Acorns...

So the reason that we picked this particular lot for our house is for the pre-existing tree in our backyard...this tree happens to be an oak tree. Teagan's favorite thing in the world right now is to collect acorns and their "lids" (the little top parts) that have fallen in the grass. He thinks we are collecting food...for Piglet! Every day he asks if we can go outside and pick up acorns.

So, every day, I hand him a cup and let him loose in the backyard. He walks around with his cup, carefully placing acorns and "lids" in it. Heidi has discovered that we pick stuff up from the ground and put it in the cup. So she finds a lovely leaf (usually one that is half-gone and a little crushed) and insists on putting it in Teagan's cup. This includes following him around (I guess we've gotten over our "don't-put-me-in-that-tickly-grass" phase) and pulling herself up on his pants and throwing her crumpled leaf (because after chasing Teagan around the yard you know there's not much left) into the cup.

After collecting acorns for several weeks there aren't many left (which is nice on our feet!). Teagan has begun shaking the tree to try and knock more down. A 50-year-old tree isn't intimidated by a three-year-old little boy's shake attempts...so he's not had much success. So he's come up with a Plan B...

Today, after collecting the few acorns that fell overnight, Teagan came and sat next to me in the grass...placed his hands behind his head and laid back, crossing his ankles and looking completely relaxed. I asked him what he was doing, and his very matter-of-fact reply was..."I'm waiting for the acorns to fall." Me, being the knowledgeable mother that I am, said, "Okay Teagan...but you might be there for a LONG time..." Just then, an acorn fell out of the tree and landed on my leg. Teagan, with a satisfied smirk on his face, sat up, picked up the acorn, placed it in his cup, and returned to his relaxed position on the grass to wait for more acorns (...shows you how "knowledgeable" I am...).

Piglet has decided he doesn't want our acorns...(does Piglet even eat acorns??), so we're trying to find fun, festive, fall-ish things to do with our stockpile. Pictures will follow...unless the acorns sprout roots and grow a forest in our kitchen first...