Snow in August

The kids and I stayed in. Totally. The kids refused to change out of their very comfy new pajamas, and I failed to see any reason to make them do so. The wind, so blustery it howled through the cedar shakes, swept our giant, tan and bright yellow maple leaves with the leaves from the other deciduous trees and whirled them about the yard like a colorful hurricane. It looked like snow in August. N and I stood at the back windows while I did dishes, watching the leaves fall.

Their focus on materials always ramps up on days like this. It was a day for Giant Creations. We watched Snaybaby for the afternoon, and he folded in well with the others as they, for hours, built an elaborately detailed tent house in the living room and a giant railroad depot in the schoolroom.

N broke from this long enough to vaccum the house. Really. I plugged it in and he vacuumed it. His joy at not having to walk on spilled cereal was voiced with "My feet are happy! No poky sharp things in my feet!" while he bounced up and down. Since his conception, bouncy boy.

After dinner, the big kids chose to work on their wooden construction set. "My Ls can fold up into Is," said G, showing me her construction letters creations. N chose to build airplanes and gutbugslayers.

I love watching them work together at the double desk, little heads bending close to their task, chatting and interacting well. This day, G learned from N how to makes best use of some of the tools, and she made a working helicopter. N followed theme and made a plane. As I write this, they're racing about the house like children out of a Hearthsong catalog, zooming their flying machines together.

P came home tonight from out of town. It's a somewhat peaceful evening.