Mermaid's Teacups and Cupcakes

Lenna turned four years old last Sunday! I can't believe it. She had a wonderful birthday full of celebration. First we had a great week with Ada and Da in the Florida Keys, then a crazy birthday party with 21 kids + parents at Boyd Hill, and then all the Halloween fun... as Cinderella this year. Down in the Keys she learned to dive to the bottom of the pool to pick up "gold nuggets," got to feed dolphins, and discovered the "pirate ship" pool that she pronounced the coolest thing she'd ever seen.

Happy Fall

A quick update on the last two months: we went to Door County with all the Kuffs in August and had a fantastic time, and in September we got rid of the termites (house was tented), school started back up again, and now finally the weather is getting nice! A few photos:

We miss the Fradleys

Well, our good friends the Fradleys are off to Germany. Lenna said at breakfast yesterday... "I miss Jackson." I don't think it has sunk in that she's not going to see him for a long time. She keeps talking about how he'll be home in "five days." :( We miss you guys!
Here are a few shots from 4th of July.

More dancing... don't know where she gets this.

Dancing

Lenna and Jackson had so much fun on the dance floor last weekend. They were laughing so hard they were falling down, but they are great dance partners!

Pondering the movements of the moon

Lenna asked me the other day while we were driving...
"Mommy, why is the moon sometimes out during the day, and sometimes during the night?" We discussed Earth spinning and Moon rotating around Earth and such, but she came up with her own hypothesis. She says "Maybe the wind blows the moon across the sky."
I thought that was a pretty good idea.

Here is a photo pirated from the Fradley's blog of Lenna and Jackson playing in the sand flats at low tide. We went to Ft. DeSoto on Friday evening; it was so beautiful... sun setting, roseate spoonbills feeding, birders fleeing as our children were flushing out the birds they had been stalking with their cameras for hours...

Happy St Paddy's Day

Manatee mania

A couple shots from New Year's when Adda, Da and Elin were here. We went to see the manatees that are taking refuge from the cold at the Appolo Beach power plant, and Lenna just loved them. She carries her baby and mommy manatee with her everywhere now, and when it gets cold out, she worries about them finding the warm water.

Driving to school the other day:
Lenna: Mommy, this is the highway, right?
Me: yep.
Lenna: so where is the low-way?

Eating breakfast, listening to NPR, the news person was talking about the Middle East, and Lenna thought it was the funniest thing in the world that there was a country named "Turkey."

Tomorrow is Today

Lenna's concept of time is fascinating. Anything that happened in the past happened "yesterday," and anything that is to come in the future will happen "tomorrow." The past she understands better than the future, but it is still just "yesterday." When we talk about the future though, she says "but Momma, tomorrow IS today!" And it's not like she has said this only once, she says it all the time, so she means it. And you know, I think she is absolutely spot on. What you do today shapes your tomorrow. Tomorrow IS today.