Fall

Well, we had a cool night and this morning the huge morning glory patch was sad and bedraggled. On the plus side, we did harvest our last 2 watermelons today. Samantha and Josh really wanted to open them up, but had to wait...poor things! They both love watermelon and enjoyed growing them. Luke and I learned the watermelon takes over your yard, kind of like morning glories! It was satisfying to finally succeed in growing something edible in hot and windy Abilene!
Josh is doing well in his learning. It's been such a joy to see him learn to read. He doesn't find it joyful, unfortunately, but he was very proud of himself when he read Green Eggs and Ham to me. He prefers math over reading, but his favorite by far is literature, which at his age means listening to great books. Currently we're reading Ginger Pye and The Edge on the Sword. He also really enjoys listening to the Bible.
After reading a book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome, we decided to change our diet a bit. Samantha has really blossomed, and we're not even doing the full program. We've just taken out starch and sugar, and added in more honey and nuts and homemade meat and bone broth.
Anyway, after just a few days she snuggled into me and cuddled. She has not done this since she could hold her head up! Suddenly she's verbalizing alot more and being more engaged and connected with what's happening. And, lastly, my second favorite change (after snuggling) is the lack of the constant "mom, mom, mom, mom" for absolutely no reason. She used to do this for HOURS. Now when she says, "Mom," she actually has a reason for saying it. It's such a relief.
Oh, she's also gaining weight, which is great when you are almost 2 and size 12-month pants fall off you.