Thursday, October 13, 2005

Balancing Act


Alex, resident engineer, never runs out of ideas for keeping Maria happy. He arranged Max's Max Books and filled the spaces with some of Maria's stuffed friends. When Max's books aren't artfuly stacked, Max reads his books to his sister.


Yesterday we carved pumpkins. No, we don't expect our Jack-o' lanterns to last until the Big Night. We simply cannot resist the opportunity to express ourselves with carving knives. And we love fresh roasted pumpkin seeds. Delicious! William's pumpkin has a full and winning smile; an infectious smile. Alex's pumpkin is complete with eyebrows and a toothy grin. Max had only one pumpkin to work with, but he had a lot to express. Rotate Max's pumpkin to find 4 different Jacks: Happy Jack, Toothy Jack, Big Mouth Jack and Ghost faced Jack.


After pumpkin class we moved the Treehouse Academy to the papier-mache room. William and I are making gargoyles, Alex and Max are making bat lanterns. We are using balloons, toilet paper card board rolls, masking tape, and lots of flour with water. It's a bit messy. Fortunately we are able to enjoy this project out in the yard. It's warm and our projects are drying fast. We need to add a few more layers of paste and paper, then we will begin painting.

We left our creations drying in the sun and went back to the kitchen to bake a dessert for the BIONICLE 3 movie premiere. We baked pumpkin muffins with grated carrots and rolled oats, and served them with sparkling blueberry juice. Adam and Jacob came over to watch the latest DVD from Lego. This is the third movie based on the BIONICLE Lego toy series, and thus our third premiere party, which for the boys means fun and for me it means time is zipping by. If William were writing this little summary he would have emphasized the lack of motion blur in the animation...


William and Maria, Jacob, Adam, Alex and Max

We have been here, in the Treehouse, for 2 years. Sigh. It's interesting to think of what we thought we'd be doing compared with what we are doing. Its also important to appreciate that we have met some special people while living here, and enjoyed the proximity of friends like Adam and Jacob, Dave and Anne. Three beds in the dining room may be awkward, and poor insulation is frustrating during hot or cold spells, but we are sheltered and safe. We have a small orchard and a laundry room. We have two owls living high in the rubber tree... it's good here.

Today: Math, science, reading, writing
Tomorrow: Miramar Air Show

2 comments:

Janece said...

Natalie - I *never* get tired of reading what you write. So beautiful and warm.

Anonymous said...

I love that beautiful face.

Tutu