Perspective

The kids have been doing a lot of goofing off.  Matthew likes to hug (tackle) Catherine:

 And Catherine's trying to tackle him back.  She's really working on climbing up things:

 And Catherine's smile:

 Matthew grabbed the camera from me and though I think he was trying to capture the cat (probably literally and figuratively) he caught the less glamorous, more realistic look of the week. 

 After a trip to the pediatrician today, just in case, it was determined both kids have nasty colds and Matthew some breathing issues but nothing more.  I'm thankful it's nothing more but that also means there's not a lot to do except give cuddles and suffer through it.  Though most of the pictures I've tried to take of the week involve smiley happy kids those moments are unfortunately few and far between as we try and shake this bug. 

In house excitement we had some friends over to watch the games on Sunday so it was time to do a bit more straightening.  Here's the upstairs living room that we're using as a "formal" living room and dining room.  Odds are it's going to be rearranged soon so we have a bit more motivation to use the big table (thank goodness I left my classy paper towel floor protectors under the couch!)  but here's the room as it is now:

 The table in the left hand corner is the beloved crab table.  My great uncle brought this down for my great-grandmother and the table lived in great-grandma's knick-knack/salt and pepper house that was later placed on my grandmother's property.  When I was little I thought this was the coolest thing ever but now that I'm the caretaker I often wonder if I'm a little crazy.  However, watching Matthew and his friends enjoy it (and leave their little finger prints all over the glass) is a ton of fun and hopefully soon I'll get a video of Matthew giving the "tour" of what's in the case.  His first favorite were the "balls" but then he was quite disappointed that they are urchins.

 We brought our coat tree in the other day for guests and Matthew enjoys pretending it's a real tree, so we've been sorting our animals.  Some animals that live up high:

 And animals that live down low: 

Once we got through the forest animals, the crab table became the water and the stuffed salmon and whales go there.  The animals left in the stuffed animal bin are desert and grassland animals so that will probably be next on the agenda.  So it seems that until I figure out how to use our "formal" living and dining room it will be a giant biome lesson for a little while.