Cross Country in Elementary school is one of the cutest thing ever. I can't help but get a little emotional at the finish line! Holly and Greta did cross country this fall at our neighborhood school. It was fun for them to go to practices and run with kids they know. They both did so great and pushed themselves hard! Greta qualified for the All City race. She has an engine! At her two races she came in 7th and 5th. She ran her second half mile race in 4 minutes! It's been really fun and rewarding to watch these girls practice and apply themselves. Conor has been awesome and he's taken them on some morning runs. So, so cute! 

First up, photos from the first meet.

And the second meet!

Remember when Holly ran cross country in first grade? So cute!

My darling Maeve is 10 months old! Some things you should know about the sweetest baby in the world:

• Maeve broke her first tooth on October 3
• Maeve is not crawling (lol, too many people to pick her up all the time!)
• Maeve lives for cheerios
• Maeve finally hit 15 pounds!
• Maeve is super short, like so short that we are looking into it with blood work, etc (I feel a lot of peace about this. It's going to be ok!)

Maeve was totally worth the wait! The amount of joy she has brought into our family is immeasurable! 

Our most recent art project was Jackson Pollock mimicry. One thing you ought to know about Holly and Greta is that they know how to consume art supplies at the fastest rate possible and therefore they had no problem dumping a ton of paint on poster paper. They really enjoyed this art project!

Unfortunately there are not a lot of children's books about Jackson Pollock, but we did read Action Jackson. We also borrowed from a the library a book with photographs of his work.

I recently visited the Chicago Art Institute and my girls were so jealous that I saw works by Mattisse, Pollock and Georgia O'Keeffe in person! That enthusiasm for art makes all of this worth it. This is one thing I love about homeschooling!

A little while ago, we went apple picking one afternoon with some friends (homeschool perks!). We had a lovely time... the afternoon was picturesque. A pretty orchard, a play house for all those girls to play in and a picnic. It was lovely! Here are some photos.

PS: I can't pick apples without fondly remembering picking apples in California at Gizdich Ranch. Take a walk with me down memory lane here. And here are some pictures of apple picking with Greta two years ago - what a cutie!

Sundays are a weird day. Love me a sabbath and do I ever need a day a rest after homeschooling each week, but Holly and Greta? They do not feel the same, they want to go and play and do and be! Conor is up at 5AM on Sundays and out of the house at 5:40 (I think? I dunno, I'm not up until later) and we have church at 9AM. It's a full morning! We're trying to figure out what our Sundays look like these days... email me with suggestions! Here are some photos of our most recent Sunday.

PS: Maeve's hair.... her sisters love to put it in a ponytail and sometimes they do it before I tell them no and then Maeve hair is all crimped that direction and I just have to go with it. If you've got it, flaunt it.