Eben signing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" on his second birthday.

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The temperatures in Las Vegas are steadily dropping. It was 100°F last Sunday, but the predicted high for tomorrow is 94°F. Six degrees may not seem like a lot, but it makes a big difference in our electric bill, the effectiveness of the van's air conditioner and it our ability to be outside. Mornings are cool enough now to go to the park and these late summer evenings are fabulous for walks. It is also cool enough to hike out at Red Rock and we plan to go there tomorrow morning.

Ray and I are very busy house hunting. We're a bit shaken by the financial markets, but are still hoping that we've saved enough to purchase our first home. As first-time home buyers, we have so much to learn! Ray's job keeps him very busy, but he occasionally squeezes in a few minutes on the drums or a trip to the movies. He is very devoted to the kids and spends a lot of time playing their imaginary games with them. I re-opened Quirky Bags after taking a summer hiatus and am hoping for a good holiday sales season. I'm very busy with sewing, homeschooling and all the day-to-day things that never seem to be finished.

Avarie is enjoying high school! She has a group of friends to hang out with and is looking forward to the homecoming events this week. She is a bit bored with her classes, but keeps busy making alyns and posting them in her Etsy shop. We're planning to assign some extra academic work at home to enrich the Las Vegas curriculum and better prepare her for the transition to Massachusetts.

Acadia turned five earlier this month and started "kindergarten" at home. We are doing paperwork three days each week, going to the library for story time on Wednesdays and attending music class on Fridays. Later this year, we will add a gymnastics class. She knows most of her letters and the sounds they make and rhyming is beginning to click. She is great with math and works on addition and subtraction every day. One of our main methods of teaching is answering questions, so she's learned about the water cycle, the solar system and a bit of geography. This afternoon, Ray was trying to explain DNA to her!

Brooke has started taking an interest in drawing. She recognizes the letters A, B, H, S, R, O, E and K (and possibly others). She counts to 13 and likes to play with Legos. I am working on preschool activities with her, including paperwork, cutting and art projects. We work on reciting nursery rhymes and learning new songs. She is quite shy in groups, so I am trying to encourage her to fully participate at story time and music class.

Monday is Eben's second birthday and the first day of autumn. He speaks in full sentences up to 10 words long and keeps a running commentary of the day's events as we go about the house. He is very active and does quite well keeping up with his sisters. He enjoys singing and his current favorites are "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." I hope to post a picture of him Monday on his big day.

Avarie started high school today! She is a freshman at Desert Oasis High School here in Las Vegas. Her school has a very early schedule, but she spent most of August getting herself adjusted to waking up early. It seems like she has a good mix of required classes and electives, but I think her favorite part of school so far was buying a new wardrobe, new make up and a new hair color!

Ray is in Massachusetts for the Lab's annual "workshop," which explains my distress signal. I find it difficult to fall asleep when he is not here, so I am trying to make myself tired by updating blogs and adding new photos to Flickr. The weather here has been unseasonably cool, but we're not complaining! It's given us a chance to be outside more than usual. We explored at Lovell Canyon (and found a new hiking trail!) and went to the Ethel M Cactus Garden, where many cactus are getting ready to bloom. What else have we been doing?

Avarie is nearing the end of eighth grade. She recently got a new digital camera and has added photography to her growing list of artistic pursuits. Avarie is taking guitar lessons and sometimes I'm not sure if it is her stereo or her playing. She is very anxious to move back east!

Acadia is 4.5 and full of energy and questions. She loves numbers and gymnastics. Her handwriting is coming along quite well. She often confuses the letter names for "Q" and "U" --- I'm sure she'll get them straight when we start working on her last name. As some of you know, she's addicted to sending mail. And as of last week, she's stopped wearing diapers at night!

Brooke turned 3 in January. She's a handful that loves to read books, cuddle and get into mischief when we're not looking. She knows the letters H and O and knows that her name has two Os. She recently insisted that her name was on the side of the grocery store; she saw the word "FOOD" and decided it said Brooke. She's struggling to keep all of the familial relationships straight in her mind, but overall she is doing quite well.

Eben is now 19.5 months old. He has a few four-word sentences, including "I want choc milk" and "I want another one." There's no way that he will be excluded by the girls; he yells "me" and "mine" and "my turn!" to make sure he gets his chance at everything. He is very interested in the potty and asks to go at least once a day (and is usually successful). Eben is also very good about telling me when he's ready for bed. Once he's decided he's ready to sleep, he doesn't complain about getting his pajamas and usually directs us through his nightly routine.

Ray has spent most of the month traveling and doing data collection. He flew to Connecticut on Saturday and was able to go to Rod's birthday on Sunday before heading up to Massachusetts for work. He has also been working very hard on Avarie's math curriculum. We're hoping he'll have more time to relax after this week is over.

I am still learning to juggle four children and homeschooling with my at-home business, Quirky Bags. My business celebrates it's first anniversary next week! I recently joined a group blog called "Collective Creatives" and will be writing there once a month. My first post will appear in late May. I'm also squeezing in a bit of hiking, participating in a monthly book club for moms, trying to play the grocery game and house hunting. We're not sure when we are moving home, but we're dreaming about it!

I hope all is well in your part of the world!

I haven't kept up with this blog very well, but I do try to post photos regularly at Flickr. The most recent shots are from Red Rock. The flowers are in full bloom out there and it is incredible!

I've been trying to keep a running list of the words that Eben has learned over the past couple of weeks. His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and includes:

cat
hot
mess
mama
da (daddy)
Ariel
juice
night
chocolate
up
done
more
cheese
eat
key
neck
shoes
that
mine (one of his favorites)
hi
Cadi
ought-oh
teeth
trash
poop

I think he said Grandma while she was here visiting, too, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

I owe Mother Nature a huge "THANK YOU" for creating the change of seasons. The first weeks of autumn have always been my favorite time of year and I used to attribute that to the fall foliage. There's very little fall color here, but late September and all of October are absolutely gorgeous in Las Vegas. We're all excited to be able to go to the park again. We're thrilled to open the windows and let in the fresh air. I'm glad to use the crockpot for soups, stews and chili again. And, I'm so grateful that this month's electric bill is half of what it was in August!

Guess who's walking? Eben took 55 steps yesterday!

Brooke just said "Excuse me, Mama, I need to get a spoon." And when I didn't move fast enough for her liking, she said, a little bit louder, "Excuse ME, Mama!"

I've never noticed her using the word "a" before.