September at our house

I haven't been blogging much lately because here in Tulsa there are about 8 nice weeks out of the year (I'm exaggerating a little) but it has been so beautiful and cool, that I just want to soak it up and be outside as much as possible. I played Tennis with my mom this week and that was a blast. And tonight Zach and the boys took our ever so gently-used jogging stroller to walk along the river and enjoyed the bonus feature of watching teenage guys bike and skate at a skate park. Levi and Max were completely enthralled. I did find myself wanting to say things like, "If you want to do this when you get bigger, you will be wearing a helmet. Helmets are really, really cool."

Max has always been Mr. independent and his normal response to a person picking him up is, "Down, please." But lately, he has been getting a little more cuddly. He will come lay his head on my lap or give me a hug and say, "Oh baby." I love seeing him point to the moon and watching him dance. He is such a love. It is hard to believe that he is exactly the age Levi was when Max was born. I am glad that Max will be our baby for a while longer.

A couple of weeks ago I cut a little hangnail off for Levi (upon request), and now he thinks toenails are called "hangnails." Fantastic. I keep hearing sentences like, "How many red hangnails does momma have?" And then there's the whole Jesus thing. His question of "Momma, what is the sign for Jesus?" led to a brief discussion of the crucifixion, followed my a sad look on his face, and then the question, "Momma, did Jesus find his way back to his stage?" What??! "Did he find his guitars, momma?" I am just trying not to smile and to think of something clever and meaningful to say. Like, "Let's go get a snack."

And we're still thinking a lot about the Ethiopian adoption, but I think we will wait to start on the paperwork until we are settled with Zach's new job and everything. We're doing our first semester of "home schooling" and are looking forward to some upcoming trips and birthday celebrations in the next couple of months. Last year Levi's party was based on his favorite book (Cookies by Amy Rosenthal and Illustrated by Jane Dyer), and this year it will be based on a different favorite book. He wants a Caps for Sale party (with pink balloons and pink ice cream.) Can you tell most of his friends are girls?!

So, that is a little window into what life is like for us at the moment. Thanks for reading :)

Love,
Kate