Most of the time, my girls play nicely with each other. And it warms my heart, lets my hands get some work done, and brings peace into the household so long as they can agree on the game and what roles they will play. Here they’re playing doctor, Josie’s the doc. I’m always cast as ‘the mommy to the patient’.

One of the girls favorite things to play at Waldo park is to run a pretend ice cream store with the mulch. The mulch is the ice cream, the money and all the toppings. They serve everything most all the time, although sometimes they restrict the ice cream flavors. They use this one shelf part of the structure as the ice cream counter.

I’m so pleased with how well my girls try different foods and eat a wide variety. Josie’s in a bit of a ‘don’t like it’ phase, but Celia will repeatedly try anything put in front of her. From the Japanese food we had last week, where she devoured the edamame and pickled vegetables (and everything else) to tonight’s dinner of falafel, hummus, cucumber salad, feta cheese and pita that they made into sandwiches just like me and Jordi. They don’t always like everything and aren’t always pleasant dining companions, but in general, they eat a lot of different things including their vegetables, especially in soups. We had a great family dinner out last night too at Christophers in Porter Square. Their ‘tofu sliders’ were divine. The photo below is Celia in the middle of making her hummus, falafel and cucumber salad sandwich.

With everyone being sick, the storm, and my ankle Halloween was pretty low key this year, although Josie got a bonus day of school as they invited everyone in her class in on Wednesday! The weather was lovely and I sat on the front porch handing out glow necklaces while Jordi took the girls around the block. They came back with their pumpkins 2/3rds full! Then they sat on the porch and ate a whole pile of candy until Jordi decided he’d eaten enough to start feeling sick and they should stop. This year they both went as Olympic Gymnasts. Josie has her costume long picked out, but Celia wavered until the last minute and decided to join in. They used medals from my dad, which he had made four years ago for Halloween for being Michael Phelps.

Last week I complained to my dad that no one in our family likes pumpkin pie, except me and him, at least if it’s made with milk. So we tend not to make it for holidays, but I like it and it’s fall, we should have one sometime. So the Saturday after I sprained my ankle he showed up with a crust and some pumpkin and made me a pumpkin pie. This is all that’s left, but considering we had Halloween in there and I’m the only one eating it, that’s not too bad. I’ll definitely finish it up tonight. So thanks Dad for the pie!

In the end too, Josie decided she liked it too. Celia acted like we tried to feed her sewage when she tried it, literally spitting it out and crying.

In the last two months or so Celia has taken up with the puzzles. She loves to do them again and again. She’s learning so fast and so pleased with herself as she figures them out.

My little two year old ball of enthusiasm and energy. We’re both under the weather right now but I’ve been having such enjoyable mornings just getting to hang out with her (the plus side to not being able to do anything with a sprained ankle!).

This was consensual play. So I picked up the camera.

My online photo community I belong to suggested a photo tour of things we’re thankful for this month. So I thought I’d join in to get some inspiration to lift up my camera each day and try not to drop it as I crawl around on the floor.

So I’m going to start off with hopefully the crummiest picture of the month. None of my pictures worked out today, I didn’t take many, but no one was cooperating, not my cats, not my kids.

Today I am thankful for my right foot. It works, it supports me and it hasn’t sprained! It is literally my right hand err woman these days as I try to get around the house.