The Zoo I Drew

We've been exploring art in children's books recently and Ender especially has been fascinated with copying art work. He has tried to copy several books, but The Zoo I Drew is the first one that kept him busy for more than a page. Ender invited Ezra and I to contribute as well so we would have a "very full book" by the end.

 

The Zoo I Drew features animals in alphabetical order with a short poem about each one. We all announced one animal that we would draw and set to work on a book full of different animals. We ended up with duplicate crocodiles because Ezra made at least 3 or 4! We chose to use crayons, since that's the best medium for Ezra (2yo) right now and half sheets of paper to make the book a bit smaller.

 

 

 

 

Ender decided to copy some of the animal art from the book very closely, specifically the jaguar. It took several tries before he decided on the best way to make the eyes.

 

We put our animals in alphabetical order just like the book, hole punched the sides and put it all together with a ribbon through the holes. Ender designed the cover with sticky foam letters and made sure to remind me to add the authors names to the front!

February Blues

 

I start thinking about February in December.

 

In our area we have a lot of ice storms in January and February and it's not unusual to be unable to get out of the driveway for several days at a time. We do go out to play if we can, but the boys are small enough that they don't last long in the cold. We end up with all kinds of pent up energy and no where to spend it- we can't even go to a store or something to walk it off!

 

Add to that the Mama blues February brings- not as much light, chilly mornings and evenings (the ones that make you want to sit cuddled up on the couch and not move from there all day long!), and the same-ness of each day- and it's not a pretty picture by February 1st.

 

I've been thinking about this for awhile now, to be prepared for this February with my boys one year older and more active. I think for us it comes down to shaking things up on the day-to-day activities and spending the quiet time dreaming ahead to March.

 

For us beating the February blues will include:

 

:: Pushing the furniture back and riding bikes and trikes in the living room.

 

:: Lots of food making- juice popsicles, homemade marshmallows, hot chocolate, homemade pizza and food of the "treat" variety.

 

:: Pajama days. Maybe more than a few. Probably in conjunction with fort building.

 

:: Guilt-free knitting time for Mama. There is a lot of calm built into each little stitch.

 

:: Refresh our morning music. We've been in the habit of turning music on as soon as we come downstairs each morning and leaving it on through lunch. Sometimes it's K-love, sometimes classical, sometimes individual artists (Steven Curtis Chapman is a favorite here). Lately our morning music has been mostly demo tracks for my work, but I'm thinking February is going to call for Vivaldi- Spring perhaps?

 

:: Spring-time sewing, just a little on the early side.

 

:: Dollar toys and activities. I pick up small things for the boys here and there as we do our usual shopping (I *heart* the dollar spot at Target!) and collect them in a basket in my closet for a little surprise once in awhile. I'm planning to bring out a few of these things when we hit that third or fourth day in a row stuck inside due to ice.

 

How do you beat the February blues?

 

 

Hooray for October!

Oh, I love this month! It's just the right temperature to have the windows open most days with a few warmer days and a few with a chill. That makes it so easy to freshen up the house and do a few re-organization projects so that everything is taken care of before we really close up the house for winter. The urge to knit is definitely back with the cooler evenings so I'm finishing up mittens and hats.



I've been hunting down bins with winter jackets and snow pants, relocating mittens and hats from the last few years, replacing our short sleeves and shorts with longer, woolier things. Socks have made an appearance for the first time since last spring! And my very favorite October thing came to be yesterday - two little boys in overalls . . .



In the midst of all this extra cleaning and re-ordering I've felt this pressure about all the other things that I should be doing and an overwhelming feeling about losing my prayer time in the mornings. After being sick for two weeks Ezra's body is still confused about what his sleep cycle should be and he is rising ever earlier. I feel like my body is already at a limit and if I try to get up earlier than he does at this point I will be a mess of exhaustion all day long. I have found my prayer space instead in the liturgy of keeping house, in the repetitiveness of my day. The simple actions of folding a basket of laundry with its repetitive motion almost begs contemplation, and the work of washing all this winter clothing has become extended prayer time in the last few days. Since realizing this and taking full advantage of my chore time it has turned from drudgery to refreshment- maybe not in body, but certainly in mind.



We have a lot of outdoor plans for this month and next before snow and ice arrive.



:: apple picking

:: a visit to the pumpin patch

:: leaf collecting along with lots of leaf tracing and rubbing

:: a visit to "our" lake . . . the one where we were engaged 9 years ago on a very windy evening

:: birthdays for two of my sisters-in-law

:: The birthday of a very special boy who was once my sweet little baby but in just a few days will be a FOUR-year-old boy. How did that happen? After days and days of him asking how many days until his family birthday party we made a long paper chain to count down the number of "sleeps" until that grand day. Now his chain has just one last little link on it and I have no idea where the days have gone.