Daniel
A Walk in the Woods
Last weekend, Dad decided we should take advantage of the beautiful weather (which will end to quickly) and take a motorcycle ride to a hilly forested area with the rest of the family following behind in the van. It was lovely, with the trees beginning to turn colors, and the whole family enjoyed it immensely. I shot these pictures:
Daniel Dances
After watching me working on my extension for ballet, Daniel decided he must join in the fun. He was adorable striking poses in his brand new pajamas.
My Gardening Buddy
Daniel is very fond of ‘helping’ me in the garden. He loves to tag along by my side, carrying a shovel along with him, blissfuly happy to be doing exactly what I am doing.
He will point to any plant he sees and ask, “Weed?” If I tell him he is correct, he will rip as many leaves off as he can with a disgusted face:
Sometimes he is lucky and pulls out the root as well. Other times he gets carried away-
-and doesn’t ask whether his prey is a weed or not. Here he is repentant for pulling a balloon flower bloom.
If I tell him the plant is a flower, he will bend down to smell it.
Daniel the Ant Hunter
When our home was invaded by a swarm of ravenous ants, Daniel rushed to our defense. Armed with his trusty ping-pong paddle and comb, he fought and vanquished each ant single handed!
"Did I get it?"
At Least He Warned Us
“Uh-oh!” Daniel’s little voice called. Maria asked him what was the matter, and he proceeded to point at himself, and then at the television remote in his hands. (The remote being both one of the most coveted and the most forbidden articles in the house, surpassed only by the phone.)
Tea Time
It’s snowing. Again. Winter was fun at first, especially with the ice skates I got for Christmas, but now it is beginning to drag. I have found, however, that a nice, hot cup of tea really helps to warm up the whole day. Apparently the rest of the family thinks so, too, because no sooner than had I made a cup a few days ago than everyone decided they needed to have some as well. Even Daniel was in on it, saying ‘tea’ in sign language over and over again until we got him his very own cup.
Daniel signing "Tea".
If You Give A Baby a Cookie. . .
If you give a baby a gingerbread cookie, he will ask for another one.
If you give him another cookie, he will hand it to you and pull you over to the nearest chair to sit and eat it with him.
If you sit next to him and begin to eat your cookie, you will become thirsty and want a cup of tea.
If you get yourself a cup of tea, the baby will see the tea cup and then promptly tell you in sign language he wants a drink. By the time the baby has finished with his drink, your tea will be done, and you will bring it over to the table and dip your cookie into it.
If you dip your cookie into your tea, the baby will want to copy you with his own cookie, and say tea in sign language.
If you let the baby climb on your lap and dip his cookie into your tea, he will then try to take a sip of your tea, but you warn him it is too hot.
If the baby is told the tea is too hot, he will bring you a spoon so that you may give him a small spoonful of tea in the spoon after blowing on it. He will want more and more spoonfuls of tea, until you begin to get frustrated that you can’t even have a cup of tea in peace.
But then the baby will look up at you and give a beautiful smile, and you will melt and let him take as many spoons of tea as he wants.
A Little Known Fact About Large Families
The green patrol should give us a conservations award for record low water use per child on bath day!
Rub-a-dub-dub, four men in a tub, and who do you think they be?
All Saint’s Eve 2010
It’s been two years since we’ve had a homeschool All Saints Eve party, but this year it was announced on Oct 20 that we were starting up the tradition again. I spent Friday and Saturday sewing costumes, which turned out pretty well. Maria was St. Bernadette, Johnathan was St. Anthony, Alexander was St. Michael, and Joseph was St. Juan Diego. Maria and John slipped out the door before I could get a picture of them, but here are the little boys:
Daniel thought Joseph’s makeup was really interesting. (“What is it with you people in the last week? First Sarah makes her eyes really strange and now you have black on your face!”)
I made my first pleat on Alex’s bottoms, and it turned out pretty well.
Daniel was a lion from Noah’s Ark. This costume I didn’t make.
He found the mane a little annoying.
But that’s OK, because he has a mane of his own!
When we got home, everybody dived into their candy. Maria didn’t like caramel apples, so she gave hers to me.
Chewy pieces of candy are a good way to lose teeth.
Daniel and the Playstation Remote
"Underneath this adorable face I'm plotting to steal my brother's favorite toy: the video game remote!" (Evil laugh)
"And I'm off to put my plan into action!"
"My scheme has been victorious! Now, how does this thing work? I know that they love to hold this thing all day long. "
"I really don't know what they see in it."
Daniel’s New Hobby
Daniel has just figured out how to click duplos together, and now he will sit for an hour straight all by himself, taking these blocks apart and putting them back together. I”m sure he feels really special and grown-up, as the older boys love to play with them and guard their creations from Daniel, who would love to take them apart. I snapped these pictures when the baby was intent on his work of art.
