A belated Happy New Year to you all. A few pictures of our life lately.
Christmas was lovely and relaxed, and we dodged the worst of some very bad weather. We certainly had a white Christmas.
The boys were very into this year's tree, and by the time we took it out, it had many homemade "ornaments" involving tape, string, household objects and hair ties. Their favorite activities are anything to do with tape, scissors, glue, paper or string, along with books, Lego, and puzzles. I sometimes have to snip my way through spiderwebs of string just to get through a room. As annoying as this sort of thing can get, it is a long, long winter in Minnesota, and we all do what we have to do...
M*ark came home from Boston for Christmas, and he and Jo'el's parents got in a couple of games of Acquire. I went to bed hours before they were done!
We're in the middle of a bathroom remodel. We had pretty major problems with the plastic"tile" that we had in there, and in the process of removing it, discovered not only a lot of electrical idiocy, but that our bathroom vent was sending about 50% of the moist air it sucked out directly into the wall. We're showering at the Y or at Ste*ve and Kat*hy's. It should be nice when it's done, and Ollie and Noah have been having a blast watching everything.
I love those lashes.
We also put together a
time capsule, now behind the bathroom wall. We put in 2 matchbox cars, some pictures of the house and of us, a couple of kid drawings, and a 5-page letter to the future with a lot of info about the house and a bit about our family and the neighborhood circa 2010.
I'm looking forward to taking (waist-up) photos of the boys in the tub without having to crop out the nasty grout. I let the boys marker all over the old plastic tile before it was taken down, and he promptly wrote "poop". Inside the actual wall, though, he only wrote his name.
Granola bar construction site. They asked for permission to "play with this food just this time". I was so impressed that they at least asked that I didn't object. My boys were not born as neat eaters. I hear rumors of such children, but all I can say is that we try. Oh, do we try...
The boys are doing very well. They really enjoy school, and are enjoying different activities for the first time. Ollie is doing swimming at the YWCA, and making good progress. Last week he was very proud that he floated on his back. Noa*h asked to take a dance class, so we were lucky to find him a very boy-friendly dance school close to us. A couple of places said "must wear pink tights and a black leotard", which was a pretty good tip-off that they only expect and cater to little girls! There are two other boys in his class, and the kids do all kinds of dance. He
loves it, and it was interesting to see him ask to do something. He enjoys a lot of things, but he's pretty resistant to change and novelty, so this was a first. It's been nice to have some built in time to hang out with just one boy while we wait for the other.
I don't have pictures, but after a looooong deep freeze, the weather warmed up a couple of weeks ago, and the boys tried cross-country skiing. They also tried snow-shoeing recently, and enjoyed both. This week, we fill out our "school choice cards" for kindergarten in the fall. We hope they'll get into a school where a lot of people we know are sending their kids, a loose Montessori school 2 blocks from where Jo*el and I lived right after we got married. It has a good reputation and a ton of parent support and involvement. We're a little less sure about our second choice, but we know people that are very happy with that school too. I'll be glad when April comes and we find out where they end up. Our first choice starts at 7:30 AM, which will be a very big adjustment. There are seven kids in their Sunday School who are starting kindergarten in the fall, and it's been great to talk it over with their parents and compare notes.
Now I'm off to scrub glue off of the kitchen table and vacuum up the tiny slivers of colored paper that are all over my kitchen floor and living room.
Oh, and sorry, Vikings fans. That was by far the closest I've ever been to watching a game.
