Peace and Goodwill To All

Wishing you all a warm and cozy Christmas evening.

Baby Mouse and Party Parent

Vincent and I attended the Saturday matinee of the Nutcracker to watch David and Zoe perform. They're naturals!

Vincent has watched video of the Nutcracker, and was anticipating the scenes: "I'm excited for the snowball fight," and "The battle is soon."

Zoe and David are in the first scene only, so they joined us in the audience for the second half of the show. Baby mouse snuggled on my lap. She's having fun, but is tired from the late nights and novelty of the experience. 

One more performance and then David will put away his dancing shoes for awhile. Zoe won't, though. I'm sure she'll have them on every other day for the next month at least.

Thanksgiving Potluck

Four families gathered to share a potluck dinner. The kids ran wild in the house, across the lawn, and through a tunnel in the hedge. The adults sipped festive beverages and talked baseball and gardening, Volkswagons and travel. A friend helped Zoe and Vincent each pick a golden apple straight from an old tree in the yard. Zoe's came away with leaves, which tickled her face as she ate. Vincent's chin ran with apple juice.

We ate our meal outside, a little bit chilly, but in the last slant of the afternoon sun. Adults hopped up and down to help children, get more napkins, take pictures. Pumpkin pie, made from pumpkins grown by our hosts, was eaten around the fire pit. The kids, now fueled by calories and getting giddy, raced around more wildly than before.

The temperature dropped after sunset, making the fire pit feel even cozier. By six o'clock it was fully dark, and also cold and damp. The children moved inside, and the grownups followed with platters of food and drinks. By the time the leftovers were divvied up and the dishes were stacked, the kids were fading. Zoe and Vincent yawned all the way home.

It was an excellent Thanksgiving. We spent it with good people, in a beautiful place, eating delicious food. I am thankful.

Enjoy The Moment

Yesterday, I submitted an application for a paying job, my first since 2008. Then I attended the burial of a dear friend who died of peritoneal mesothelioma. The hardest part was watching her husband and six year old son at the graveside. So...lots of big feelings. I am thankful for this tranquil fall afternoon.

Pumpkin Patch Time

Stuck On Daddy

Stuck on Daddy with syrup. So sweet!

Soccer Anonymous

Losing Teeth Left and Right

Team Pink

Snaggle Toothed Giggler

Bean Counter

Wind, ash, and bugs have left our bean plants tattered and forlorn looking, but they are producing green beans anyway.

Lizardly

Hot day for us! The kids splashed in buckets of water, basked on the patio for about sixty seconds, then came in and asked for hot chocolate. 

Big Digger

Another reason to love T ball. There's an enormous tractor parked nearby.

Projecting

As usual, I have too many projects in progress at once. Today I advanced both the playhouse project and the bunk bed refurbishment project while the kids worked on projects of their own.

Warming Up

First day of T ball for Vincent. He's been so patient while watching Zoe play. Finally he gets a turn on the field!

Surfing

Look out for that shark* (vacuum)!

What kind of a weird auto correct was that?!? Instead of shark it said shat. 

Practicing

Our T ball kiddo practicing her game face. (Actually, telling mama to put away the camera!)

Not Snaps

I wanted bronze snap dragons this year, lots of them. They are dark orange,  available in short and frilly, standard tallish, and super tall. When I inquired at the local nursery early this spring, they said nope, none coming our way. So I bought seeds from two places online.

We successfully nurtured a table full of tiny sprouts up to transplantable size,  and I put them in the ground as soon as it was practical. They filled out nicely, and some are now blooming!

The blooms are not bronze. The blooms are not snapdragons.

Each plant has different colored variegated flowers. Maybe Linaria? Pretty, sure, but not what I meant to plant.

Here's hoping the other packet of seeds grows into something matching the advertised description.

Meat Eaters

We went to a new (to us) restaurant today. It's the kind of place with lots of animal heads on the walls. The kids were fascinated, and had many questions about the whys and hows of the mounts. Sample: "Are those real eyes?"

The food was good, and not exclusively protein based. I had a delicious grilled artichoke, which Zoe also liked. She worked over my pile of discarded leaves looking for tidbits. Moving the artichoke leaves revealed two rib bones I had finished, and she gnawed those, too. This was after she ate her own burger (wondering, appreciatively, what kind of animal it was) and a cup of mac and cheese.

Vincent wanted nothing to do with the artichoke, and David asked me to stop distracting him with difficult to eat vegetables - he was trying to concentrate on his prime rib.

After dinner, we went out back for some lasso practice and bull riding.

Magic Words

Rex the Funtastic Magician flourished her flowery wand and uttered the magic words: "Abba kazoo, make the bunny in the hat!" And there it was. 

(I can't get the photos in the correct order on my banana phone. Also, "Funtastic" is not a typo. She repeated herself to make sure her name was clearly understood.)

