Have you seen these Sea Urchin Pin Cushions?  You can buy them here.  Too cute!

A few quotes worth keeping:

 

 

Let everyone mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made. Why should we be in such a desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."~ Henry David Thoreau

 

Let's not worry about failure. Failure is a badge of honor. It means you risked failure. And if you don't risk failure you're never going to do anything that's different than what you've already done, or to what somebody else has done. Just know that. That that's the choice you are making when you won't put yourself at jeporady like that. --Charlie Kaufman

Today I said to tiny:  Ha! maybe you don't know everything after all.  She said, "Yes I do."

I haven't posted a thing about birthdays:

 

Mowg opted for apple pie

(and then claimed not to like it so he could play with toys)

 

 

 

 

Tiny made this masterpiece for him

--a picture of them about to jump on the trampoline.

 

 

Tiny had a birthday too (some time ago)

She wanted a princess winter party

 

 

 

 

I'm sure glad they were born!

 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Tiny is self designed (and painted in all the colors!) Cat costume

(yes the hat is part of the costume)

 

 

Mowg as Thor

 

 

The happy (?!) kids

 

What I've been making lately:

 

 

I won the embroidery from Tollipop and spent the part of labor working on it.  I kept thinking if I can just finish this the baby will come.  I got the body done and then the contractions started in ernest so I thought it best to stop.  I opted for a natural birth and had several people comment on how calm I was.   When you're not in pain it's easy to be calm.  I'm grateful for so many blessings.

 

One of the greatest of these is this little one:

 

 

She's a favorite around here.

Has it really been a month?!  Things are still plugging along here.  Unseasonally warm weather, the slow plodding pace of settling in (with moments when the pace is quickened by help.  Thanks Sis et al)  We're heading into the enduring to the end part of pregnancy--a mix of me of not wanting to experience it and  just wanting it to be over.

It's funny how as the time grows nearer my tiny girl who's about to become a big sister grows more and more excited.  She announces to anyone who will listen that we are going to have a baby.  This includes strangers walking into stores we are walking out of.  I really doesn't matter if you have ears she'll talk to you.  Even if she just suspects you might have ears she'll talk to you.   Sometimes she feels inclined to point out how big my belly is and asks the question:  "Do you know why my Mom's belly is so big?  She's going to have a baby!" 

One of the things I love about her at this age is the excitement that seems incessant about just about everything.  She reported to Mowg this evening that she had so much fun this morning canning tomatos (we were actually shredding zuchini in the food processer--the grownups in the house canned tomatos 2 weeks ago).    She and I spend a lot of time doing one or two things and then she plays on the computer while I nap.   It's an easy-going relationship and I'm really enjoying it.  Our Mommy School time sometimes gets frittered away driving to appointments, but her only response so far has been excitment on the days we get to say home.  "We get to stay home today?    Wahooo!"    That's hard to beat.

Life is good.

Just a  quote I came across that I want to keep:

Let us, then be up and doing
with a heart for any fate;
still achieving, still pursuing
learn to labor and to wait.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Where have we been?  What have we been doing?

Moving to our very own house--with a yard and trees!

Planting apple trees (not me, but kids and Dad).

Cooking boulders (not me, Tiny).

Bobbing for apples and loosing teeth (Mowg lost two front teeth in two days).

Letting/helping a baby grow  (Me!).

Driving to appointments (lots of driving).

It doesn't look like much, but it all takes a lot of time.  I haven't forgotten this space, just temporarily misplaced it--or at least time for it.

The Avengers have made an appearance at our house

"Boom!"

It's good to have super hero's around.

Gumdrop building take two

On their own

a house!

Treasure Hunt!

Upon aquisition of a treasure map left by the Pirate Stinky Lafeet

 "Follow the arrows" the map said

Another arrow

What have we here?

You have to dust it off carefully

What was inside?  ANOTHER map!

That Stinky Lafeet is a tricky pirate.

Finding "Rockman"

Another good looking spot.

What have we here?

Another treasure box!

What was inside?  Treasure! (or in Tiny's words, "Candy!")

A fun saturday morning with Dad

Kindergarten Graduation

The program performance

"Sometimes we played in the snow."

Congratulations from the principal

Diploma!

Mowg with his teacher

Spring means bike riding and pausing for a drink while bike riding

(not a normal drink)

Throwing rocks into the river

Yes!

Over the bridge

Playing at the playground at the end of the day

Fun times!

If you need something that's relatively easy to do build things with

gumdrops and toothpicks.  I got the idea from here.   I started out with a 5 pound bag of gumdrops (spice drops if you like) and a box of toothpicks for each person (flat...though I would recommend the round as they're stronger.  Flat was just what the store happened to have)

Each person got started building, but we ended up with partner's

Tiny's singing a song while Dad works on Gumdrop Tower

Mowg's building a man

And a place to feed a dinosaur

Let's do it together!

The Final Gumdrop Tower

(and two builders)

Note the carefully made color pattern

Mom and Mowg with the dinosaur building and the man

Note the very random colors on the dinosaur

Some of the building mess

We had a few colored round toothpicks and they were much more secure.

Far easier to work with.

If you're wondering about something very fun to do without much prep

(or clean up--except deciding what to do with your creations)  This is perfect.