Cardboard Box Houses

I must admit that it was not a model Friday. In fact I would be fine if we never repeated this particular Friday. The kids were at each other all day and my mind was elsewhere. But we did find a repreave from the tears and timeouts. Jason brought some boxes home from work and the kids quickly gathered materials to make doll houses. Project pages from the morning became the wallpaper and paint for the house and furniture from the toy box fit perfectly. Dane used some of his "duys (guys)" and Ava dug out her little family of dolls to finish out the scene. Daner's house. A typical swinging bachelor pad. A toilet next to the double beds. Hmmmm.

Ava's house. I would really like a bathtub next to my bed. Wouldn't it be nice to just slide from one to the other in the morning? Plus, a baby cradle at the foot of the bed. Perfect.

Pushed together they made an apartment building.

Smile!

Getting Dane to smile for a picture is about as difficult as convincing his father that he doesn't need to check the classified ads every day (what IS he shopping for any way?). It is not unusual for me to take 10-15 pictures of him just to get one of his beautiful smile. We were sitting in the van waiting for Daddy and Ava to finish ice skating - Dane was done after about 20 minutes - and I attempted to get a shot of his rosy cheeks and frozen boogies.

Naughty!

Winter has been hard on our house. No, not the outside, the inside. The naughtiness began as soon as the snow hit the frozen ground. It started with small things - sneaking snacks from the freezer and progressed from there. Dane cut pieces out of my Christmas sewing projects. Ava painted Dane's face with lipstick. Then they graduated into full on "destructo mode" (as Jason calls it). They took the opportunity of distracted parents visiting with family to draw on the upstairs walls with my fabric crayons. Several packages of "magic erasers" later and I no longer believe in magic. They created their own waterpark in the basement the same day. But, the day that they descended the staircase to show off Daner's new "skirt" was the best of the worst. Ava took my new *super* sharp sewing scissors and cut Dane's SpongeBob SqaurePants jammies into little strips.......while they were still on his body. I was thankful that my boy was still a boy (if you know what I mean!) but still very unimpressed by the whole thing. I wonder what they will come up with next. In fact, I think they are probably doing it right now. Gotta go!

Ice Fishin'

Ava working on her patience.


Daddy time is priceless.



Yes, this does freak me out a little bit.




Beautiful. I love the sun sparkling off of the water.





Patience.



Jason called this Dane's "geezer shot".



Too cute!





You can almost smell the gas, right?

Scary Stories In The Blanket Fort

It is -35 dgs outside. We are in Daddy's massive blanket fort. Prepare yourself to be TERRIFIED!

The Year of the Apron

I decided this year to sew my bestest girlies some sexy little red and white polka dot aprons - each a little different. I was nearly done with all of them when Daner cut tiny little holes into nearly all of them. He later told me he was "just pwacticing!" Instead of starting over I patched them all up and gifted them despite the "love bites". I am blessed with wonderful girlfriends and I love our little progressive restaurant nights... in fact I loved this one a wee bit too much!

Jess showing off her white elephant gift. Nice.

Love this picture!

Hummmmm.....

The only serious moment of the evening.

2010

My New Year's resolution for 2010 is to learn the very simple lesson Owl learned in one of my favorite children's books "Owl At Home". If Owl can figure it out I can too, right?


Owl's house had an upstairs and a downstairs.
There were twenty steps on the stairway.
Some of the time Owl was upstairs in his bedroom.
At other times Owl was downstairs in his living room.
When Owl was downstairs he said, "I wonder how my downstairs is getting along? I am always missing one place or the other. There must be a way," said Owl, "to be upstairs and to be downstairs at the same time."
"Perhaps if I run very very fast, I can be in both places at once." Owl ran up the stairs. I am up," he said.
Owl ran down the stairs. "I am down," he said.
Owl ran up and down the stairs faster and faster. "Owl!" he cried. "Are you downstairs?" There was no answer.
"No," said Owl. "I am not downstairs because I am upstairs. I am not running fast enough."
"Owl!" he shouted. "Are you upstairs?" There was no answer. "No," said Owl.
"I am not upstairs because I am downstairs. I must run even faster."
"Faster, faster, faster!" cried Owl. Owl ran upstairs and downstairs all evening.
But he could not be in both places at once.
"When I am up," said Owl, "I am not down. When I am down I am not up. All I am is very tired!" Owl sat down to rest.
He sat on the tenth step because it was a place that was right in the middle.

Taken from Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel 1975