Accomplishments

This week Grant got his eighth tooth and it must have made him feel like walking, because he has really taken off! Here he is hamming it up with a cord stolen from the sewing machine box. He loved hearing it drag across the floor.

Tim also installed a swing from the floor joists in the basement - hours of entertainment as long as you have someone to keep pushing.

Grant used to love knocking down a tower of blocks that we had built, but now his focus has shifted to building his own tower of blocks to knock down. And boy, does he build some interesting towers! The blocks are numbered 1 (largest block) to 10 (smallest block). Here the blocks are arranged 2,4,6,3,1,7,5,8. Sometimes we're not sure how he even gets the larger ones to balance atop the smaller ones - hard to tell from the photo, but it is precariously balanced.

A Quiet Week...

The weather was great this week and weekend. So, Tim raked a few leaves!


Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, so we decided to have a picnic in the park! We enjoyed sausage, cheese and wine and of course the wonderful sunshine. Grant was free to crawl around in the leaves (and try to eat them).

We took a walk in the leaves....

Grant also LOVED the swings - his first solo swing. He especially loved it when I was swinging along side him. He didn't want to leave, but it was nap time....

Also noteworthy, Dan, Joann, and Clayton took Celia to visit Chelsea and watch a football game!

Birthday Party and a Creative Solution

Grant and I went to buddy Brenner's second birthday party this past weekend.

Grant had a great time playing with Brenner and new friend Colten. The boys played with lots of cars - one of Grant's favorite games!

Brenner also got a tunnel for his birthday - how fun! Grant crawled through it - I didn't know if he would want to or not. But he thought it was great fun and even started pushing toys through with him.

Dan and Joann also came over for a visit this weekend. Grant walked right over to Dan with hardly a wobble - almost like an old pro. Until recently, Grant has found crawling or using the mail truck push toy to be a faster and easier mode of transportation. Maybe he was inspired by all the other kids at the birthday party this weekend or maybe it was Dan. Who knows, but Tim, Celia and I will all need to be on our toes! He is also starting to learn new words - this week he has learned 'ball' and 'shoe'.

Chelsea is developing creative solutions for the challenges that inevitably arise when four girls live in a dorm room together......an example taken from her Facebook Page.

"Okay, so Problem: Roommates need to keep the lights on late.

Solution: MAKE A FORT!"

Apparently, she has devised a unique way to darken her sleeping quarters at any time she feels it necessary. Way to go Chelsea!

Family Photos

In September we had our family photos taken by Kim Plassmeyer again. We loved wroking with Kim! She was able to take our pictures outside - despite the less than desirable weather and less than cooperative one-year-old. She delivered almost 200 pictures, including some good family photos.

The girls did a great job of maintaining great smiles! In fact, it is funny to flip through the kids pictures - the girls always had spot-on smiles, while Grant had everything from a grimace to big toothy smile.

Kim got lots of pictures of Grant - some funny faces, others cute............

Kim even captured this everyday moment - putting Grant's shoe back on...

Tim and I were amazed at the number of GOOD pictures that Kim was able to capture, while Grant just wanted to get down and play with his cars in the grass!

Haunted Habitats

Friday night we took Grant to the Haunted Habitats event hosted at the Runge Nature Center by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The theme this year was Missouri Animals A to Z. The goal of this event is to teach kids of all ages about nature. There were lots of games and prizes, a craft center, live music, hot cocoa, hot apple cider and delicious salty-sweet kettle corn.


The trails were all lit by camping lanterns and a multitude of hand carved jack-o’-lanterns!

Even the fire tower was decorated for the event!

We all had a good time. Even though Grant was a bit small to really get the most out of the event, we’ll be going back - it really seemed to put a smile on Grant's face!

He did this all on his own, albeit by accident the first time, but when Tim and I could hardly stop laughing it quickly became a game.

A Fall Outing

The weather has been cold and rainy this week! We have had over seven inches of rain in just the first half of October. On top of the bad weather, we have ALL been sick! Even Chelsea, who came home from college this past weekend, has had a cold. Most of us are finally feeling better now – thank goodness!

This weekend, it finally quit raining and sun finally came out and despite the fact that we were feeling a bit under the weather, I was determined to get outside and enjoy a little fresh air and sunshine. We decided to go to a local Conservation Area that I had been to many times. However, when we got to the point on the trail where the scenery is about to get really good, the trail was CLOSED! Ugh – what a bummer! Although we didn’t get to see the neat geologic features of this particular area we explored the woods surrounding the area (which were open to visitors).

Because of all the rain, we saw lots of mushrooms and other fungi, including this little brown mushroom growing out of a log.

And these Turkey Tail fungi.

We also saw lots of fall foliage.

The girls found this cute, but empty snail shell.


We are also relatively sure that Grant ate a leaf somewhere along the journey, but he seems no worse for it. Don't worry - its not the first leaf that he has eaten and we are all sure that it won't be the last either.

Also note worthy - Chelsea got a new hair cut that looks really nice. And Grant already needs another hair cut!

Fall Fun

The days are getting shorter and cooler, the leaves are changing colors and the geese are flying - it is beginning to seem like autumn. This weekend was particularly cool, so we built our first fire! Grant wasn’t so impressed and didn’t think this was a very photo-worthy moment.


We have been trying to get outside to enjoy the changing seasons as much as we can.



Celia and several friends went to the Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival. She chose and brought home three fine specimens.

Celia had a special friend’s day at school and could bring guests for breakfast. She had to play piano (Pachelbel’s Cannon), so we didn’t get to spend much time with Celia. However we did get to talk to the parents of one of Celia’s good friends.

Celia and Grant at Special Friends Day. Wow - he looks like little Dan in this picture......