It had been one of those days, and I was admittedly a bit of a grouch. Okay, a lot of a grouch.
Then Tom rounded the corner wearing this shirt, crafted just moments earlier with a Sharpie.
Flowers and jewelry are nice and all, but it’s things like this that keep our marriage solid.
Ellery decided she was going to hang a few things on her wall.
We have these rolls of painter’s tape that we let the kids use, as it doesn’t damage the drywall. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her gather a roll of black tape and a pair of scissors. She trotted off with some paper tucked under her arm.
About ten minutes later, Tom wandered into the kitchen chuckling and said, “I think I found your photo of the day.”
Clearly, she has inherited my enthusiasm for a job well done.
The weather turned, and then the sun came out. And with it, I’m feeling that itch to be outside.
After dinner, I decided to take a walk. The Oldest wanted to come with me. And then the Youngest. And then suddenly we were on a family walk.
When I take these walks with my kids, it reminds me why I love living here. We found little holes in the grass where mice made their winter homes. The tracks of deer. The kids delighted in milkweed pods that burst open with silky seeds.
They found the intact wing of a bird, which may sound repulsive to some. But my junior naturalists aren’t squeamish. They were fascinated by the delicate array of feathers, and insisted on bringing it home to take to science tomorrow.
They threw dozens of rocks in the pond. But the highlight? Cattails. I never lived near a pond growing up, so I experienced my first cattail as an adult. It starts as this innocuous looking, compact plant. But with a few swift moves, it explodes into this huge cloud of fluff. It beats most anything in the fireworks aisle. The kids could do that for hours.
I can’t wait until the days stretch longer, and we can fit these sorts of outings into our evening routine more often.
On a side note, these photos were taken with Tom’s phone. Hooray for pocket technology!
Tonight Tom was taking a few extra minutes pulling his dinner together. When I finally caught his eye he flashed me his plate.
There are so many reasons I love this man.
For Valentine’s Day Tom finally finished making my long-awaited shelves for the linen closet. Finally, I can move all the linens out of our bedroom closet, alleviating the daily avalanche that occurs whenever I attempt to retrieve a sweater.
I can think of few things much more romantic.
So we’ve had a lot of snow days. A LOT of snow days. We’ve been at home more this winter than I’d ever imagined possible.
Snow isn’t so bad, as you can still boot restless kids outside.
But this ice? It’s going to send us over the edge.
Yesterday I walked onto our porch, took one step, and then found myself at the bottom of the flight with a really ouchy wrist. Then Neko wiped out and did a number her knee. That sealed the deal—no one was going outside.
Neko had the idea that we’d set up our tent in the living room. Which was a great idea until we realized that we’d upgraded to a larger tent this summer, one that no longer fits in our living room. So Tom cracked out blankets and ropes and super-strong clips and made this jumbo-sized tent. After I took this photo, the kids took the all the pillows off the couch and put them on the floor and moved in sleeping bags. I crawled in there to read a book to someone and nearly dozed off, as it’s just that cozy.
The day after Christmas started well enough. Our family present was a big bunch of Lego. When everyone seemed restless, we cracked it out and began building. Neko and I worked on a house, Tom worked on some wheelie contraption, and Ellery made a grocery store. Shep worked on a bedroom with a secret door in the roof, but it got taken apart before I got out the camera. I love that they’re finally at the age where they make THINGS.
By afternoon, we were off to Barb and Ev’s house to celebrate with Tom’s side of the family, which was somewhat incomplete due to our nephew’s unfortunate ear infection. I swear, the moment we pulled into their driveway, the inevitable post-holiday letdown hit. Suddenly our under-slept, over-excited children became raving maniacs. It was great to see Tom’s family, but, ohmygoodness, those kids were crazy.
An early departure was followed by an even earlier bedtime. We’re looking for a few quiet(er) days ahead.
Happy birthday to an amazing man.
Somehow, we have misplaced the candles, so we were candle-less on his birthday. So the man with the birthday made this paper candle, and as he blew on it, he snipped the flame with a pair of scissors, and blew it away. Which, of course, the kids thought was fantastic.
It’s somehow symbolic of this man we all love. Not everything in life is exactly where we thought it would be, but he often comes up with a way to roll with it that is somehow more magical and wonderful than we ever could have imagined.
We waited a day, and then got around to decorating the tree.
Ellery was Martha Stewart, Jr., spending the better part of an hour decorating and finding the perfect spot for each ornament.
Despite no photographic evidence, Neko was, in fact, there. She likes to hide from the camera and she’s pretty quick. Shep is moving into that territory, as well, sadly. Soon this whole blog will be filled with photos of chickens.
Speaking of chickens, Neko and I made sure they didn’t miss out on the festivities.
