Adventures with a felt tip pen

Colin walked into the living room today with drawings all over his arms and on the sides of his mouth. He was also clutching the offending blue felt tip pen. He very calmly stated, "Mom, I'm a catfish, see my whiskers?" He had such a sweet and innocent look it was impossible to be mad, and also it was pretty creative! The pen didn't show up so well in the photo, but it was actually pretty dark. This is his fish face.

Morning of Horror

Yesterday, still in our jammies, the kids and I took a rug outside to shake on the grass. Then Colin de-pantsed me on our front porch. I think we should move.

Thanksgiving, North Carolina Style

For Thanksgiving, we made a trek down to North Carolina to see the whole Chin clan. It was a wonderful, albeit quick, visit! We arrived Thanksgiving Day to an unbelievable feast at Aunt Mary Ellen's house. There were more side dishes than I've ever seen at one meal, and some of the best egg rolls ever (so I'm told- I'm still mad at Mike for forgetting to put some on my plate). Friday we toured Grandma Chin's wonderful new apartment, and then we hung out with the fam. All the kids fell madly in love with cousin Christopher again. Especially Amelia- they were best friends when it was time to leave. And we ate. More. Then went out to a delicious Italian dinner. And ate. The next day we woke up and took the kids over to the mall to see Santa with Grandma Debi and Grandpa Chin. Amelia asked for some Littlest Petshop toys (she's in a rut, she asked for them the last two years) and Colin said he wanted, "presents." Afterward we ate. At a yummy buffet. Finally, having stuffed ourselves beyond belief, we headed home to Philly. Thank you Chins for a fantastic Thanksgiving!!

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Today was the Thanksgiving feast for Colin at preschool. He had a great time, sat by the teacher at the feast and wolfed down "pa-tate-uz." (That's Philly speak for potatoes. Colin's teacher's accent is starting to rub off.) He dressed in an Indian costume that they made in class, and he looked fantastic.

Here he is in costume. Is it just me, or does he look a little Bing Crosby-ish?

At school he made a little feather that said "Colin is thankful for___" and they wrote in "The Holy Gospel"! I asked Colin if that's what he said, and he said no, that he'd actually said, "the Lord." Either way, he's turning out to be quite the spiritual guy! He cracks me up!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

We have a leaf problem. A BIG leaf problem. Those trees which are so darling all spring and summer become pretty troublesome at the end of fall. We were so desperate for help with these things that we got the kids involved for a morning of leaf raking and removal. Judge for yourself how effective they were.

Amelia was deadly with this rake. Colin and I took a few blows. The car did not come out of a tussle with her unscathed.

Colin making headway with his broom. Slightly less dangerous than the rake.

I know this photo is blurry, but this is one amazing leap!

Swimming.

Bathing.

A motorboat.


In case you are wondering, no, we are not done yet.

Mom at Valley Forge

A couple of weeks ago, Mom came out to visit. We had a wonderful time, hit all of our usual spots, and shopped, shopped, shopped! Mom loved Valley Forge, and here is a cute photo of her with the kiddos.

Jack is a neat nick

Today Jack grabbed this diaper off the floor (I hadn't gotten around to throwing it out yet) and crawled it over to the diaper champ and put it in. All of this with no prompting! This is the first, and probably last, time he will ever voluntarily clean anything up for me! I was amazed.

Fall Foliage

Fall has come to our backyard, and it is beautiful! Just when you start to take the scenery around here for granted, there's a new season and everything is different and lovely. We haven't spent a lot of time outdoors (too rainy) but here is a photo of the kids on a dry day. Hopefully we'll brave the brisk temperatures and get outside this week.

The Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved pumpkins with the kids and it was a blast! I LOVE carving pumpkins, and I think this activity gets more fun every year that the kids get older. I had the kids draw their jack-o-lantern faces first on paper, then on the pumpkin with a marker. I faithfully carved out what they drew, and the results were spectacular! The kids were surprisingly reluctant to get their hands slimy at first, but by the end they were pretty orange.

This year Mike decided that he didn't want to carve his own, just help scrape out the insides of everyone else's (very noble). My pumpkin is on the left, Colin's is the middle, and Amelia's is on the right. I especially like the mouth on Colin's.

Introducing the Super Chins

This Halloween, three new super heroes will be cleaning up the streets of Philadelphia. Super Amelia, Super Colin, and Super Jack will be striking fear into the hearts of the city's criminals!

AZ Sunshine

Mike's Mom and brothers came to Philly for a quick visit, and we had an awesome time seeing the sights. Highlights included: the Art Museum and Rocky Statue, Reading Terminal Market, Liberty Bell and Independence Square, and Valley Forge. They arrived just in time for some fabulous fall foliage, and some pretty great weather. Thanks for the wonderful visit, guys! Your visit reminded us of how much we miss you and love you!

The Art Museum

The three brothers had to enjoy some manly competition, racing up the steps of the art museum. Frank was the winner by a long shot, and poor Mike stumbled early on and was unable to catch up.

Having a "touching" moment in front of Rocky

Parent Teacher Conference

Today was my first Parent Teacher Conference with Amelia's teacher. I was SO nervous! Mike stayed home with the boys so I could go (thanks you!), and it was great! Her teacher said wonderful things like, "She's so happy, and energetic and engaged and good natured." I almost clapped for joy! I know Amelia is very smart and loves school, but I was thrilled to hear it from the teacher first hand. She has been having a slight giggling problem, but she has been working on it, and her teacher recognized her efforts. I am so proud of my kindergartner! (Did I just say that!? I'm choking up!)

Also, the boys and I are FINALLY adjusting to our new routine. Colin is getting used to preschool and starting to talk about it on the ride home, instead of just staring ahead like a zombie. His teacher calls him a "sweetie" and he made friends with a weird little kid named Albert. Jack is starting to get his naps to fit in between car rides. This crazy school schedule is now feeling like normal life, and we are enjoying it!

Standing!

Jack has a new trick- standing! Our physical therapist predicted last week that he would be standing within a day or two, and she was right. Jack started pulling up on the crib and furniture and can now hang out with Colin at the car table. He loves it! He is getting really strong and confident, and I have a feeling walking is right around the corner.

Jack also has acquired another trick, too- passing out. He has always been really bad about holding his breath when he cries hard (starting the very day he was born), but today he actually fainted. Don't be alarmed- this horrible trait runs in my family and Jack got it directly from me. Amelia did it, too. I hate it!

Here's a pretty bad photo of Jack standing. I'll get a good one one of these days! He definitley has the whole orange-on-a-toothpick thing going on there with his head.

Colin's Firehouse Trip

Last week, Colin and I went on a fun little field trip to the firehouse with his preschool class. Colin loves firetrucks (runs in the family) and had an awesome time. His favorite part was spraying the hose. The firehouse was a 20 minute walk from school, and Colin was very quiet on the way there, just in observation mode. On the way home he was very happy, and sang to himself the whole time, attracting the attention of other mothers and students. He's such a great little kid!

Looking manly in front of the truck.

My nerdy side says this looks like a light saber.

Shoes on Hands

Jack does this all day long, with any pair of shoes. I think he might be under the impression that shoes on hands are a necessity for crawling.