 

Vincent the Strawberry Magician also had some magic words: "Magic words!" Bonus points for concealing such a big bunny on his small person.

Different

We're reading Little House In The Big Woods again. This is the third - or maybe fourth? - time through with the kids. Tonight's chapter was about Laura's first trip to town, where she was overwhelmed by all the houses and all the things in the store.

I asked the kids what it would be like to always be at your house, with only your family around you, and a lot of chores even for little kids, and just a few simple toys to play with. I suggested it would be pretty different from the life we know. Vincent added "Diffuhwent and bohwing."

Funny to hear him say, but I hope it's one step closer to understanding how fortunate we are to live in this time and place and circumstance.

Winded

It's been ridiculously windy here - typical springtime weather. The air is full of dust and pollen and sneezes and itches and I don't want to be outside. So today the kids and I worked in the garage building a planting bed. As soon as the air slows down, we'll tote it to the backyard.

Banana Phone

I have a fancy new phone. In response to my first text from this high tech gadget, David sent an emoticon of a banana. And I recognized it! It was not a row of squares and squiggles, it was a banana! My old phone wasn't so very old, but it didn't know what to do with emoticons.

And now I am talking to my phone and it is writing these words automatically. No punctuation or capitalization, but still...I'm blown away. I'm figuring things out as I go. I will now blame all typos on the phone. Or on the kids: Zoe yearningly says "I just want to push things."

Ish

It was warmISH, thus swimsuits and a bucket of water to play in. 

Puzzle Mania

The puzzle marathon concluded with the big fire engine. Vincent then had to race and put on his fire fighter uniform. It has a built in hose. 

Dinner Prep

They're making gourmet pizza. Or artisan flatbread. Or store-bought naan with random toppings from the fridge and today's farm visit. Mine had smoked tuna, gruyere, figs, chives, rosemary, garlic, and kalamata olives. The kids opted for tuna, cheese, and a sprinkle of chives. Fast and fun dinner!

Bubble Morning

Imagine all the giggles as the dog ran and leapt to snap up the bubbles blown by Zoe and Vincent. Perfect Sunday morning in the back yard!

Monday morning started with fog, very cozy, then cleared to sunshine. Maybe the sun will help these puny plants grow grow grow. I am happy with the colors and shapes, but am impatient for everything to get bigger and fill up the space.

Be Cwiyite And Reelacs

Zoe wrote a book. Line breaks below represent a page break in her work. I believe this is her treatise on best behavior for the kindergarten classroom.

The cat love's you
and the prsin
love's you
evree budy
love's evree budy and that is that
wen pepl are bad tha get colb hom
so we shod be god
we shod be pesfl
and cwiyite
and reelacs
and not just a litie bit it is a big bit of love
I love evree thing in the world

In case you need a translation:

The cat loves you
and the person
loves you
everybody
loves everybody and that is that
when people are bad they get called home
so we should be good
we should be peaceful
and quiet
and relax
and not just a little bit it is a big bit of love
I love every thing in the world

Count Them Up

Cancion

Zoe asked to share this song with all of you. 

Big Boy Bed

Moving up in the world!

Worthwhile Play

It's stormy at the moment, but we had some beautiful weather on Friday and Saturday. The kids played in the yard for a couple hours each day. They amused themselves as usual, digging holes in the lawn, digging holes in the gravel path, and squeezing into the doghouse to pretend it was a fort. I love to have them out there as much as possible, though I wish their activities were less destructive to the landscaping. To this end, I've been pondering the merits of a designated play area, someplace they can dig and climb with no limits. Would it get used? Just when new, or long term? I've gone so far as to look at DIY plans. Like this one: http://www.hot4cad.com/playset.html. The playset doesn't look too complicated to build, but then I recall how long it took me to build a simple arbor...

If you have/had a playset at your house, did your children use it enough to make it worthwhile?

Sunshine Inside, Storm Outside

Happy Spring and Happy Easter! 

Birthday: School

Zoe stood up front for a round of Cumpleanos Feliz, then dismissed the class by tables to their treats ("...mesa uno...mesa quatro..."). Vincent got to be a kindergartner for the afternoon, sitting with his sister on the rug and beside her at the table for a math exercise. Way fun for both of them!

Birthday: Afternoon

Birthday: Breakfast

Thursday

I'm prepping food and crafts for a birthday party this weekend, and feeling a bit busy and distracted. Which is how Zoe's painting project progressed from dainty dabs to "Look Mama, I'm wearing gloves! They're silky soft." She was solidly painted from fingertip to wrist. 

My distraction also factored into the evolution of Vincent's backyard activity from batting practice to pitching balls for the dog to being outside while "...wearing none pants!"

After I helped clean up the paint mess and the pants mess, we picked a dozen blueberries each. In March!