly the kind of courage I wanted to inspire by celebrating Michaelmas, so that's awesome.  But the real reward was Soren.  The first time I told the story, he listened with rapt attention, his heart in his eyes.  When St. Michael appeared and vanquished the dragon, Soren was obviously elated.  It is nourishment for his soul to hear a story where good conquers so thoroughly.  Afterwards, he told me reverently that he was a star child and that there was light inside of him to shine in the night.

6.  Then, for family home evening, Scott read the story of Michael and the dragon from the Bible.  There are actually two fights between Michael and the devil in Revelations, one that is past and one that is to come.  So Scott read both and found pictures on the internet to illustrate both.  Carl especially took to the second story and picture.  But both the boys were suitably impressed to find out that Michael was a real person!

7.  Soren has started playing with the Kapla blocks a lot this week.  He has tried some of the designs in the manual but they are a little too precarious for him to set up.  So, instead, he builds his own towers and layouts.  I'm glad that he has branched out in his play and it makes me happy to see him focus his creative energies.  Hooray for play!

8.  Our plans for tomorrow make me happy, so I think I'll include them.  We're going to pick apples in the morning, make dragon bread (and apple pie and applesauce) in the afternoon, then have a Michaelmas harvest feast in the early evening with a dragon fight to follow.  Any ideas about the dragon fight would be appreciated.  I originally didn't want the boys to fight their dad (hitting Dad with wooden swords sounds like a bad idea) but I was thinking that if we could make a chain somehow, that would be less likely to end in bruises ...

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Favorites

1. I have enjoyed the sunshine this week.  It has been perfect autumn weather.  Our kindergarten walks have been very pleasant.  I love to see the brown and yellow leaves falling all around me.  I told the kids that when they caught a falling leaf, they caught a wish in their hand.  It's harder than it sounds!  Today, one fell right on my head!  I decided to count that. 2. Monday was my brother Timothy's last P-day of his mission!  We chatted on gmail for about an hour that morning.  I am really excited for him to come home! 3. I made an apple pie for FHE.  It was amazing. 4. Scott went on a father-son date with Soren on Wednesday night.  They went to the U of U parking lot and wrote down all the license plates they saw.  When they got home, Soren was very excited to tell me about the snazzy sports car they saw as well as the license plate from England. 5. I gave myself permission to take a nap every day this week. ...