Awards

I think I did something that qualifies me for an award...

Tuesday Ben brought home a piece of art work from school. It was a pretty typical piece of art for Ben, meaning that he used about 7 times as much glue as was actually needed, and still things fell off.

Anyway...this was a lot of glue and all kinds of cool buttons, in all shapes, sizes and colors thrown onto the glue in random style (I am pretty sure this wasn't one of those pieces that looks random, but the child painstakingly placed each button...)

So I dismantled it and saved all the buttons for future sewing projects and maybe even a future art project!

I guess I will either win the bad mother award for not cherishing every piece of art my child produces, or the excessive scrounging award.

Play

Here is another example of letting my guard down. I really should let the kids help more often. After this video I did let the boys help me fill the flour bin...and then they helped sweep A LOT of flour off the floor. This video is not all that enthralling, but it is my boy!!

Not Allowed

Yesterday I let down my defenses and let Ben play with the pots and pans. Normally I don't let them because they have a play food set and the regular pans get dirty and have to be washed. Ben had a wonderful time making music and I had a great time listening. Maybe I should let down my guard more often...

Sophie's Hat

Jacob adopted Sophie's hat for a few days. He has since abandoned it, but it was really cute while it lasted.

Just My Kids

Here are just a few pictues of the kids because they are pretty cool (the kids I mean.)


Mr. Ben laughing at a movie and relaxing


Sweet Sophie posing for the camera

Jacob. I added this one to remind everyone of the numbing effects of television...avoid it at all costs!

Another Oops

While doing laundry today I found the scraps of something I wanted to save, but forgot to take out of my pocket before my pants went into the wash. So here I preserve the memory for posterity.

Tuesday I spent the better part of the day cleaning, mopping and de-cluttering. It was a lot of work, but it needed to be done.

I was just finishing when Sophie came home off the bus. She said the usual hellos and guess what I did at school today etc...then disappeared into her bedroom.

A few moments later she emerged with two little scrolls taped to each other. I opened the largest and read, "I love a clean house!" The second read, "Dear Mommy, I hope the fall cleaning goes well."

I was just so touched to have my efforts recognized and appreciated, and even more felt so blessed to have a daughter who without prompting, is kind and caring to others.

Just for memories sake, here is Sophie at the age of 14 months.


p.s. Grampy and Grammy I hope this font fixes your keyboard problem (he he.)

The Power of Words

Jacob has a pair of winter boots from last year that he likes to wear, but the last few times he has tried to put them on they bother him because they are too small. Being that he is two, he lacks the skill of rationality and even though they hurt, he still wants to wear them, but cries the whole time because they are bothering him.

So this morning I sneakily tucked them away in storage...except that Jacob caught me just as the 2nd boot was going into hiding. He got very upset (i.e. screaming temper tantrum,) but I whisked him away and he calmed down very quickly.

As I served him his breakfast, he looked at me and said...

"I angry you mama"

Taken aback I said, "Your angry???"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Take boots upstairs."

I didn't know he had such communication skills in his power...dare I hope that we are progressing past the two year old phase!!!!!!

Sophie Reading

Here is a video of Sophie reading to Jacob, she starts out pretty quiet, but does get louder. Also we hear a snippet of Jacob singing two of his favorite songs, "America," and "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean."

The Boys

As I may have mentioned, Ben and Jacob have somewhat of a love hate relationship. They love each other, but fight A LOT!!! There are occasionally happy moments though. Playdoh facilitates happy moments. They woke up first thing and played with the playdoh for at least an hour and a half.

Here is our little peasant child Jacob donning a bonnet of pants scraps. I think he is singing "America." We will have a demonstration of that in the next post.

Jacob switched into a toddler bed about a month ago. If we had had a choice we would have left him in the crib, but there was something about him climbing over the sides about 20 times a night that made it a necessity.

It has been a very difficult month with lots of cranky kids because of lack of sleep. Jacob wouldn't sleep which kept Ben awake and because we were dealing with the boys, Sophie's bedtime was put off...anyway...

We are finally having a moderate level of success. Everyone is getting the attention they need and getting to bed at the right time. Soon we hope to be able to not have to constantly monitor Jacob so that he stays in his bed, that way we can reclaim our evening.

Note how many layers Jacob had peeled off the wallpaper, I think there are at least four here.

Ice

I love ice. It is the most beautiful natural phenomenon I have ever seen. These pictures were just a light frost that had settled on the car. I only had a short while to photograph them because the sun was rising and the formations were so delicate. If I touched them or breathed on them they melted.