argh, i missed posting about halloween, one of my favorite holidays!! micah went as a mermaid (thanks to my friend, kim, who gifted us an old favorite dress-up item of her daughter's), and rowan went as... one guess... the batman. vesta snapped a pic of micah with her phone, i'll have to get her to email it to me. rowan did not make the photo op at daddy and vesta's house because he promptly stripped his costume off and climbed into daddy's chair to watch a scary movie when we arrived. my little guy is a major homebody. but the kids had fun, scored lots of candy, and stayed up late. i wish we had a camera so i could've gotten a picture of our across-the-street neighbors' house. it was done up right again this year, and the street was PACKED with people hanging out in and around his yard. so much fun. :-)

let's see... micah is still enjoying school, and drop-off has gone from "incident free" to actually pleasant and enjoyable. she smiles in the mornings, says bye and "i love you" to me as she gets out in the carpool line in front of her school. i never thought this day would come. okay, maybe that's dramatic, but... really. i never thought it would. she has been such an absolutely joy lately. she is beginning to read, and wants to be read to all the time. she tells funny stories and draws pictures for us. she is amazing with a hula hoop. she is still so strong and fiery and spirited, but... it's less challenging, nowadays, to nurture those traits in her. and she seems to have moved past the unsettling phase where she would ask me multiple times a day, frantically (usually after getting in trouble about something), "do you still love me?" that was heartbreaking. glad it's over.

rowan's first week (maybe two, hard to remember) of school were a breeze, then it seemed to hit him and he started having a little trouble at drop-off time. for a few days i had to hand him off to his teacher, miss kathy, and leave while he cried. that was very difficult, but - and it sounds uncaring - i was used to it, because of micah. but rowan is a different creature and "recovered" very quickly from his bout with separation anxiety. week before last, he was getting teary as i got him dressed and ready for school, and he asked me with a quivering lip, "mommy, will you come right back?" i said, "of course, every time." and he drew a deep breath and looked at me so bravely and said, "okay. i'm not going to cry this time." and he didn't. he paints and plays nicely with his friends at school, and pretends the plastic fort in the play yard is the batcave. miss kathy regularly comments on his good manners. :-) rowan is so affectionate and cuddly, and is soothed by physical touch when he's upset or angry. i love this about him. he and micah start out the night in their room, but rowan almost always ends up in bed with us. during the day, rowan and lina alternate between playing in-depth imaginary games together, and tearing toys out of each other's hands and screaming. never a dull moment!!

i'll brag about lina for a sec, even though she's not mine... she is learning to use the potty! smart as a whip, that one. she's truckin' right along with it, too; today i took only one wet diaper off for her. she is fiercely independent and willfull. i don't know anything about that at all... it's hard to believe i'll soon be in a house with all toilet-trained children. wow-weee!!!

josh likes working at whole foods, and i like his schedule. it changes from week to week, but most weekdays he's home by 3pm. we are planning a little family road trip to colorado in june. we are so excited; it'll be our first vacation with the kids. actually, it'll be our first vacation since our honeymoon. by "vacation" i mean a trip planned solely for joy, leisure, and sight-seeing. josh and i have taken little weekend trips and stuff, but one was to austin for an accounting conference, and another was just to wichita falls to see his sister... those don't count. oh, we did drive to oklahoma to surprise josh's other sister when rowan was a few months old... i guess what i mean is, this'll be our furthest vacation? whatever. i'm excited.