Some of the parents from school organized a Yarn Bomb. I hadn’t heard of such a thing before, but it seems to be a bit like graffiti, but with knitting. It's an art installation that lasts just a day, knitters arrive and cover an environment with their work.
Nearly all the students at school pitched in to help knit or crochet. Even the little people, like Neko, learned to finger knit those skinny chains you see hanging from the trees.
I love this concept of crafty public art!
SEVEN. Boy, that sounds old.
Six is still a little person, but seven? You’re running headlong into big kid territory.
That was pretty apparent this weekend. It wasn’t as much like managing a child, but more like hanging out with another person. It’s been nothing short of amazing to watch it all unfold.
We’ve had a few warm days of late, which remind me of those first few days after we brought you home from the hospital. With temperatures in the 70s, I spent hours on our porch, with you in my lap. I sat there, just staring at you, wondering what this whole journey was going to be like.
I think the thing I never could have anticipated seven years ago is how much those years would change me. For instance, Tom made your birthday cake this year. I went through mental gymnastics trying to figure out how I could make the perfect cake ahead of time, but then I decided to let it go. Tom could make it. It wouldn’t be exactly what I wanted, but it would be good enough. (And it was!) After a long weekend of taking photos, the camera spent the day in the drawer. I wanted to be a part of the day. And these three mediocre photos? They are good enough.
My career is not exactly what I thought it would be. My pants are a bit too tight. We don’t cook as often as we should. The laundry is almost never caught up.
Seven years ago, this would have filled me of angst and worry. (I won’t lie, it still does some days.) But most days, I’m pretty good at letting it go. Because I can only do so much. Because it doesn’t all have to be perfect (as much as I’d like it to be). Because on most things, good enough is good enough.
I can’t wait to see what I learn from you in the next seven years. I’m glad I got to come along for the ride.
Neko discovered that Shep’s Batman costume fit her. So she spent much of the afternoon being Batgirl.
For Shep and Ellery, business as usual.
I met up with Marlo and her beautiful family (and her mom as a special bonus!) at the conservatory for holiday photos. It was the first day of the holiday display, and we got some great photos before we were approached by the staff and told we needed to pay the $125 photo fee for taking professional holiday photos. We explained we were friends for ages, so we weren’t really “professional”, but that didn’t seem to fly.
We moved our shoot outside, and laughed each time we saw families headed inside with huge camera bags and tripods and the like. I think my favorite moment was the family with infant twins, carrying in two Bumbo seats to prop them up amidst the holiday decor. I wish the conservatory luck on enforcing that policy this year!
We got some great shots, nonetheless. But could you not? This family is just beautiful.
Its holiday photo time! We had a delightful morning over at Akiko’s house. I might have stuck around and played with Gregory’s Lego if he would have let me…
Panini and tomato gorgonzola soup. Yum.
Edited: Tom commented that this photo is weird and inconsistent—and he’s right. There was a strange light thing going on. And I was lazy, and just didn’t feel like messing with it, because, omigosh, I have three kids and three dogs and some days…ugh, we’re lucky if I post at all. So, um, agreed. Not my best work. But it was delicious.
During Farm Day, there was a trip made down to the pond. Neko and Duncan found this little cricket frog. Neko is in love with the little guy, enough that she gave up the praying mantis she had been toting around all night.
Thanks to Heather and her husband, Tim, we found out this is a cricket frog. It is full grown, despite its tiny size. Today, during another trip back to the pond, Neko found several more of these little guys and a green frog. Despite repeated begging to keep them as pets, we’ll be releasing them back into nature as soon as I can find Neko at a weak moment.
In the meantime? They are really cute.
And I really need that macro lens.
Sometimes, while Ellery is napping and Neko is in school, I’ll go spend some time on the spinning bike. To keep busy, Shep takes a turn on the treadmill. I think there’s really no doubt about who’s getting a better workout.
So much more rewarding than tomato sauce. A big pot of tomatoes turns into three jars of sauce. A big pot of apples turns into twelve jars of applesauce.
It's all about volume.
