Fun fall photos

I have been busy with lots of plain old life lately. Not too much time to think about writing, but I have tried to snap a few photos. The captions will have to serve as the bulk of the story this time. As always, you can click on any individual photo to see it larger.

John and Meg tried out lacrosse this fall. They had about 2 months of "skills and drills" through the local Parks and Rec department. They both loved it, and I loved that it was only a 4-minute drive from our house. 

Here, you see the reason why John's mouth looks odd in the prior photo - he wears a mouth guard. It was highly recommended by the volunteer/parent coaches. Seemed a bit overkill to me, since neither has had any orthodontics yet to mess up, but I complied. :)

Meg dribbles her ball!

Helen loved going to practices and running about with all the other siblings waiting/watching. She was always the youngest one there (excepting non-mobile infants), but she didn't seem to care.

Last week, I took Helen to her day care center on her non-day-care day and stayed with her for an hour during their "special activities" time. The kids had "Movement with Tom" and Helen's teachers thought she would enjoy doing it. They were right. She also enjoyed directing Mommy to put in pigtails, "just like this and here!"

Paying close attention to instructions, the kids scoot!

And they clap in rhythm - serious work!

The scarf dancing was clearly the biggest hit, though.

I am running for all I am worth.

And finally, our ode to Halloween. See the blue plastic bucket on the shelf? Not for long, you won't.