open studio 5

I need to get back into painting again. I realized the other day that my walls need more homemade art-- soon to be by my kids, I suppose. I pulled out my oils after a three-plus year hiatus, and it was FUN! During the kids' nap yesterday, I painted a little artichoke still life. I need to wait for it to dry some so I can go back into it, but here's what I have so far--

12"x12" canvas

A little spring to keep us sane

Gail loves to play dress up.




Jack didn't want to be a part of it.


We woke up this morning to find yet another white and blowing mess outside. At least today, Mike was smart enough to not venture out in it. He's working from home, so we'll get to have a our grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch with him.

We've got cabin fever.

It's driving us in sane.

I keep making plans to take the kids to places like playgroup or to the library or to the mall to walk around, where there is a big kids' play area that Jack loves, but the roads keep getting dumped on, so we continue to find indoor activities. We have fun here coloring and kitchening and tricycling and reading, but it's too cold to go into the basement, where currently lies an unused playroom, and we're all a little anxious to get out of the house, I think. On Tuesday we did make it to the Panera in Oakland for the Pittsburgh Babywearers meeting with our friends Jennifer, and her 5-month old, Maria. Jack loved playing cars and dinosaurs with the two other boys his age there. And turning the lights of the meeting room off and on.
I've never looked forward to spring and warm, park-weather more than right now- or wished we lived closer to family and friends.

Give me a head with hair

I have loved his wispy Who-like hair, curling up over his ears, sticking up in the back in the mornings, pointing every which way. It made him look so impish.

Just look at those golden tresses over his ears.

They are no more.


What have a I done?

He looks so much older now, and looking back at the before pictures made me want to cry. Then Mike came in and reminded me that before long, he'd be leaving home for college, and I'd be looking back at the gazillion pictures we have taken of him, and I'd really be crying then.
It didn't make me feel any better.

Jack seemed to enjoy the procedure, however, since there was nothing better he could have been doing (He lost his kitchen privileges for the evening for not listening at dinner). He brushed his teeth the whole time.

Seven on Sunday

1. We thought Jack was finally old enough to enjoy the old Fisher Price kitchen that belonged to my sister and me when we were little. During his nap yesterday, I scrubbed that thing with a non-toxic cleaner. He loved. And loved. All evening long. And cried when it was time for us to eat dinner. And asked for "Kitchen" first thing this morning. And cried when it was time to depart from it for Mass. I've never seen him so fixed on something for that many hours.

Waiting for some waffles.


What ice cream cones, eggs and chicken legs wouldn't want a ride on a tricycle?


Still at it right before bedtime...

He even gave bear, horse, Curious George and Snowman a bath in the sink with the sprayer, which fascinated him. I failed to capture that event.

2. Gail continues to wake only once in the night to eat. Actually, I am the one waking her to feed her around 5 or 6 before she wakes up for good around 8-8:30, so she doesn't really wake me up at all.

3. Here she is drinking water from a pretty girl cup (that's what she prefers we call it).

4. Jack giving her crawling pointers. "The goal is to go forward."


5. A couple of days ago Jack decided he is no longer going to be a Mama's boy. He seems to drastically prefer Mike now and has made that abundantly clear. It's heartbreaking, but I know it's just a phase that will hopefully pass quickly. I'm glad he embraces his dad now, but why does it have to be one or the other? I keep telling him I love him, to which he does everything in his power to avoid eye contact with me-- turns his head and rolls his eyes and says "No!"
Oh, Two. You came too soon.
In a moment when he was distracted this morning, I asked for a hug and kiss, and he ran over with arms opened and planted one on me. I just need to take advantage of these moments when he forgets about his tough cookies to Mommy attitude.

6. I finished a scarf for Mike this afternoon. Now on to more challenging projects. I hope.


7. We're going to the Superbowl! I think we found out from some friends, so you can tell how into the Steelers we are, but this is as excited as you'll see us about sports. Jack even has a Steelers outfit, thanks to his friend, Beatrix. So we can appear to be year-round fanatics.

25 Random Things 'Bout Me

I've been tagged for this game three times on the phenomenon that is Facebook, so I'll spread the wealth of random meaningless info all about me.
Here Goes.

I...

