Forced Relaxation due to Paralyzing Ice Storm!

Hip, hip, hooray. A little bit of ice and I get an extra week off from school. That's right, five snow days in a row! The greatest thing about it was that it really was treacherous outside so we were stuck indoors. For a week we really only ventured outside to fetch more wood for the fire, feed the cat, and remember what cold feels like.

Right before the storm we got a visit from Adam's aunt and uncle. It was a treat to visit with family. Ben took care of doctoring everybody up and Simon took care of the making us all laugh by his silly expressions.

So, then the ice storm hit and we had to find ways to stay off of the television inside. We put up the easel and the kids have enjoyed some painting which inspired me to finally put up the art wall that I have been conjuring up.

Both boys have been playing exceptionally well with their train set. I built a totally kick-ass track that has lasted for over a week. This has in the past been unheard of as Simon typically plays with the train then destroys track. He is now rather infactuated with the trains and enjoys a new sense of track preservation. Ben is quite happy about this transition as he no longer has to stand by the door and refuse entry to Simon!

I feel like we have been eating non-stop, maybe it is just because I am used to two meals at school and one at home...needless to say it has been fun cooking with the kids. We made some wonderful apple zucchini muffins, peanut butter cookies, and peach-pear sauce.

We did get stir crazy and brave the chilly weather and icy yard to start burning some of the brush piles we have strategically placed around the property for future garden plans. The boys enjoyed sucking on ice chunks both fearful of wandering far from the wheelbarrow because it was too "eepy" as Simon says (translates to slippery).

As the ice melted around the property we also took time to put up the new swing set that one of Adam's clients graciously gave us when Adam re-invented their backyard. We decided to put it in the front yard close to where our edible gardens and orchard is so that the boys will have a place to engage while we work in the garden. Adam also began work on cutting the large pine tree my father cut down last winter into smaller logs so that we can push them out of the way.

All things considered it has been an unbelievably relaxing week and I am totally unprepared to wake up so early tomorrow morning, get myself ready for work, and throw the boys into a cold van for their first day back to school in over a month! I hope there aren't too many tears tomorrow morning. We have all been spoiled by the sweet family time.

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A White Christmas!

School took me right up to the 23rd of December this year so before the bell rang I had ordered my students to take down the tree, strip the walls of work, file papers, sterilize the room, and clean the fridge. When the bell rang, well, we were ready to go...load them on the bus wave good-bye with a bigger than ever grin, lock the door and flee! I was so excited to be done that I forgot to make a few important errand stops on the way home. OOOPS! Oh well, I was to excited anticipating 9 duty free days with my family. Thursday we packed for our Holiday vacation in North Carolina with every piece of winter clothing just in case we got snow. Friday we made the 4 and 1/2 hour drive to the mountains reassuring Ben that Santa would find us. Upon arrival at the condo we all barrelled in and much to Ben's delight there was a beautiful stone fireplace...phew, Santa has entry! Adam and I have both commented on the most wonderful thing about these condo vacations is the complete freedom to really relax. No chores, no lists that always seem to double when free time is around, just family, food, playing, napping, and giggling. It was great!

Winter weather was expected so Dick and Linda abandoned their condo on the other side of the resort to stay with us just in case bad weather prohibited them from making to our place to watch the boys in the morning.

The boys were both very excited about Christmas but we managed to coax them to bed. We unloaded the presents and for the first time probably since we were little Adam and I were truly excited about the morning, we couldn't wait for to watch the boys open presents. This seems odd to me because for the 3 and 1/2 years that Adam and I have been parents we have always discussed ways to strip Christmas down and travel instead. We also realized that neither one of us likes too many toys around the house and we don't enjoy spending money on plastic junk, so Christmas just didn't seem like the holiday for us. However, now that the boys are growing and we have not purchased a ton of toys we also realized that a toy shift needed to happen, not a lot, just a little something new to inspire some different play. So, this year we made some stuff, bought a couple of toys.

Now here is the funny part, all this anticipation (I mentioned before that Ben has been playing Santa for weeks), Christmas morning arrives. Both the boys seem clueless! They wake up, ask for their snuggles, we do our usual wake-up play on the bed. Did somebody forget something! About an hour later I decide to open the door and start the coffee. Nobody follows, weird! Finally Ben walks out of the room and his face brightens when he sees Santa's bounty. It was a fun morning, we didn't overdo it. Some new stuff for the kids has inspired the kids to interact with some old toys in new ways. So we are happy.

