The Civilizing of the Von Feldts . . .

. . . began last week, with the installation, at last, of a range.

Ain't she loverly? Oh my, what a pleasure it is to boil water.

Also, Lucy was curbed from her country-dogs habits by the installation of an electronic fence. Now she has to be on a leash to walk the kids to the bus stop or explore the neighborhood. She's adjusting pretty well, but she doesn't go outside as much. It's almost as if she'd just prefer to hang out inside if she isn't going to be allowed absolute freedom outside. We do take her on a walk every evening, and she is beside herself with joy to bound across the street, chase the bugs in the tall grass by the pond, and dive in for a dip. She snaps at her own splashes as if they were bugs. The other morning, Aidan and I let her loose in a milo field. All I could see was a perky white tail zooming along above the rows. Up her head would pop every few minutes to check our whereabouts, then back down went the head and up came the tail as she resumed her chase.


This is the girls getting off the bus the first day. They were a little anxious in the morning but came home smiling. Their minds are not far from their old friends and teachers in Lawrence, though.



After school, we discussed many of the features of their new schools, including the school lunches. Meredith liked the chicken nuggets, but not the jello. "Why?" I queried. I was thinking to myself, what's not to like about jello? She said, "I could feel its corners and edges."

Below is Jacob when I picked him up after football practice on the first day of school. Earlier in the month after a day at football camp--which he loved--he described two new friends he met. He told me they were red-headed twins, so alike they had "freckles in the same spots." He said, "I don't know if I talked to each of the once, or one of them twice."

In this photo, he had just gotten his practice jersey. Over the next few days, he found that his head and neck were quite sore just from wearing the shoulder pads and helmet.


This is Aidan. He likes ranch with his carrots. He is actually not civilized.