Home

A little overdue. Here are pics of the house. This is definitely the most "homey" a home has felt to us. We'd love to get some more artwork on the walls - all in good time.








Downstairs bathroom




Master Closet. It keeps going, and going, and going. I didn't know what to fill it with, so I decided to keep the girls' clothes in here too. Who has time to go up and down stairs delivering laundry?

Master bath


Girls' Bathroom
Office/Guest room


Pottery Shed
In case you are wondering, that red pot on the grill is our compost pot.  Jeremy and Moriah have a compost area in the far backyard that is coming along beautifully.  Should make for some good all-natural-fertilizer for our garden in the spring.

Happy Groundhogs Day!

...and speaking of shadows, we seem to have one with us here constantly. Moriah loves to be in the same room as us. Always. She usually wants to be doing whatever it is I'm doing. It is great to have help with the mundane tasks such as emptying the dishwasher, doing laundry or making the bed. Other times she just wants to be in the same room. Several months ago I was replacing all the outlet covers downstairs and Mo was quite content playing with her basket of toys. Soon, I noticed she would pack up her basket and move as I moved. She kept her distance, always about 3 feet behind me. I took her all over the house, and as long as I didn't complain about having a shadow, she didn't complain about unpacking and packing her toys. Then there are the times when I need just a few minutes to myself. Moriah and I have started calling this "Mama Time".

Today Jeremy got to experience the need for "Papa Time". He had a few things that he had to get done around the house quickly this morning. Moriah was all over the place - back and forth, trying to keep up with him. Finally, Jeremy very sternly said, "Moriah, please stop following me." Then he looked over at me and asked, "Is this what it is like?" Yup. Mo was a little sensitive and started to pout, but quickly regained her composure, came back to Jeremy and said, "I'm sorry you yelled at me."

Then there is Madelyn, who is still very self-sufficient. Given the opportunity, she will grab one of Moriah's books and hide under the foot stool!




One of our activities this week was to make Moriah an art desk. Making art projects seems to keep Moriah well occupied for long periods of time. We encourage this in our household!

Home for the Week

Our van has petered out. Thankfully it lasted long enough for the very hungry, tired girls and I to make it home on Monday afternoon. (One of my worst fears is getting stranded on the side of the road with the girls). It turns out we need a transmission, a costly decision we are thinking over. In the meantime we will try to think up some fun activities to do during the day so we don't get cabin fever.

Cute things Mo has said lately:

*We had good friends over for dinner last week. Moriah ate a ton of couscous, a food I'm not sure she's had yet. When she asked what it was we said "Couscous" and she kept asking "Why are there two of them?". The next morning I asked what we had for dinner the previous night and she said, "Cous".

*Instead of mustache, Moriah calls it a "lipstache".

*Moriah has a couple different ways she says/means to say "forget". Here are a few examples: "Don't get-for your keys." "Mom, you for-got-for to give me some milk."

Madelyn is learning about rhythm and control. In the end, she reverts back to her version of "peek-a-boo"

So Close

The closest Madelyn has gotten to getting on her knees. This is a good first attempt...

Rainy Day Activities

The weather here is blah. Overcast, COLD, no snow, occasional rain showers. I'm sure if I got the girls bundled up we'd last all of 7 minutes. When Moriah wants to REALLY go outside she pitches it to us like this: "Can I go outside and get some energy out?" On days when she can't get her energy out outdoors, we like to play hopscotch.

Toy Boat

Moriah and I decided we would give book illustrating a try. I love Moriah's details - and she always points out that her little boy does not have a string attached from the boat to his finger. In the book, he let go of the string and the boat floated away.

Multipurpose Cardboard Roll

Moriah and I have an ongoing game we like to play...we think up different uses for this roll and write them on it. Here are a few examples we've come up with.

Fire Hose
Cast
Telescope
Horse
Telephone
Walking Stick
Paint Can
Car Tunnel

Paw Prints

"I'm making paw prints!"

Finally! Winter has arrived.  All last night they were predicting snow and sleet.  The plan this morning was to take Moriah out to play once Madelyn went down for her nap.  Then plans changed.  I looked out the window to see rain, and lots of it.  The snow was quickly turning to mush.  Who knows when we'll get another good snow again...I got Moriah dressed as fast as I could and sent her out.  Only problem was her mittens were nowhere to be found.  So, off she went until I could find the next best thing to mittens...

Mom- have you found anything for my hands yet?

My temporary solution: Papa's work gloves.

Moriah walking backwards so that she could watch herself making paw prints.

Really, it was more like Moriah got to play in the rain.

"Mom, it is a beautiful day!"

Moriah putting her soaking wet gloves in the dryer.

Ah ha! An even better solution:  Papa's thickest pair of socks!

"Look Mom, I'm skiing!"

Moriah told me she wanted "those things" (skis) like in the cartoons. This was the best I could do given my limited resources and time.

"Ooohh, I'm so cold."