Here are some of the highlights. Simon loved the broom and kitchen apron(he is a great helper) and Ben is enjoying the prince outfit I made for each of them. I also made the boys a puppet theater which we are looking forward to as they grow older. Adam made a great purchase of a small toy dumptruck with a trailer and a loader. Ben knew exactly what to do with these toys he practiced reversing the truck to the trailer, towing it, lowering the ramps, unloading the loader, picking up playdough logs and rocks, loading the dumptruck and delivering. Grandpa and Adam should be proud. Adam also made the boys a pantry to go with the kitchen we made a few years ago. It has rejuvenated the kitchen play, now the boys can organize all their food, Ben even requested that I make him a butter dish for his wooden block of butter.

All the gifts sent by our loving family are being used. The boys are painting up a storm-thank you Aaron and Kiki. The waterbottles are awesome and the boys love them-good call Burgess crew. Madaline-thank you as always for the beautiful Tasha Tudor books. I know this one will become a holiday tradition just like Pumpkin Moonshine has become a fall tradition. Caryn and Kevin sent some great books about reptiles and surprise...Anatomy! Gretchen supplied the boys with gorgeous tie-dyes which the boys always choose first. Rachel sent some music-we love that. Mariah and marbles...the boys love marbles, and the flashlights rock. Thank you all so much for loving us. We love you too!

Now the most fun was of course...SNOW! This started falling mid-Christmas morning. By the time we had settled down from the present hoopla we were ready to dress up and head to outside. We were lucky the day before to purchase the last sled at Ingles, I was rather irritated that it cost 12 dollars but it was worth every penny. We were able to pull the boys all over the place, speed down hills, and just enjoy the best part of winter. Ben had red cheeks and the biggest smile as he snacked on snow, made snow angels, and rolled snowmen balls. I wish I had more pictures of the first day of snow but it was coming down all day and I didn't want to lug a camera around, I wanted to play too! We spent another day walking in the snowy woods. It was so beautiful.

We hope everybody has as happy and love filled holiday as we did. Miss you all as always a ton, ton, ton!

Warm Winter Fuzzies!

Mmmmm, don't you just love those cold winter days where you let yourself stay in your jammies all day long! Rosy cheeks, tea, and snuggles...

I do. Maybe it doesn't happen often enough for me...and yet those days I think drive Adam nuts. Maybe it just reminds me of home. Spending hours in front of the woodstove, fearful to walk just ten feet away else sub-zero temperatures set in! We have had a bit of a cold snap and I am just loving loading the woodstove, teaching the boys how to snap kindling, sort paper for fire starting, and sit in front of the stove all wrapped up in towels after the tub! We have the kettle on top and it is such a treat having hot water for tea all day long...believe it or not and I know it seems silly I just don't like turning the gas flame on for hot water because most of the time I forget I started the kettle and feel just awful for wasting the resource! And I just hate microwaved water for some reason, for tea anyway!

Ben and Simon are very much interested in Christmas this year. It has inspired Adam and I to cherish the holiday in a new light. This year the boys and I made an advent calendar and we are all enjoying the new tradition. The boys wrote a letter to Santa and we hung it up on the last day of November. We told the boys that Santa sends his elves out to collect all the letters and he leaves special treats for each day until Christmas. The boys are just loving getting a treat everyday. The Christmas socks were the biggest hit! We have discovered Simon has quite a shoe fetish, loves socks, and changes his shoes about six times a night!

Indoor play is becoming very interesting and imaginative. Ben is enjoying playing doctor, chef, and Santa. He is filling all our pillow cases with his toys to deliver to all the boys and girls. He asked me to make sleigh out of some cardboard, and he insisted on " a lot a lot a lot" of reindeer. I talked him into two! He puts on all his red clothes, uses his "man belt" and puts on my furry boots. He is a treat to watch. If he had his way Simon would be his reindeer! Super hero capes are now not complete unless the boys are wearing the headlamps...such small boys don't know that superheros may possess on their own X-ray vision and night vision!

Simon is well, Simon! He just plays along and tries his best to get everyones attention. He is an avid book reader right now, rather fixated on "Goodnight Gorilla". He must be noticing his father deeply engrossed in a book or magazine every night.

So, it is just a busy little family, hunkering down in the cold, getting ready for Santa's big drop down the chimney (Ben is quite worried that Santa won't figure out how to get out of our fireplace "cage").