1. love word games, especially Scrabble and Boggle.
2. have dressed up as The Cat in the Hat and Arthur at my neighbor's book store.
3. used to write notes to my tooth fairy, whose name was Flatterping (she would write tiny notes back).
4. swallowed a pin when I was 8.
5. have had one medicated and one natural birth. The epidural didn't do much but make me uncomfortably numb (and not be able to get up and walk around/use the bathroom), so I think I'll stick with natural in the future.
6. dream of one day winning the Caldecott award.
7. have only gotten one spanking in my life (for throwing our cat over the side of the deck when my mom warned me not to).
8. know all of the state capitals and can recite the states in order.
9. rearrange people's furniture in my mind.
think the greatest superpower would be to be able to function normally without any sleep.
10. love the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and could watch the 5-hour program over and over again (while doing something else at the same time, of course).
11. used to write out phone conversations before having them.
12. am constantly misplacing my cell phone (I haven't seen it in months).
13. love getting rid of things, to the point where I sometimes throw out useful stuff (Mike is a pack rat, and I think it scares him when I get in the mood to simplify).
14. would like to live somewhere where it's warm the majority of the year, but it will probably never happen. I'd settle for somewhere with a lot of great land. And a cow.
15. sometimes wish I were a professional photographer.
16. sometimes imagine I am a character on Lost.
17. miss living in the country.
18. got my first real job at Jimmie Cone, Mt. Airy.
19. hope to home school my children.
20. was one of my school's Valedictorians, but I don't remember doing very much work.
21. think my favorite class in college was Calligraphy (probably because of Myrna Rosen, who had me teach the class how to bookbind).
22. never dated anyone before Mike.
23. sang Bright Eye's "First Day of My Life" and The Trogg's "Love is All Around" with my sister at my wedding, but that will probably be the last time I get in front of a group of people with a mic.
24. don't mind snakes... my dad used to put them in the tub with us during baths.
25. wanted to be an architect up until I was applying for colleges and realized how many math and science classes a degree required.

Expanding our kitchens to the web

Kaethe and I are excited to reveal our new food blog, Two Crowded Kitchens. We hope to update as we have the time, but I am sure that will fluctuate with all of the hustle and bustle in our real kitchens. And hopefully this will keep (at least) me motivated to cook healthy meals for the mouths in our family. We may continue to tweak it in these next couple of weeks as we add new aspects and learn how to work a joint blog.
Enjoy!

My sleepyhead

On Thursday and Friday and Saturday night, I wanted nothing more than to go in and coddle your sweet little body as you sobbed and sobbed, requesting to nurse. But I held out until the early hours of the morning, knowing that you weren't really hungry, that it would only draw out this miserable process. And each of those nights, you only nursed at 5:30 and slept in a little later in the morning. I knew you could do it. And you then took a three hour nap, with Jack, which has never happened before.
Then came last night. The end to all of that crying. You slept. And slept. And slept. And your mom slept and slept and went in to check on you, and slept. And I think all of that wailing for three nights might have been worth having a happy little girl.

happy birthday, Uncle Willie

Hope your day was as half as exciting as playing "Unna Widdie!" with blue Parkay lids. Happy birthday!

Sledding at the park

It finally snowed enough today to cover the ugly blades of grass that were still peaking through to daylight. Mike surprised us and came home early so he could take Jack outside to play, and it was good he did because the roads got progressively worse.
The two of them went off to the park and were only able to get one sled down the hill in before Jack insisted that they play on the park equipment. I guess being pulled the half mile to and from was all the little guy needed-- in 10 degree weather, no less. Gail and I stayed inside and read magazines and ate chips and salsa.

Taking matters into their own hands

When we got home from the grocery store this afternoon and were unpacking some groceries, Jack asked for a bowl of Cheerios and a spoon, so I acquiesced. I didn't know he was planning on feeding Abigail, who was due to eat. And that little stinker Gail opened right up for her brother. No, not for Mommy and definitely not Daddy. She cries if we try to feed her and pushes the spoon out with her tongue, unless we stand on our hands and sing and dance in front of her.
Looks like Jack just landed himself a new chore.

Notice how he's showing her how to perfect the technique of opening her mouth. She could use a lot of help in that area.

I'm happy all the time!

This morning, we were listening to one of the kids' Bible songs cds (the Wonder Kids), and I was finally paying attention enough to catch the words of one song toward the end:

I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.
I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.
Since Jesus Christ came in, and cleansed my heart from sin.
I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.
I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time!

Wait. What???

I remember hearing it at the Wards' house over Thanksgiving too, and Kaethe jokingly commented that it wasn't a Lutheran song.
It's nice that we're teaching kids that if we accept Jesus as our Savior, our life is a big bowl of oozle doozle ice cream.
The other night in my Gospel reflection rgoup, we were discussing the fact that Catholics (and many protestants) see struggles as positive in our faith journeys, and they can be considered blessings. Jesus uses the struggles to draw us closer to Him and to mature our faith. It's easy to forget about God when we seem to have everything in control.

"...we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint us." (Rom 5:1)

Someone can be inflicted with tremendous suffering, yet have awesome faith. Rejoice in your suffering because of the complete dependency on God that it has facilitated!

