UNDER THE AUTUMN VINES

UNDER THE AUTUMN VINES

Dusty purple grape and shiny red tomato

call us on the crisp fresh air.
The Sweet sun glows on your joyful cheeks
that the vines cause to play peek-a-boo.
The slippery soft fruit escapes your grasp
and you laugh with glee at the fun.
You scatter the earth with hopes
that new joy would arise in years to come.
The blush of crimson and flesh of violet
hides just beyond your reach
But you are confidant in my motherly arms.
I join the fun Fall brings
and taste the memories of childhood, not too long past;
of porch swings and white rails for reaching
and friends, the best in the world.
As then, the air is now clean
and the fragrance of Autumn is in its cool breeze.
You and I gather and laugh
and our eyes sparkle with new and old memories.
My heart will always treasure the moments we share
under the vines of Fall.
In years to come your hearts will, too, renew these happy scenes
as the leaves turn and the Autumn fruit ripens.

Faith Gorsuch
9/29/08
for Casey B. and Charis Gorsuch

Casey B.'s Indiana Jones Phase

One day we were at a restaurant that was playing Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade on one of the several TV's around the room. Casey B. was fascinated with the movie and started noticing advertisements for the new Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull movie all over.





















He decided he really wanted to see it so we took him to the theater May 22, 2008 (covering his eyes during the scary parts of course). He loved it and proceeded to watch the previous three movies as many times as we would allow.
















Thus began the Indiana Jones phase which really hasn't ended yet. He has drawn a plethora of wonderful pictures and created many elaborate LEGO structures depicting scenes and characters from all four movies.




He loves to wear Indiana Jones looking hats and brandishing an ironic stuffed Snake whip. He leaps from furniture to floor all the while singing the movie theme song, which of course he knows by heart.
















It is such a fun creative phase that I had to document it here in this blog :)

The Greek Festival

We went to the Portland Greek Festival this Saturday and we had tons of fun. We watched the traditional Greek folk dancing which Charis was dyeing to join on stage. Eventually she was able to dance to her hearts content when the band played solo, Casey B. too, it was very cute.

There was a Children's Corner where Casey B., to his joy, won an Indiana Jones rubber ducky (Indiana Jones being one of his current favorite characters) and some candy including an x-ray gummy fish which he loved since he's so into the anatomy of living things.

Charis was very excited to have her face painted like a kitty. She became very serious about being a kitty the rest of the day and when we got home she stood in front of the mirror, for quite a while, practicing her mew!

We all ate spiced sausages on a stick and Loukoumedes which are doughnut-like pastries coated with honey and cinnamon...mmm...

Then we went to the Daily Vespers and Casey B. and Charis were excited to find skeletons in the paintings on the wall... it was very cute.

We all had such a fun time at the festival that we are looking forward to attending it every year from now on. :)

The Wonderful Land of OZ

Charis and Casey B. have been very into all things OZ lately. One day about a week ago we went to McDonald's and Charis got a Dorthy doll in her Happy Meal. Ever since then the kids have been watching The Wizard of OZ and Return to OZ non-stop and playing with all the OZ toys we've collected over the years :) 

Charis loves to dress up in her blue gingham dress, sparkly "slurpies," which sounds a lot like slippers, and play with her "Dorphy" and Wicked "Wrist" dolls. 

Casey B. draws Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkin head on anything he can find... hopefully blank paper... while singing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead." 

It's all so cute :)

My Pretty Kitchen :)

Since we were starting school with Casey B. we decided to deep clean and reorganize the kitchen a little. 

I've been collecting a fun collection of green, blue and salmon colored kitchen products and I just love how they look all together so I had to take pictures and share! 

It is so fun to be in the kitchen and we spend most of our time there since school started. 

 

We finally figured out a way to set up the kitchen table so that we can eat meals at the table which is nice and fun. Hopefully this way we can instill in the kids even better table manners :)  

B is for Batman

Here is CaseyB.'s "B is for Batman" drawing just in case anyone was curious. :) He drew everything in the picture himself accept the first Batman word and the stickers of course :) 9/16/08

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Casey B. started his first day of Preschool Monday, September 8th and he has been having tons of fun ever since. 

He loves to do his workbook pages and often adds his own related embellishments. I like to encourage his additions since I feel they add to his understanding of the subject and to the fun. A couple of days ago we were working on the letter "S" and Casey B. drew a big beautiful rainbow colored snake in the middle of the page. Yesterday he realized as we were working on the letter "B" that it was the letter that began the name "Batman" so of course he had to do an art project on the subject... focusing on "B" of course.

Casey B. seems to like school enough to be sad when we have to miss a day because of illness or other circumstances. Luckily we haven't missed much and it's nice to know that he really enjoys and looks forward to school with Mommy! :)

I have set up our school station in the kitchen and as we are learning the Alphabet, counting to 20 (so far) or doing flash cards Charis loves to sit at the kitchen table coloring, doing ABC puzzles and participating when she feels she can. 

Charis is also learning some basic colors, shapes and how to use the potty. She has gone a few times on her own so far, Yay!!!

We all do music, dancing, and fun activities together. So far everyone is having fun!

First Blog

Well I liked Daulina's Blog so much that I decided to try one of my own... I know Casey has a really cool family web site in his head but until it is a reality I will just use this one.

I thought I would start by writing this first note and then when I have time I will post some cute picts :)