*Two* new vehicles!

What?! We didn't want to venture into the two-car-family thing, but thanks to this accident, we had to "upgrade" to a minivan. A MINIVAN! Sigh. Yes, yes, I'm very thankful that we have a car after going so long making do with Uber or just doing without, and it is a nice car ... for a minivan. There's always that caveat, unfortunately. "Ooh, great! For a minivan." But then the partial greenies in us cringed a bit thinking about Dylan's commuting solo in such a big gas-guzzler. Enter, conversation about a second vehicle. No, we do not want to have 2 cars.

So we bought a scooter instead! And then we crossed St. Charles Ave for an artisan pizza lunch where Ada promptly named it Juni. Juni's orange, gets to ride the ferry and through the French Quarter everyday, and says "ciao, ciao".

Oh yeah, and here's the van. Introducing Vincent van Geaux:

I do really like it, honestly; I'm just being cheeky, idolizing the little VW Jetta we had when we first married and moved to St. Paul. I like that we can all fit + stuff + other people + the automatic sliding doors. And, c'mon, cupholders.

This & That

Chillin:

We've gotten into a nice little pattern on Tuesday afternoons that's been P&A-led. After naps, they've gotten into suggesting a neighborhood walk, in which we run a little weekly errand then hop up on the levee before walking over to 6pm Mass "in the little chapel". It's lovely, they enjoy it, and I adore hearing their squeaky voices say "in the little chapel". It's a great time to just walk with them without being terribly goal-oriented and full of "c'mon", making time for this:

Then there's this guy:

And otherwise, things are ticking along all lovely-like. I've had a couple more physical therapy sessions, and we're thinking just one more in two weeks to wrap things up - yay! Needless to say, I've been feeling so much better. I was even told to "test it out, but don't go crazy" before that last session to see if any unforeseen problems arise. Jack had his 4mos checkup and weighed in over 15lbs - love. And our letter-of-the-week schooling has been going great; both Paul and Ada are enthusiastic to get to the morning's lesson, and the time goes quite quickly. Then Dylan's made a few fires in the pit in the backyard to burn up piles of green waste we've had drying out; it's one of those times, admittedly few, when I've had to remind myself of the differences in our upbringings and smile to myself about how we'd do things differently. My boy-scout-oriented father would have (no, still has) even, nicely chopped logs ready & set beside the fire. My husband, however, Aussie country-kid-at-heart that he is, chucks a whole tree limb on there, still leaning on the ground, and waits for it to burn up and break before shimmying everything into the actual pit. His mother even said via Skype, "Well, you are a Knoll!" End result is the same, though: nice fire, happy kids, and family time.

And last but not least, my first venture into the world of DIY crafts: Paul's purple dragon costume, complete with requested white spikes & orange spots; wings still to come.

Nice & easy week

That in no way means the week was devoid of fussing, or messes, or sibling-fighting, or messed up naps, or defiance, or bad attitudes. (Wow, was it such a nice week?) A "nice & easy week" just means that most of those trying things were short-lived or didn't leave a lasting impression on the day. That's a positive step!

Paul requested this shot while on a levee walk:

Our regular afternoon hang on the front porch:

Look who found two fingers to suck & soothe himself! Then he added a little smirk for extra cuteness once he saw me with the camera *swoon*:

Happy to see falling leaves =)

The weekend holds a few fun times in store, too: a lobster (?) boil, outdoor movie series, and a "cupcake & beer" 1st birthday party!

Also, on the homeschooling front, the first week was a success! Both Paul and Ada enjoyed their "A a" lessons, and each morning started 15 minutes earlier than the previous day, ha!

Baptism & Finally Fall

It's finally Fall! Dylan and I are in the backyard during naptime enjoying 70-something weather - woo!

Two weekends ago brought us a family wedding and our Jack's Baptism. Dear Colleen & her youngest, George, were able to make it down from Illinois, and we made the most of our few days together. 

John Joseph's Baptism was Sunday, September 25th at Holy Name of Mary Church. He was baptized by Deacon Dean Herrick, and Mike & Colleen Biver are his (and Paul's!) godparents. We had a lovely ceremony followed by a great reception at the house with friends and family. Welcome to Catholicism, newest little Catholic!

32nd baby baptized in the family gown

And now for the rest of our shenanigans the past 2 weeks! For starters, my physical therapy has been having a tremendous effect! I'm feeling about 95% "back", and I now only notice any back pain when I twist and use pressure to grab, which I can avoid if need be. Before, I couldn't avoid pain but just eased or endured it, but now I can do most things and even forget about it all most of the time - great! This morning we even had a little dance party in the kitchen before Mass, and it felt awesome to play like that with the kids again. Nana & Pappy took P&A back to Houston with them after the Baptism, so JJ and I had a one-on-one week, whoa! He's doing very well, eating and gaining and growing out of clothes! And I was reminded how much work "just one baby" is. Paul and Ada had a ball in Houston, and I got only a few photos; something tells me they were busy. Also, though, Paul keeps falling on his face and busting his lip or scraping his forehead, and Ada keeps falling on her knees, reopening the same ol' scrapes! She, however, is very brave (dare I say braver!) and has no problems with cleaning wounds and using band-aids. Good girl. Dylan, Jack, and I traveled to Houston last weekend to pick them up again - Jack's first time in Texas!! This week has been relaxing and easy, enjoying our family time. Aaah.

Starting to play:

First trip to Tejas:

Friday the 7th was Our Lady of the Rosary's feast day. How to celebrate? With a Froot Loop rosary, of course:

And for the next big news: we're starting school! Paul and Ada are both starting pre-school tomorrow Monday the 10th! We're starting a homeschool curriculum, and I'll be interested in documenting much of the process; that, however, is not the point of this blog, so I've set up another for the sole purpose of schooling. Hop on over to Teaching the Knolls for a look at what the "big kids" are learning in connection with a Letter of the Week. It's a primitive blog, will likely go through some changes, and I'll likely change how we go about things a lot in the coming weeks.