Familyday

Edith's preschool class starts every morning with Circle Time, during which the class recites the days of the week in both English and Spanish, then figures out which day it actually is. So she gets more practice with weekdays than weekend-days. But that's okay, because she has it all down:

Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Familyday - Churchday

Familyday is quickly becoming our favorite. It's the only morning we don't rush out the door with wet hair and shoes in hand, five minutes late before we even start the day. In fact, we don't rush at all. This morning Edith and Tom even made me oatmeal in bed...just because it seemed like it would be fun.

Tom did have to spend the rest of the day writing a sermon, but Edith and I enjoyed the slow pace at which we took our time together. We walked Bismarck for a full 90 minutes, collecting bright leaves along the way, checking out the high school marching band and football team through the fence as a game got started, watching all the kids going to swim lessons at the middle school, being Cinderella and Belle as Edith told me all about her life with her stepmother and later as a princess at the castle.

After talking to Mor-mor and Grandpa on Skype for the first time (note: let us know if you're on Skype, and we'll video-conference!), Edith and I got our errands done together at a leisurely, pregnant lady + preschooler pace, then took up a church family on their offer when they called to invite us to dinner on their back porch.

I've always enjoyed autumn weekends, but I think I'm appreciating the value of total downtime more than I ever have in my life.

Here are a few pictures of Edith from our requisite fall visit to Terhune Orchards last Saturday. (We've received several requests for pictures of the belly, too, but as long as Edith and I are hanging out on our own it will have to continue to wait for a true Familyday, so there's someone to take the shot.)

For the first time we not only went out to the farm but picked our own pumpkin fresh off the vine, rather than choosing from the pre-harvested selection.

There's nothing particularly stellar about this photo, except that it makes me gasp at how long and leggy Edith is getting.

And in case the former picture doesn't make the point, Edith found the milking stool entirely too cramped in the conventional position.

Like last year, the string band inspired Edith to kick up her heels.