I've been collecting evidence...

Josiah is earning a reputation as his father's son. He's not obsessive, just, um, orderly.

My favorite is this last one. We didn't actually see him do this, but after the kids were in bed we discovered the entire nativity scene lined up to see the baby Jesus. We didn't have to speculate to know whose handiwork it was.

And these were just the ones I had the camera handy for.

Ah, my little bean counter. He makes Daddy so proud...

A random collection

I thought I would post a few pictures from this past month or so before the next holiday comes along or the seasons change yet again.

Our first dusting of snow, while the leaves were still changing color (and still ON the trees).

Our resident deer family regularly walks behind our house in the fall and winter. Two new fawns have been accompanying the other dozen in recent weeks, and we often catch them hopping our fence early in the morning.

Playtime after the October snowstorm. Something we love about Colorado: the snow is beautiful, but when the sun comes out it's back to short sleeves. Needless to say, this poor snowman didn't last long.

Joey learned the joy of puddle stomping as the snow rapidly melted. It was the first time he didn't complain about wearing his boots. In fact, he wanted to wear them everywhere, all day.

You saw the kids in their costumes in my last post, but here's our whole family at our church's fall festival, Neewallah Palooza. John decided the night before to dress up as Coach McDaniels, so I had to come up with something. A cat-ears headband and a cheap black eyeliner for my nose and whiskers was my big costume investment this year, though Joey kept calling me Mickey Mouse.

We had a very special visit from my dearest friend Cessy and her darling little Edie Pearl while John was out of the country. What a sweet time of just being together and enjoying the days! Edie loved the fringe on the scarf I made for Cessy.

Believe it or not, this is the only picture I got with all three kids.

Here's what happens when two friends finally get the kids in bed and collapse on the couch, catching up and telling stories, without setting the timer for the cookies in the oven. Fifty-five minutes later, I wasn't sure if we couldn't breath from the smoke or from laughing so hard. A memory that was well worth opening all the doors and windows on a 40-degree night at 10pm!

And one of my favs from this fall. Love those fall colors!

A letter to my one-and-only

Dear Blog,

I miss you.

I've thought about writing so many times in recenty weeks, but somehow the days pass and the page remains blank... I'm certainly not one to make excuses, but please remember that I am five months pregnant and caring for two young children beside. I must admit that I'm more tired than usual these days. And I have fewer brain cells to work with, too.

I've been wanting to tell you about the huge October snow storm we had that gave Lucy her first THREE snow days ever. Day One was exciting and fun. We loved staying in our jammies all day, making cookies, soup, caramel corn, and hot chocolate. Day Two was endurable. We watched more TV than we probably should have. Day Three was supposed to be her class Halloween party, and she was supposed to go to school in her costume, but we managed to fight back tears (yes, I said "we") and got to play in the 24 inches of snow with daddy instead, though it was almost entirely melted by the next afternoon.

I've been wanting to tell you about how adorable my kids were on Halloween. Lucy originally wanted to be a ghost, and I was tempted to let her, thinking of how easy and cheap the costume would be. But then she fell in love with the idea of Tinkerbell and her glittery wings. Josiah was Bob the Builder -- an idea I came up with two days before the 31st. We already had the plaid shirt and overalls, so I added a cheap $2 construction hat from the party store and a dollar tool belt from Walmart and tied some of his plastic tools to it. Done. And very cute. He really got into trick-or-treating, too, and he still says "trick or treat" to an occasional store clerk or friend who answers their door. Lucy is The Saver and wants to ration her treats until they become rock hard and we throw the rest away in August. Joey, on the other hand, just wanted to eat them all as soon as they were handed out. He went home with mostly empty wrappers. Eh, it's only once a year, right?

A year ago I wrote to you through the wild ride that Joey took us on. Did you remember that November is the anniversary of his hospitalization? It feels like a lifetime ago (and to him it was half of his lifetime ago), yet it's hard to believe it's already been a year. He's been so wonderfully healthy, growing, and happy, with the occasional two-year-old tantrum, of course.

And I've made progress in the area of Nesting that I want to share with you! I hope to post pictures soon of the new arrangement of our front room and playroom. The months ahead hold so much more nesting potential, I really don't want to get too far behind in showing you.

Most recently I've been wanting to tell you the way I could not have survived the two weeks that John was in Argentina if not for the love of my neighbors and friends. The word community has come to mean so much more to me than just the group of people living nearby. It's love and support and a lifeline during some long, hard days.

Please know I have not forgotten you, my dear blog. I long to write more. And perhaps I will soon. But let's just not set our expectations too high...

Love,
Me

Help! Knitting is taking over my life!

Okay, that's probably an exaggeration. But it might be fair to say that yarn is taking over my personal spending budget. At least it's cheap! After I perfected (and got bored with) the knit stitch, I went back to the internet and learned its counterpart, the purl. Now I officially know the two kinds of stitches required to knit just about anything. Not that I can, but I'm working on it.

Here is my very first project, completed. It's pretty stiff, so I'm not sure I'll actually wear it, but I do love the colors.
I got this sweet, soft baby pink and made a headband for Lucy. I'm also working on a scarf with the same yarn, at her request.
And my grumpy darling, modeling this super fluffy soft red scarf, which I actually do plan to wear. Might have to make him one of his own since he enjoys snuggling with mine...This fat yarn was irresistible in bright orange, and it makes the project go so much faster because it's so fat. Did I mention it was fat?
I'm a beginner, but I'm enjoying it. It's fun to find and experiment with different types and textures of yarn, to use different sizes of needles, and to figure out how some beautiful patterns are made. I'm enjoying meeting my need to create while at the same time sitting on my duff on the couch.

And the best part is that I can relax, create, and feel the little bitty baby movements going on inside my belly (that I miss out on when I'm too busy and active) all at the same time. I have to admit, this is the way to craft.