Tobogganing

        Joshua and Moses received a toboggan from our grandparents for Christmas. Unlike most tobogganers, we don't usually go down a hill. Instead, dad pulls us behind the quad. We rocket down the hill, swerve around the turn and straighten out again. Sometimes we go flying down the hill and take a sudden turn. "Hold on!" someone calls. All of a sudden, we find ourselves sprawled over the snow. We start running and shouting to alert dad to stop.

        Joshua has been very brave this year and taken a new step with tobogganing. When he really enjoys something you can tell, even if his mouth is covered by his muff, his eyes seem to sparkle with the thrill of the ride. It is so fun for all of us to go together with Joshua joining us!

It's big enough for all of us!

We start the ride...

Be sure your goggles are on, you might get covered 

in snow!

A bumpy patch ahead, brace yourselves...

We gain speed....

and away we go!

Noel

Shoveling

Brrr, the snow has come, and come quickly! But not too fast for Joshua. At the first sign of the wintery white flakes, he's out on the driveway, hard at work. He got a new shovel for Christmas because he loves to shovel the snow!

He shovels away diligently.

After a while, his feet get wet and cold...

So he heads inside for a warm cup of hot cocoa!

Noel

Sandbox Buddy

The leaves have given up their summer employment as sun catchers and are resting crumpled and spent in a rusty and gold carpet under the trees. Only the hardy winter birds have been seen wrestling berries out of the crabapple trees and the hum of insects has been silenced by the chilly air. Despite these clear signs of impending winter, Joshua asked this afternoon if he could go out to the sandbox. He ventured out in his shorts pulled over his pajama bottoms but returned quickly to add a few layers. He enticed his sandbox buddy to join him and soon he and Esther were busy building extravagant cities in their sandy paradise. The pictures below were taken before the earth's gradual tilt away from the sun revolved us into autumn's hand, but you can see the spirit of mutual delight shared between Joshua and Esther as they strategize over how to pack, fill, pat, pour and scoop their imaginations into sandy mounds of wholesome fun. The only difference was today they had to crack a thin layer of ice off of the city "pond"!

Mom

Kings and Queens

         This morning, after finishing their schoolwork, Joshua, Moses and Esther decided to make a play. They  invited mom and I to watch. Moses said the tickets cost 10¢. We paid our fee and sat down to watch. "What would it be?" I wondered. Together, Moses and Joshua could come up with some pretty interesting things!
          Joshua was so excited, he kept peeking out from back stage to see us. Soon they marched out, with Esther between them. It appears that King Moses, Lady Esther and Sir Joshua were going for a afternoon walk. Suddenly Caleb burst out from the forest to steal Esther away, the king and his knight fought him nobly. But he returned again, this time he was 'invisible.' He stole Esther, but his invisibleness wore off and they saw him. Esther ran to mom and the fight continued until someone started to cry. In the end they made peace.

Look at those smiles.

This is the cast.

Aren't the costumes professional? 

Noel

Grape Picking

          Today we went grape picking at a farm in Hamilton. We were hoping there would be enough grapes to make some jelly. Joshua was very excited to come and help. I'm not sure if he was looking forward to the picking or the eating☺? I wasn't sure he was going to get very much in his bucket. When we go blueberry picking he usually ends up with about 10 blueberries in his contantiar. But today was different. In order to get the grapes you have to duck under a canopy of grape vines. We could hear him calling from under somewhere, "Huge! Nowel comee now lota grape!" I went to help him pick and sure enough the branches were loaded. I looked in his bucket and it was half full! I was delighted! He had put his whole effort into picking, and in the end he filled his bucket. I think he had a lot of fun picking and crawling under the vines!

Here he is picking some from under a canopy of vines. 

It was a gorgeous day!

Another action shot!

Mmm, those look delicious! 

Noel

Coloring pals!

Joshua is just beginning to embrace his honored role as one of Esther's older brothers. Sometimes that plays out in being bossy, which she ignores, or grabbing her, in which case she hollers for help. But today I looked up from my dishwashing when I heard the sweet, harmonic sound of Joshua pronouncing the sounds of the letters from his coloring book while Esther looked on with rapt attention. He then offered to share his markers with her and to compliment her coloring. Big steps!

Mom

Lawn mower

When Joshua was younger, one of his favorite toys was a plastic lawn mower that he rallied me to purchase at a garage sale.  When Bill mowed the lawn Joshua would be right behind him, with his plastic mower, happily making a slur of inventive lawn mower sounds. Now that he is eight, plastic mowers do not hold the same awe and inspiration. He wants to push the machine with the real motor. Unfortunately, since moving to the country, we now mow our "lawn" with a tractor which Joshua is a few years away from being able to manage. A few days ago, when visiting a neighbor, Joshua heard the joyous roar of a lawn mower and snuck off to investigate. When I found him he was mowing tandem with his new friend, Kirt VanWieren, who kindly gave him a brief lesson in mowing the lawn. Joshua was thrilled! Below is Kirt's invite to come help with the lawn anytime. I see the possibility of future employment!

Mom