We are wishing all of our family and friends a joyous season full of warm, winter fuzzies!

I couldn't help but stage part of our Christmas card this year...it was just too tempting with pint-sized wheelbarrows!

There's nothing quite like fall...

We are absolutely loving the cool weather. Still spending the days outside, I had to put a hamper on the back porch because we are so dirty by days end that not even our clothes can come inside! The pecans are starting to fall, I think three trees will definitely produce for us this fall. It is a tree that fruits every other year so we are thinking that they were strategically planted so that we will have a crop every year. That is a change from our old house. We had to wait out the full cycle there.

Simon got his first "clipper" hair cut. We tried the trim but it looked rather goofy and thought there was no way it could get any worse so out came the clippers. Not only did he tolerate them a whole lot better than the scissors but he looks absolutely irresistible! I always dread the haircuts but after it is all said and done I just love seeing my boys entire face; eyes illuminated with excitement and curiosity as they process and interpret their world!

Halloween was fun as always. The boys were both into it, I think Ben liked passing candy out to the guests more than trick or treating. He was hilarious and had us all laughing as he said good-bye to all the kids. He would wave good-bye and toss out comments like "we will be here every morning" and "have a great weekend!" Simon was the most polite little 18 month old dragon saying thank you to every treat giver as he waved good-bye and turned around. This year though I had to hide the candy because clever Ben has quite the sweet tooth. Out of sight and out of mind...we are holding the treats for dessert! We made Ben's costume just days before Halloween. He was rather indecisive, first he wanted to be Jackie Paper (Puff the Magic Dragon's best friend...amazing that he realized Simon was a dragon and put the two together), then he wanted to be Luna (our black cat), finally he landed on pirate and I thought...that I can do! So we headed into the sewing room and recycled an old sheet into super cool puffy pirate pants, made a spider vest, Ben found the bells among other notions and insisted they be added to the costume, and Adam fashioned the head scarf. The rope Ben has been using for months as he has discovered that tieing things up is super fun...maybe a sailer. We will have to have Grandpa teach Ben some knots when he visits. The boy loves to rig. Anyway, sorry typical tangent for me...the rope! Yes, perfect belt to house a swashbuckling sword! It was chilly Halloween night but Ben insisted on going shirtless, he has a good sense of style, we have to admit he looks pretty darn cool.

We also learned that Simon is crazy allergic to ants, two bites in two weeks and the poor boy has broken out in frightening hives. Thank goodness we keep Benadryl on hand. Thank you too to Mema who pecked the brains of her colleagues at the hospital and learned that ants rarely cause anaphalactic shock (yes, spellings is probably wrong and I have no clue how to fix it on the blog and way to exhausted from trying to teach first graders how to use a dictionary to actually use one myself!) Anyway, we have to be careful with Simon and the ants...and of course we spend every minute outside that we can so...I am sure that you will notice the boys on the giant pine stump are still in their PJ's...we are barely out of bed when Simon totes his shoes up to us and sticks his chubby little foot in our face pleading "out, out, out". Both the boys have discovered our little strips of forest, they form an L on our property and I kid you not but I must have looped that walk five times before noon on Saturday. Finally I grabbed the loppers and we began some trail cutting as I was growing tired of navigating tightly packed baby pines and pricker vines. Ben was our fearless trail leader while Simon and I keep up the rear, Simon has to have his basket...one might think it is for collectibles but no, he prefers to have it just in case! We also took a 45 min drive to hike maybe 1/2 mile in a state park...lesson learned: Toddlers need to inspect every minutia of the trail, when one is going the other is investigating, progress for grown ups is very slow almost non existent but for small children a half mile is halfway around the globe so don't waste fossil fuels driving far way when your own backyard is plenty big enough! Ben chose to hike one day with his bear in a sweatshirt sling. They seem to know what we need in the woods.

So, not much going on here except lots of playing, movie snuggling at night, fires in the wood stove, and groggy mornings when we all realize that the real world beckons.

You can see though how lucky we are that we have two little helpers to keep the real world tidy!

