Monday, February 28, 2011

Monday List

Last week...

::Spider Study...


::Chickadees...


::Yarn sale!... (And FINALLY the beginning of the first thing I've ever knitted for m'self)


::Parking garage Sandwich Tower...


::Getting an early start on Easter gifts...


::Breakfast on Dad...


::Super awesome sequin headbands...


::Free skate...  (Ahem, helmets are mandatory, not that I wouldn't make you wear one anyway.)


Love,
Mom.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Saturday

Some clouds to replace the valentine chain we took down today...


Yikes this stuff grows fast...


I think it will need a trim before Easter.  

Friday, February 25, 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Another Vest

Dear Danny,
I finished this vest this morning and it fits you a lot better than the first one...


I still couldn't get it over your head (it must be the pattern) so I did the button adaptation again.  We mailed the first one to Audrey yesterday and I'm sure it will fit her a lot better.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

This Again.

Dear Matthew,
Today Joe asked me, "Was I like this when I was three?" and I'm glad he asked because it gave me perspective on a little, sometimes exhausting, issue you've been having:  You only like to wear this shirt...  (because it has "elbow spatches")


And you only want to wear these pajamas to bed...



I wouldn't DARE brush your teeth in the bathroom, because we SIMPLY MUST brush your teeth on the couch.  Also these slipper socks, even though they are too small...


could never be replaced by these...


because they don't have any yellow on them, of course.  "But your too small pair doesn't have any yellow either!" I say, to no avail...  AND you simply must eat off of this plate, with this fork, and will only use THIS NAPKIN.


So, I'm glad Joe asked this question today because yes, he was like this.  In fact, a few days ago I brought up some of Joe's old pajamas from storage for Danny and discovered that all the cuffs were cut off of the sleeves, something we ended up doing because he couldn't stand the feeling of the cuffs on his wrists.  It was reassuring to see. I realized this kind of thing will fade away with time and patience (Joe now wears a variety of jammies.)  I think we can see you through this phase without worrying.  In fact, it will probably take care of itself because I can tell your favorite shirt is already getting too small (the elbow spatches are becoming upper-arm spatches.)

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Goosh... Bumps

Tonight at bedtime snack...

And on to the next thing...

Which would be Easter...



I think we'll enjoy watching these wheat berries sprout into grass.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Finished Vest

 Dear Danny,
For you...


Oops, 


 The fix...




Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thursday's Monday List

Dear Boys,
This week we're grateful for...
::Hand-made gifts...
(this is a hooked rug from my aunt Jane...  my heart melted when I saw it.)

 ::Joe's fantastic violin teacher and the introduction of the 4th finger...
 ::Dinners out with friends...


::The return of all the birds and their songs
::The sounds of melting outside
::Wondering where all the boys went and finding them here...
::Home-made snails...
 ::Watching a coyote run across the frozen river...

Love,
Mom.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentine's Party

Some pictures from our Valentine party with the neighbors...
Chocolate truffles...
 Candle dipping...

 Extremely wonky candles which work just fine...

Then on Valentine's morning, we had this conversation:
Me:  Joe, do you want to wear this Valentine pin I made?
Joe:  Yeah!
Me:  (shocked that he agreed) Okay here.  Now go get your outside stuff on for school.
Joe:  Wait, you want me to wear this TO SCHOOL?  OUT LOUD???
Me:  It's a Valentine pin...  For Valentine's day!
Joe:  (Shaking head and laughing)  I am NOT wearing this to school.
Me:  Well at least let me get a picture...

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Old Soul

Dear Joe,
Today you asked me, "Mom, what does it mean when he sings, 'A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall?'" and I'm surprised how quickly you cue in to the meaning of these kinds of songs.  I shouldn't be surprised though, because you are the kid who, at three, become overwhelmed with sadness when Dad explained the meaning of "Oh, Donna"  I caught this picture today when you were listening closely to "Blowin' in the Wind."

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

This Evening...

Dear Boys,
Some images from tonight...  I think Danny looks a lot like me in this one (or is that just because he's at the sink?)





Napping until 4:30 = Water play while mom cleans...


 Here you (Joe and Mattie) are listening to Abiyoyo from bed, something we haven't done before, but somehow, after snack, teeth, jammies, and bedtime stories we still had time on our hands...


We also tried Peter and the Wolf, but when I came in to check on Mattie, he had the covers pulled up to his eyes, too scary I guess.  Besides that, it was a very nice evening.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

Dear Boys,
I went to a lecture last weekend on festivals by Anna Rainville.  It was about how festivals/holidays carry us through the year and nourish us by bringing meaning to family life.  I can remember, as a 10-12 year old feeling happy and excited about approaching holidays, in particular Valentine's day.  I'm guessing that Valentine's was especially fun because I actually had work to do; Valentine's to plan and make.  I'd pick out supplies with my Mom and the kitchen table would be dedicated to Valentine making for weeks (The same thing happened with Easter, the table was covered with newspaper and the bowls of dye were there for the whole week leading up to it.)
I feel like we're in the beginning stages of building our holiday traditions and think we'll have some solid traditions by the time you reach that age.




Anna also inspired me to wonder, "What if I treated every day like a festival?"  Unrealistic, maybe, since some days I'm too freaking tired to leap out of bed and prance around the apartment wearing a home-made garland, singing for joy for another day.  BUT, this last Sunday it snowed and snowed and snowed and after we finished breakfast we threw birdseed around the back yard and that inspired me to start the winter tradition of doing something every Sunday for birds.  Sunday will be the day we take care of birds.  I think next Sunday we'll make peanut-butter-bird-seed-pine-cones to hang.


Between now and then, I have to find all the Valentine's we made that have somehow been misplaced.  (How can I loose anything in this sardine can of an apartment???)

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Another Snow Day

Dear Boys,
There was a lot of talk yesterday about the approaching blizzard, so much talk that it wasn't until half-way through the day that I realized that Matthew thought that a big LIZARD was coming to Michigan.  Poor guy, you were trying to be brave, but we could see you were nervous.  We got that all cleared up though and this is what we woke up to after a night of snowfall...

That's the sun on the left, by the way.  When it does manage to shine through the almost continuous cloud cover, we try to soak up as much as possible.  But it's been warm enough inside for dough to rise on the counter...

And I made these rice-filled, microwavable boot warmers...

And of course, there's hot chocolate...


I also made this little crown for a new big sister...

Now to brave the snow and get to the post office to mail it off!