With summer officially over last week it’s as if the weather was on cue to get that cool, crisp, fall feeling in the air. We’d had a big weather system camp out over the area and dump rain on us for the last few days, but everything cleared off Sunday and we’ve had beautiful days ever since.
COBWEBS. I wish I knew what kind of spider it is that comes out this time of year and builds these big webs around the yard. The spider is brown and about the size of my thumb. The webs are usually stretched from a lower tree branch to the ground and are about 2-3 feet in diameter. They are really fascinating to look at until you run through one while mowing.
About three weeks ago the kids and I were coming in from church and noticed a web in the backyard by the swing set. This web just happened to be under construction. This was the first time I had seen a spider spin a web in person. Truly fascinating! What was even more amazing was the speed with which the spider worked. We took pictures and filmed it.
I was really looking forward to seeing the finished product the next morning so you can imagine my surprise when I went out and it wasn’t there. I looked around and found only one anchor line the only evidence that a web had even been there at all. The ground showed our tracks where we had been out the night before, but no tracks going through the web. I can only assume an owl or something flew through the web during the night. All that hard work gone.
TO DO LIST. Ben was invited to Wil’s Saturday night for a birthday party sleepover. He had been looking forward to this all week, and when he woke up Saturday morning he knew he still had several hours to wait. He could hardly stand it. To solve this problem and help pass the time Ben wrote out a to do list of all the things he wanted to get done before the party. This was all his idea, and he took it very seriously, even crossing things off when he had done them. Here’s his list (well, he wrote one word for each thing to do):
- Play with Legos
- Make my bed
- Play with my car
- Eat
- Watch TV
- Get dressed
- Play the Wii
- Read a book with Dad
- Clean my room
- Wrap my present for Wil
By the time Ben was due to go to Wil’s house at 3:00 he had completed everything he had set out to do for the day. Oh, to have a to do list half that fun. Oh, to be able to complete my to do list each day. Such is life.
Ben had a great time with Wil, his family, and friends Saturday night. They all went out to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and have pizza for supper. Then they came back home and played together until everyone wore out -- well, almost everyone -- Lori said one boy didn’t go to sleep until 5:30 am!
While Ben was doing all this Saturday night Vicki, Jenna, and I were helping with the Cross Plains Heritage Commission’s Barbecue Supper, and Nate was staying with Pauline.
R/C TRUCK. Ben has always wanted a radio controlled car so he’s been saving his money to get one. When we were shopping at Wal-Mart for Wil’s present Ben found a little Hummer he liked and bought it. I think he’s already gotten his money out of it. Sunday the boys and I walked about two miles on the Greenway in White House and Ben drove the little car almost the whole way. It was starting to get weak by the time we got back to the van, but I was impressed with how far three AA batteries will go.
PAPER FLIGHT. While Ben likes his R/C Hummer Nate likes paper airplanes. He is still learning how to fold one, but once he has one he flies it until it’s no longer airworthy. When I was a kid Mr. Lind sent me a book on paper airplanes. I ran across it some time ago and showed it to Nate. He was thrilled! It has some really fancy planes in it. We’re still folding basic planes for now though.
PAULINE’S BIRTHDAY. Today is Pauline’s birthday, but we had a dinner for her Monday night as she had a chemo treatment yesterday. I know meatloaf gets a bad rap sometimes, but Vicki found a recipe and made an outstanding meal. That recipe is a keeper as far as I’m concerned. Pauline also enjoyed all the handmade cards from the kids.
Joe
