Ruth and I enjoyed a girls’ overnight at a nearby hotel recently. We stayed up late talking and watching a movie, then ate breakfast the next morning at a popular breakfast spot.

The hotel had two pools–one outdoor, one indoor. We attempted the outdoor pool, but the weather was so cold, cloudy and windy that we opted for the indoor pool instead. We had it all to ourselves!

After checking out, we got our nails done.

We each went for fall colors.

Then concluded our time together with a round of mini golf.

It was a brief 24 hours, but so much fun to be together, just the two of us. This girl is a lot of fun to be around!

This is the miscellaneous post where I dump all the pictures I’ve been meaning to sort and post by topic but ran out of time.

School carried on in September. Ruth went on a field trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens with the neighbor girls who are homeschooling this year. She went as part friend, part mother’s helper.

After learning about the power of the sun, she did a cool activity with the magnifying glass and a leaf.

Jeremy sorely missed baseball season last spring. He spent some time across the street pitching to the net.

Thankfully, he was able to participate in a 7 on 7 intra-squad football team several weeks this fall. The sport is not exactly made for linemen, but he did get his hands on the ball a few times.

Speaking of football, take a look at this map. The dark green states are the ones that are not playing high school football this fall. Telling, no?

Mom and Dad have been diligently heading up to Michigan every week to see my Grandpa. They are required to make 30 minute appointments to see him, and the visit must be outside. He is always delighted to see them.

He’s done well, considering the residence has been on lockdown for months now.

We hear he’s quite the charmer among the residents. No surprise.

Derek exited the teenage years in September, and he was happy to see them go. I still vividly remember bringing him to his 2-day doctor appointment–yes, 2 days after he was born–and hearing the doctor tell me that “this one has a look in his eyes that is wise beyond his years.” Indeed.

Since Derek is living in the “Wheaton bubble” this semester, we originally planned to bring the party to him and eat a picnic lunch outside somewhere. But he was itching to come home, and we were eager to have him home even if just for a short time.

The time was so short, in fact, that this was the ONLY picture I got of the birthday boy.

Jeremy came with me one afternoon to drop off Ruth at volleyball practice. He wanted to stop at Hobby Lobby to pick up a bird house to make into a bird feeder. We realized halfway into the drive that he forgot a mask. And in this Age of Covid, no mask, no entry, so I stopped to get a mask for him. He now owns the coolest mask of all of us.

He hopes it’s not too distracting for the pastor at church. We got back home, he painted the bird house and attached it to the tree. For a while, it was an attraction for birds and squirrels. Until the squirrels broke the feeder part. Now it’s a nice birdhouse decoration outside the back window.

He’s been the animal whisperer lately.

Ruth capped off September by visiting the Great Wall of China. Covid-style.

At first, Labor Day weekend was looking like it was going to be like any other weekend in the age of Covid: Enjoy time off *at home* as a family, grocery shop, etc. etc.

Then Hannah texted to see if she could come stay for the weekend. After an excited yes, she then suggested that I keep it a secret from the kids. So her visit ended up being a pleasant surprise for Peter, Jeremy and Ruth. Well, at least Peter and Ruth, since observant Jeremy caught on to the scheme right away.

She added some much needed pep and life to the household! Ruth was happy to have a partner to practice passing the volleyball to.

Until the White Sox lost in the first round of playoffs, we watched nearly every game of the regular season. The TV was uncharacteristically on almost every night. Even Molly got into it.

Sometimes Cinnamon took his seat on the couch next to us. It’s a family affair, you know.

We capped off the weekend with a meatopia of sorts. Jim threw a bunch of meat on the smoker, then we assembled towering sandwiches and homemade (totally from scratch) fries and delivered the packaged dinners to Derek and his big-eating buddies.

The food made a hit with the guys…they gave it 5 stars. A smoked meat restaurant beta version debut? We returned home and ate the rest.

As I sit down to write this, we are in our sixth week of school. One-sixth of the way through the school year. How is time flying so quickly?

With cooler weather comes the barista offering me a latte, cappuccino or americano in the afternoon. He understands my occasional need for a caffeine boost midday.

Ruth chose to study Astronomy this year, partly inspired by her oldest brother commissioning to the Space Force. She made a model of the solar system, starting with the sun.

I’d say she nailed the sponge painting!

I lent a hand with painting some of the planets.

The finished product exceeded our expectations.

Ruth has been relishing the night sky like never before. Ever since Jim showed her where to spot some of the planets, she has been a hawk, spotting them once the sun goes down; as well as snapping pics.

For ancient history, she reconstructed one of the great pyramids, to an approximate 1:2000 scale. We brought it to the sandbox “desert” at the neighborhood park to get a picture.

When not working Geometry problems and reading about U.S. government, Jeremy puts his creative juices to work, building things like Lego glasses

and designing mug patterns.

But his creativity does not stop there! He likes to give subtle hints toward his disdain for subjects such as American Literature. I discover these bursts of creativity while I’m grading and find them quite entertaining.

Roses are red, Strawberries are redder; This book would be better Going down the paper shredder

While he’s waxing poetic, Ruth is showing her own peculiar side.

We have a good running start, and I’m hoping it will carry us through the long dark days of winter!