Last of the Fall Days!

Earlier this week we started the big task of picking up our leaves. I love the big trees on our lot in the summer for the shade but the clean up in the fall is usually not a lot of fun. This year however it wasn't so bad because Robert made it very entertaining! He loved it when Eric would turn the blower on him and he'd get his own wind tunnel of leaves but I think his favorite part was running & jumping in the big piles. The pictures taken were from earlier this week but the 3 of us did get back out today (Izzy stayed inside for a long nap!) to pick up another batch in the front yard and get a good start on the back yard. We've got the leaves pretty much under control and are now just waiting for the trees to finish their dumpings and we'll hopefully be able to finish the big task next weekend...assuming the snow holds off!

In addition to getting work done outside we've all been busy inside as well. I had a long week with work that included a rental meet on the weekend and a trip to Moorhead for a swim meet. Luckily I have great student workers (thanks Molly and Kelley) who took on my normal role and were able to sit for the majority of the weekend at the meet to troubleshoot any problems and thus allowing me to be home this afternoon. Eric had a long week thanks to Robert. He is definitely reached the terrible twos and is testing his daddy's patience during the day. On top of that we were also down to 1 car for the first half of the week thanks to my car having a gas leak. It was towed in last Saturday from St. Kate's after not wanting to start, the check engine light flashing, and smoke pouring out from the rear on the drive back to work from a meet a few miles away. Not good and not a bill we wanted to pay!

The good news for the week is that Robert, who still limits his talking, shocked me last night when we were reading books and was able to point out every object I asked him to identify. Granted he's seen the books often but I had never asked him to do that before. I wasn't surprised for him to point out the puppy, shoes, ball items since he sees and/or uses that stuff daily but some of the trickier items that he correctly picked out shocked me. And then I must admit I got a little annoyed with my little man for STILL refusing to talk! Izzy also continues to grow and continues to be a great baby. She loves talking to us, yes only babbles but since she is only 3 months this is acceptable unlike her brother's babbles, smiling, and giggling. Izzy especially loves it when her brother gives her attention and you can already tell that he's her favorite...or at least until he tries to sit on her while she's on our lap or in her swing!

Okay time for bed so we can be ready for whatever life will throw at us this week!