Here Comes the Sun

I liked it better this way. Melting.

I Dunno

She just looked cute, staring into the bathroom at her sisters.

In Which I Remind Myself of My Mother

By serving freshly-made yogurt for an after-school snack.




(But the resemblance doesn't carry much further, unfortunately.)

With Credit to Sarah

At the beginning of October, we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with our Owen family. While they were here, Dude, McGamma, and Aunt Sarah took the girls out for a fun date to an apple farm, and I sent my camera along with Sarah so that we'd come away with a few pictures of the weekend (considering I was too lazy to take any).

So, thanks, Sarah, for all these pictures. You and Fancy Camera are a good fit (Psst. Christmas is coming, Sinterklaas.)

The girls enjoyed The Haunted Barn for the second year in a row.

This remains the highlight.

What is this, you ask? Gruesome "Lawnmower Guy," of course.

While they were out, Millie looked older than she's allowed to,

Piper cuddled with Grandma,

they all went on a woodsy hayride,

and they came home to a gorgeous sunset.

The next day, Sarah took these pictures of Dude being an exemplar Grandpa....

turning his sweet Luci into the Terror of the Seas.

Pretty convincing, hm?

North Country

Too long ago now, we drove with some friends to see more friends-- my cousin Leah and her family. Our memories of time last spent with them involves visiting by candlelight, catching fireflies, and eating freshly-popped popcorn every night, so it's been a while.

We borrowed my brother's tent, and the girls enjoyed their first-ever tent sleepover. The guys set up the tent in the dark, and we woke to the vision of cow fence outside the entrance.

Thanks to McGamma's gift of a birthday pinata, which Millie saved for just this occasion, I got to watch farmboys whacking a purple castle with a big stick.

(It was worth the wait.)

The visit was not long enough, but our hosts still managed to feed us like kings at every single meal (bacon! Bacon! BACON!), teach Mildred the rudiments of spinning wool (thank you, Leah! It was a highlight for her), and serve us the richest homemade ice cream I will ever eat (those Jerseys have magic cream)

Luci enjoyed the ice cream just as much as I did,

and Leah was considerate enough to promptly serve her a heaping second helping.

On the way home, we almost took a pit stop to see an old friend who has grown into a forest,

and upon arriving home, we discovered my father's fastidious egg-gathering ritual. (Man, we just eat the things!)

Here's to next time! We love you people!

Feast

John will routinely make the whole family a feast for breakfast (the girls actually call them "Papa's feasts"), so it's only fair that they return the favor once in a while. The girls made him this breakfast, forced him to lie down on the couch and close his eyes, and while I sat on a nearby chair, Millie asked to use the camera to document the experience.

So Mildred's eye, instead of mine, saw

the cheerful breakfast on a tray

the ritual fork-feeding (I don't know why they had to feed him, but apparently, they needed to),

and the Mama, doing a routine check of the tonsils.

C'mon now; you know breakfast in bed at your house follows the same pattern...

The Great Pumpkins

True to form, I waited until I heard there was to be a frost before harvesting the pumpkins, squashes, and everything else save kale and the root vegetables. I actually waited until 20 minutes before dusk, at which point I rushed the girls out of the house and frantically started heaping squash while they picked their pumpkins.

As I worked on heaping this higher,

the girls (or so I presumed) were picking their pumpkins and piling them in the wheelbarrow. It wasn't until Millie fetched me and asked me to go inside for the camera that I realized they'd actually been styling their pumpkins for a photo-shoot.

So, I went inside, got the camera, and changed the settings to allow as much light as I could without using the flash in order to honor their request. So much for flash-hatred. Light was so dim at this point that they were hard to see, so the pictures are grainy, but here they are, anyway!

The girls with their studio set-up.

Mildred arranging everyone for the shoot.

Everyone surrounded by their pumpkins. So happy! So sweet!

Then the wheelbarrow tipped over and spilled the babies out, which made for a few minutes of mayhem. Millie soon ordered everyone back on track, and here are a few of their individual shots.

Pumpkin pixie:

Laughing Pip:

and crying Lu (she was unhappy that they only gave her the tiny pumpkin...truly):

And a picture of the sunset before we went inside.

Thanks a million for the seeds, Molly! They gave the girls an entire summer of delight and culminated in this daring, dusky raid of the patch.

In Case Your Eyes Are Sore

Here's a sight.

I offer it as a good faith token of snapshots to come before the moon turns blue.

You Can Quote Her on This

"It's the easiest thing in the world to skate over a clean floor with sausage feet."

-Mildred Elise Owen, muttering to herself and the empty kitchen ten seconds ago


p.s. It's Veterans Day, everyone. I'll post a post-y post someday. Internet access has been sporadic recently, and I need to seize this moment of connectivity to create/email the girls' quarter reports. You know, instead of posting quotes about sausage feet and like fare...

p.p.s. I know I'm way behind on responding to emails. If the internet sticks around until tomorrow, I'll catch up! Pinky swear.

And I Don't Even Crunch

Hullo.
My name is Abigail.

I'm a current successful user of homemade laundry detergent and homemade deodorant.

I occasionally wash my hair with homemade "shampoo." (It's more vinegar than shampoo.)

I'm almost out of toothpaste from the ol' glory days of CVS'ing, so I just made homemade toothpaste. I haven't used homemade toothpaste since high school. *Also, if any kind reader thinks that this flurry of homemade toothpaste use is sad and pitiful and wants to mail us some toothpaste, please don't! I thank you for the thought, but I prefer the homemade for our fambly. (Yes, I just typed fambly, which is much more weird than making toothpaste.)

I'm about to make a batch of homemade yogurt. (I haven't eaten homemade yogurt since high school.)

I'm also going to grind grain to make whole-wheat rolls for supper, but only after the girls and I gather half-wild pears to make spiced caramel pear butter.

As I sit here in the midst of a house that a casual observer would mistake for a war zone, I was thinking that maybe, instead of cleaning the house (which, in case I didn't mention, looks like a war zone), I should learn how to make rubber.

It's wet outside, and I need boots.

Or, barring the making of rubber, maybe I should write a boring blog post.
Any votes?

Dona Nobis Pacem

I'll come on sometime for words, but here are silly snapshots, at least. I spent a while loading them when I should have been doing lots of other things.

It feels wrong somehow to post frippery when a few friends who read this blog are in the midst of heartache.

Quickly, a simple request to continue in prayer for those affected by the flooding. I'm praying for you and your family, Elizabeth, during this uncertain time, and I trust God will sustain you as He brings you to what waits unseen.

Also, if you would, please pray for the grieving people of Unguja and Pemba. The horrific tragedy that occurred last Saturday lies heavy on many. S., I continue to pray for you and all those you love there.