He finally earned his mohawk

In case you don't use Facebook and haven't already seen this notice, and especially if you'll be seeing my older child soon and want to be prepared, here are warning pictures:

This stood up to gale-force winds on Sunday, but we haven't been able to replicate the height or stamina since then. Still working on technique and especially on not needing Mom's help! Today was the first day his classmates saw it, so I have to wait to hear what happened. He can actually thank his teacher in particular for us finally giving the go-ahead, because she also thought it was a good idea. Personally, I'm just loving that his hair is out of his face and it doesn't take him 15 minutes to wash and rinse anymore!

Fall doings

This is the first year I had to miss Halloween. I teach a class on Monday evenings, and it takes practically an act of God (or your chosen deity) to cancel a class, so I figured claiming all my kids' Reese's cups wasn't sufficient. Apparently, the usual fun was had and I still got some chocolate when I got home, so all was well. Dan very kindly emailed me the following pics to keep me me in the loop:

In case you can't tell, this is Wolverine and an IRS audit agent. We're still not sure which is scarier. Responses on Facebook were mixed, although I think the tax man had a small lead.

The one on the left is Reece's design with my elbow grease. The one on the right was Dan's and Greyson's creation, which I think turned out really well, especially considering neither one had ever tackled that intricate a design.

In other news, the kids had Tuesday off for election day (their schools are voting places, so this makes things easier all around), so I took the day to work from home and it was BEAUTIFUL. At least 68 degrees and sunny, so we biked to the library and then played at a playground near us that happens to have a tree that Reece can now climb. The boys even sat outside and read after we got back (and Reece ate his lunch). I think we were all refreshed after our mini-break.