I am writing this while Jesse takes the kids out to ice cream.  Last night he promised Pea that if she didn't laugh when he blew a rasberry on her armpit, he would get her an ice cream.  Silly man.  With our genes, you would think he would know that she would be up to almost any challenge for ice cream.

So,  Dumpling is pretty much back in our bed again.  Which is cool.  I like having his little warm body next to mine.  And actually, I kind of remember that at three, Pea came back to our bed again for a good while too.  I remember sleeping with both of their little bodies cuddled up next to mine--it was fall, as well, and it was so cozy. 

What is less cool, although kind of cute, is that Dumpling, although totally capable of using the potty(well, keeping himself and the house dry) during the day, still needs a diaper during the night.  However, now that he is accustomed to being dry and not having a big, warm cloth diaper on, he does not want to wear it.  Last night Dumpling woke up and told me, very seriously, "Mommy, this is not going to work.  My penis is not going to work."  And he took off his pajamas.  And, lo and behold, he wet the bed.  Honestly, Jesse was sleeping upstairs, and it is a big bed, and so  we just slept out the night huddled on the other side of the bed,  It's kind of gross, but you have got to do what you have got to do, especially when you have a three year old who has decided that he again needs to nurse at night.  And, if I knew how to do it, here would be a picture of the quilts and sheets out on the line.  I even took it, but, well, issues with the cord, etc. 

We had a nice, quiet weekend.  This Saturday was the first Saturday after the end of the lovely local Tailgate Market, where you will find us every Saturday morning May through October.  And, although we miss it, it was kind of nice to be able to decide what we want to do on a Saturday.  (What we wanted to do was go out to Louise's, a local place to eat in downtown Black Mountain, that we have hereby declared our MOST favorite place for breakfast.)  Then, we cleaned house for a while, which stinks and I always want to wait for bad weather, but it turns out in the mountains of NC in the fall, there is no bad weather. 

Then, yard work.  Well, garden work.  Pea helped me with the strawberry beds.  I am sternly keeping them to two beds.  That's all.  BUT, Pea, a business woman at heart, was a little disappointed that my plans for next year's hopefully plentiful strawberry crop is NOT to sell them, but to, well, eat them, and maybe make some jam.  She requested a small space that could be fenced off, so she could grow her own strawberries to sell.  Luckily, we have big plans for our house and property (all .4 acres.)  We are going to build a better fence (chickens-to come, and privacy) and rip out all of the rotten English Ivy along our property, and, plant rasberries, apple trees, and apparently, strawberries for Pea.  I am so, so, so excited.   

Also, as both children were squabbling over the one child sized wheelbarrow, Jesse and I decided to get one more, as children's gardening is always to be encouraged.  It was fun to watch both of them filling them with leaves, and dumping them on their own little sections of the garden.   They do get tired of taking care of their gardens mid summer, but spring and fall, they are INTO it.  And they really do have the most amazing understanding of how plants grow. 

The next day was taken up mostly with church related activities.  Pea and Jesse went to church, Pea wearing her new, beautiful church coat and hat from Grammy, a beautiful dress, and her old, beat up, dirty sneakers.  Dumpling stayed home so he could nap, as Daylight Savings Time ending has rocked his little world.  Then and afternoon Sunday School/church dinner, and then two overwrought and exhausted(end of Daylight Savings Time again)  children went to bed after lots of stories.