October's been a bit busy

In addition to the canning (pears, applesauce, etc.), October has been a rather busy month so far! The leaves are changing, and we did our first elderberry picking. We should have done it three days earlier, but oh well. It was a beautiful day in the canyon.

We also attended the yearly open house at the fire station. They put on a good show. The kids get to sit in the fire trucks, go through the "life activity house" where they learn what to do and not to do with grease fires, medication, hot stoves, toaster fires, and curling irons. They get to practice calling 911, and fake smoke comes into the bedroom, and the kids learn how to escape. Treats, videos, and activity books are given out. Best of all, they got to pee in a fireman's potty, and they got to work the fire hose!

One of our favorite books is The Lorax. It is my favorite Dr. Seuss book, by far, and I like to do voices for the characters as I am reading it. Every time we see a tree stump, Meatball jumps on it and yells "Ga-zump! I am the Lorax; I speak for the trees 'cuz the trees have no tongues!" Peanut got in on the action on this day. He was a Lorax, too. I was the Once-ler; I wasn't really very happy about that...

Back in September, the boys were playing at Granny's door. Peanut slammed it and caught Meatball's toe. The nail has been just waiting to fall off since then. It finally did:

Then, the toenail fairy came that night and left him "many coins" and a mini KitKat which he shared with his brother, apparently forgetting exactly who slammed the door on his toe in the first place.

And, seriously, this is good art:

I cut out the shapes, and Meatball put it together. I think that he did a remarkable job! Peanut doesn't share in the desire to do crafty stuff, but he did have a good time cutting up paper and making a mess.