Fallin'

Today was Sam's day to be Special Person at school, which involves a little extra craftiness, coordination, cooking and pulling things together at the home front. After completing a three- dimensional photo montage of his life and moments worth remembering, I wasn't up for making the meatballs that he wanted to bring for snack (who is this kid and why isn't he asking for cupcakes?). But I jumped at his suggestion of oatmeal.

Yep. It went over like a lead balloon with the preschool set.

I'm figuring their unhappiness with 4 grams of applicious fiber had less to do with the old family recipe than the fact that the weary toddlers were tapped out from it also being Picture Day. Picture Day for a classroom of two year olds.

I'm pretty sure that feline portraiture is more rewarding.

At any given point for nearly two hours, there was at least one child screaming, shrieking, wailing or heaving sobs of despair. Another mom and I referred to the photo room as the "torture chamber" when selecting who should be next to sit on the adorable red wooden chair with 4000 watts of flashbulb aimed at chubby cheeks streaked with tears.

They should put Advil in the apron pockets for parent volunteers on Picture Day.

After we were home, settled, napped and fed, the boys and I took a nature walk to discover the changing of scenery. We take these walks regularly and they generally involve lots of gathering of sticks, leaves, slugs, prickly stems and other foliage items that later require large dosages of Benadryl.

Today, I suggested we bring the camera and take pictures of what was changing around us. Here's a little of what Max captured from his unique perspective on Autumn: