Random Things (that haven’t made it into recent posts)

1.  Tis fall!  It's the season of slave labor!  There are lots of rotting crab apples to be picked up off the ground (Dr. Peds has a very weak stomach when it comes to decomposing fruit squishing in between his toes when he walks in the backyard) and soon there will be lots of leaves to rake.  Our children are THRILLED.  So are we.  Picking a bucket of crab apples is just such a convenient consequence for nasty attitudes and general misbehavior.

2.  Writer friends:  Do you you know about the site One Word?  Each day a new one word prompt is posted, and you have sixty seconds to write (be a fast typer) about it.  After you're done, you can read what other people wrote on the same prompt.  Sarah and I are loving it.  She dictates to me and I type for her, and of course, I have a great deal of fun doing it myself.  It's a quick and easy way to squeeze a tiny bit of writing.  Sarah likes to read what other people write, however, since some of the entries are not exactly age appropriate for a second grader, I pick and choose which ones to read to her.  (Point in case proof that people can take any innocent word and turn it into a sinister thought . . . the human brain is amazing).   

3.  Speaking of writing, for her birthday about a month ago, I gave my sister-in-law Dot a poetry correspondence kit.  We both appreciate poetry a lot, and one of our mutual favorite poets is Ted Kooser, who did a correspondence project with some other poet that I can't remember anymore.  Every day for a month or so, I think, they wrote a poem that had to fit on the back of a postcard and mailed it to each other.  Kooser eventually published his poems in a book.  Anyway, I printed Dot and I 50 postcards each, and we are sending each other a poem each week.  Ours are mailed in an envelope.  I am LOVING the project.  Just knowing I need to write a poem each week makes me pay attention to what is happening in my life on a different, more detailed level.  And getting Dot's poems in the mail is a splendid treat.  

4.  Music class with preschoolers and assisted living residents is starting soon, and I'm busy planning and planning and planning.  Our theme this fall is weather, and I have some really fun ideas in mind.  The Banana and I can't wait to get back to see all of those grandmas and grandpas.  Mr. SP is looking forward to coming to the classes on Friday too.

5.  Pipe cleaners have been THE TOY around here lately.  Ya Ya has been making everything from pipe cleaners:  squirrles, chipmunks, pirates, bug fairies, handles for paper purses, modern art sculptures . . . it's pretty amazing.  Right before school started, she created an entire village out of cardboard boxes for her bug fairies.  There were houses for Mr. SP and the Banana to use, and even a house for our babysitter's little guy, Andrew.  There was a cardboard school, a cardboard hospital, and a cardboard treehouse.  Here are some quick snapshots of the creativity:

This last bug is a teacher bug in her classroom.

6.  I have been making no-knead bread.  It is amazingly good.  And easy.  People eat it up as fast as I can make it, pretty much.