The Catholic Catechism says this:

Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world," of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion. (1505)

Seven months

"I love you!"



Gail is seven months old today, and Mike and I were saying last night that we really can't believe it. She has been making excellent time across the living room floor these days. Backward. She only goes one way, and that's a great source of frustration for her. But we're confident she'll figure out how to propel herself forward soon. She rocks back and forth while just on her hands and knees but isn't quite sure where to go from there.
She loves laughing at Jack and talking to babies in baby face books. She's starting eating Cheerios and has been, as I said in the last post, sleeping considerably better. Thanks, Gail.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Oh, how I love bath time-- especially now that Jack isn't mortified of getting his head wet, and Abigail can sit up on her own. And the biggest joy: the kids have been playing together, actually making each other laugh. And making us laugh too.







2. Tonight for bedtime, Jack requested to read his baby Bible, his Our Father book, and Give Me Grace. Just thought that a bit strange, not that we're complaining.

3. We've been sicky sick sick the past few days. I think we've used two boxes of Puffs in the past three days, Jack and I alone. Fortunately, it's on its way out.

4. I think we either passed on our germs to or contracted them from our favorite buddies, the Wards, while they were visiting from Michigan this past week. We had several fun playdates and one rambunctious outing to MadMex with some other church friends.
Jack was upset to tears yesterday morning when he realized that Mali was not outside with the snowman she and Jonathan made in our front yard.


5. I dragged Mike and the kids to Michael's with me on Sunday evening so I could get some knitting needles and yarn (actually, Mike stayed out in the car with the kids, which they were all thrilled with-- Jack now loves "driving the car," which just means that my wipers and hazards, brights, etc. will be on when I turn on the engine.). After a few (about 17) failed attempts, I made a little blanket for Jack's animals. A ratty blanket, at that, but who's looking? Now that I can purl and knit stitch, I can hopefully move onto more challenging projects. I finally learned by watching videos on YouTube, listening to my sister's instructions over the phone and reading diagrams.


6. Jack and I made chocolate chip cookies today. He got most of the ingredients into the mixing bowls, and I only had to stop him three or four times from putting the mix in his mouth (when it was only butter, sugar and egg). I finally permitted him to help himself to some of the finished dough though.


7. I'm getting exciting about starting a food blog with Kaethe. Can you tell? We haven't even starting making it yet, and I am photographing my food.
A taste of things to come...


Italian Marinated Tofu-- from Veganomicon
penne pasta
French beans

8. Jack insists "Feed self" for anything he wants to do by himself: feed himself yogurt, brush his teeth, ride his tricycle...
When I left the dining room for a couple of minutes today to change Jack, I returned to find Gail feeding herself her yogurt, which I had apparently left within reach. It was everywhere. Underneath her bib, in the sides of her highchair, in her ears.


9. I hate to mention anything about Gail's sleeping habits on here because they always seem to get worse once I do, but I think that was mostly because we'd been traveling so much. She'd been waking 5-8 times per night with mostly 7s. Now she's at 2-3 times per night with mostly 2s. Well, she'll wake usually once more than that but go right back to sleep after we go in and rub her back or cover her, but what is that?

10. I forgot to mention my Dad's birthday (on the day after Christmas, he always seems to get slighted). I was watching this clip from Monty Python yesterday, and it made me think of him. Happy birthday to a wonderful Dad!

Resolutions

Let me clarify. I don't really make New Year's "resolutions," as resolutions rely on self and not God, and the majority of New Year resolutions are broken within hours anyway. There are things about myself that I need to be working on constantly that don't require a new year to try to tweak and make better. I hope to be doing that my entire life here on earth.
I wrote in my last post: "on my list of New Year's resoltions..." Well, I did add to a list of personal goals to accomplish not necessarily in the next year, but I don't really think of them as New Year's resolutions. And they don't have anything to do with my spiritual or emotional well being. They're in the category of things- rather, activities, I would like to accomplish in my lifetime. Like run a marathon. And, as in my last post, learn to knit, though I'd like to do that sooner than later.

Here is an article from Father Joseph Breighner about resolutions: Instead of resolutions, try these prayers.

know how to knit?

One thing on my list of New Year's resolutions is to learn how to knit. I'm annoyed with myself for not paying attention when my mom tried to teach me years ago. I have searched (for all of two minutes) for some videos online because I'm sure books would be too confusing for me. I need to see the movements in action. But I don't even know where to begin. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for a beginner? I'm always wanting to knit little baby things, and I would love to teach Gail (and any other girls we may have) to knit when she's older.

I really wish I could knit like this! Sigh. In 2010.