2.5 Lego

She spent a long time working on this ensemble so as to look just like her Lego figure. 

2.4 Hot Lunch

My kids almost never buy hot lunch at school. We are just too in the routine of making it each morning, and those $3 would add up fast if two kids wanted to buy all the time. But William has been trying for months now to buy on the one "brunch for lunch" day each month and we simply keep forgetting. When I found these "cafeteria trays" at Target for 79 cents on Wednesday I thought I could try to make it up to him with brunch for lunch at home. I'm not completely sure it counted, but everyone was suitably amused. 

As a side note, Matthew is refusing to sit in the high chair these days. Stand, sure. Balance on the arm of it or climb on the tray, sure. Anything but sit. So we are going straight to big kid land at the little table, and it seems to be an improvement. At least it's not so far to fall. 

And yeah I'm not so sure about the revolver at the table either, but I guess it never hurts to be prepared. 

2.3 Middleman

This was, in fact, the only picture I took today. And while this was just a briefly chaotic moment in the midst of a small art project, it does more or less sum up my feelings on the day. 

2.2 Pom Pom Therapy

Busted out the pom pom makers and a new skein of yarn and feel better than I have all day. My anxieties (which are little more than mid-winter blahs) melted away with every fuzzy friend I churned out late tonight. 

2.1 Marble Maze Mastered

Moving into the second year is such a relief in so many ways: little things that are now okay to do, items to cross off the  worry list (of course others are always added, but I'm all about the positive here). 

M has proven himself trustworthy with marbles now, one of the more tempting hand-to-mouth items. Not only that but he also appreciates the beloved marble maze for the delicate contraption it is, not a tower to be wantonly knocked over. Therefore, we can all play this game happily, and that is a very nice thing. 

January, continued

Well, all that lovely snow melted literally overnight and hasn't been seen since. Lots of temperatures in the 40s and wind-driven rain with leaden skies this week. Not my favorite! But there have been plenty of pleasant moments to carry me through what is seeming like rather a long month. Here we are: 

Caroline the bunny wanted to learn to knit... But naturally didn't want me to actually teach her. Cute and frustrating all at the same time. 

Dorothy made an appearance one day. I made that dress for Amy when she was nearly five, which makes me think C is turning out a bit bigger than her big sister. 

William brought this home and it makes me smile for so many reasons. 

Caroline and I have been doing some easy sewing here and there, and this was our project one day. She wanted a tiny dog with pointy ears. 

Matthew's favorite thing these days is being outside. 

More sewing... Tote bag/purse for Amy

And piano time at my parents' house! 

Lots of other little things without pictures, you know how it is. Back soon! 

Snow Far This Year

Finally, finally these kids are learning what snow is all about. Turns out we have the best sledding hill, ever, right alongside our house. When I was growing up we had to drive across town to our elementary school for a hill this good. We had enough snow to delay school on Friday (when I took most of these pictures) and then the most perfect, all-day snowstorm on Saturday which sifted about eight inches of perfect powder on top of that. Frigid cold has kept sledding conditions ideal and everything quite beautiful - I wish it would stay like this all winter. 

We had one icy morning in South Carolina, but besides that the last time we experienced a real snow before this season was in Maryland, in early 2011. Amy was 3 and William 6 months. It's been a delight to see the big kids having as much fun playing in the snow as I did as a kid. Caroline has proved quite brave and capable, sledding on her own and has even embraced the "bundling up" required awfully well for someone who barely tolerates wearing long sleeves. Matthew would prefer to just putter around the driveway where the footing is a bit easier for someone with small legs, but he ended every sled run with a good giggle, too. 

And that, plus some knitting, and that pesky school thing, is about all we have to report for the first week of 2017. I still need to make some resolutions, or a list, or something. More on that soon. 

Happy New Year!