You know, I thought I wouldn't be an overprotective mom. Just let them explore their surroundings, satisfy their curiosity, and so on. I thought they might to perform an experiment to answer questions like, what happens if I don't add baking powder to my pancakes. Clean stuff. Not dangerous stuff.
Instead, these intensely curious kids have these types of questions: will this butane torch explode if I throw it in a fire? Can a chicken fly if thrown off the scaffolding? If I spray this chicken with foam, how long will it stick on the feathers? If I light the fence posts on fire, how quickly can I put them out with a water hose?
Compared to last year, I think it's safe to say my hearing is less sensitive, my nerves are less sensitive, and our chickens are just plain scared.
They were delighted to return to school, to escape from my mountainous chore list. And they have been doing well. David read piles and piles of books over the summer. Roxy is turning into quite the little reader as well.
And Oliver also likes to read. Please ignore my creepy face. Also, his eyes are not usually crossed.
When Oliver was about three weeks old, we went with friends to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a great zoo, and it was free! Then we went to the Rainforest Cafe for supper which David proclaimed "the strangest restaurant he has ever been to!"
David wanted to learn the violin. Doesn't he look like a graceful violin player here? Okay, maybe not. So far he is enjoying it. And so far, the rest of us are surviving, but he isn't allowed to have his bow yet. When that happens, if we had a dog it would be howling. (And I know this from personal experience. When I was learning to play - which is a term used loosely here - my skillz sent my sister's boyfriend home early more than once.)
We have really settled into being a family. The kids seem very secure and seem so happy to have friends and enjoy our large family and church family. I am so grateful by how well they have been enveloped and welcomed by the people we love.
Oliver is doing well. He is still a good-natured little guy and the kids still love him.
The other night, we were all outside. And I looked at them in the golden light of the early evening, in their inside-out clothes or too-small clothes (depending on which one we're talking about) and I thought to myself, "I really like having a family."