From Dawn till Dusk

Since the cool weather has decided to grace Georgia with it's presence we are embracing every delicious moment, from dawn till dusk! Yesterday we woke to both boys around 7:30 nudging us out of slumber with eager pleas to go outside. It happened so fast that both boys were dressed and outside before the coffee had finished brewing...Adam and I sipped our coffee to the boys roaming the wet grass and trapsing through freshly cleared garden beds which alerted me to quite an oversight-I put us all in sneakers! Lesson learned, rubber boots are a necessity at 8 am on a chilly, wet fall morning. In little over one hour all of us were soaked to our knees with a nice red clay paste glued to our cuffs! Simon was pretty much red all over so he underwent his first change of the day at which point I realized that I had never gotten out of my pajamas, so I changed too and this time both Simon and I were stuffed into our warm rubber boots!

As the boys played I did the go between-helping Adam around the house and tending the children! Always a juggling act! We had planned for a relaxing weekend but Adam doesn't seem quite capable of chilling out on the farm quite yet, he jumped right into finishing the rockery that he had started a couple weekends ago around the back porch. The plan was for an herb garden right off the house, that is what I got with a few add-ons. I had suggested that we create a small bird bath in the bed (I was thinking small concrete puddle). Adam built a small pond. I won't complain though, it is beautiful. We both have been wanting a place to display our rock collection from Ecuador and this little bird fountain is the perfect place. The colors in the rocks just seem so much more brilliant beneath a slow trickle of water! We also decided to move the boys sandbox and integrate the play area into the garden beds. It is much nicer, can hold twice the sand, and looks so much more beautiful. The boys dove right in and played till lunch. We ate lunch outside and took a plunge into a shower before nap time.

Nap time over the boys ran right back outside and proceeded to get even dirtier than before. I finally stripped both boys outside, grabbed each one under an arm and dumped them in the shower at 7:30, twelve hours after it all began. Jammied and exhausted they crashed, along with Mommy and Daddy! So busy days are ahead as the weather continues to invite us back outdoors! Today we took a lovely walk along Line Creek and the boys had a fantastic time playing in the moving water on the shoals. Could Simon possibly look any happier!

I think it was two weekends ago that we finished canning the muscadine jelly. It was quite a process but we do have lots of tasty jelly in the pantry. We are still eating pears off the tree. Adam found one outside his truck the other day with a stripe of tiny bites across it, most definitely a Simon leftover. The boys are really enjoying picking up a pear off the ground and munching to their hearts content. We are also picking up loads of chestnuts. I just don't know what to do with them. I guess turn them into flour since roasting them wasn't the culinary delight I was expecting. As a matter of fact Ben and I pulled the first batch out of the over, let them cool a bit and we were both so excited to try one that we peeled one, cut in in half, eagerly chewed it and we both looked at each other with an expression of confusion "Is this what they are supposed to taste like?" Apparently the flour is very good for cooking so, if we can figure out how to do it maybe we will make a stab at it.

Apart from the beautiful rock work Adam has been doing his creative juices have been flowing again. I suggested a wire project with a huge steel circle that Adam had saved from the recycling pile and the two of us began to work. Luckily Simon had a nap meltdown which took me away from the project, and I say luckily because Adam took the project in a completely different direction than I had imagined and it gave him an uninterrupted hour of creative play and satisfaction that I don't think he would have found had I been there. Ben watched as Adam was building and Adam told me at one point Ben just came up to Adam with a big hug and told him "I Love You." Side note, Ben has not been generous with the I love you's to Adam lately and this was a big breakthrough. Adam is convinced that his artistic segway from the daily grind enlighted Ben to an aspect of his Daddy that was special. I really can't argue with that, I feel the same way about Adam when he is creating. I was pleasantly surprised with the artwork and yesterday we hung in in the carport turned outdoor living room. I am not sure how intentional all of the artifacts were but believe me it says a lot about Adam!

And this I have to say...I thank the universe everyday for growing up with my Dad and my Mom! There are certainly elements that I will never understand about my childhood but one thing is for sure, they managed to instill a work ethic and unbridled creativity in their children. I see this more and more as a luxury as I work every fitful day to educate the masses. It is probably the most frustrating component of my career. I get so gosh darn bored with the curriculum and I want so much to expose the children to different media and ways to express themselves but oh my it is such hard work! And might I add so underappreciated! Not to mention that public education does everything in its power to undermine creativity (not sure if this is intentional or not). I will keep plugging along though and hopefully Adam and I are sharing with our boys the gifts of hard work, personal expression, and problem solving.

I had to add this picture of Simon as I say good-bye, one because he is so cute as he is totally obsessed with wearing his own backpack to and from school and two because his crafty mama made it for him! I also share a wonderful mommy moment...both boys building and playing trains together...PEACEFULLY. Is this a sign of something sweet to come?