Now that the cold has arrived (later than it did last year). We are inside a great deal more. So that means pillow fights and wrestling and running around in a house that was not built to contain 2 busy boys. So far, not too many injuries to the house or the boys.


This also meant a weekend with indoor projects.  We were craftier than usual this weekend.  Harry wanted to make candles so on Friday we went to get the supplies from the craft store.  While there Robert wanted to get supplies to make some special cupcakes.  So we got supplies to make monster cupcakes.  We made those Friday.  On Saturday I just felt like baking so I made pretzel dough and we all made pretzels and finally on Sunday Harry and I made the candles.


Here are some pictures of our hard work.

Monster Cupcakes

More Monsters

making pretzels

rolling out the strings of dough

The finished produce

Candles!

The longer view - still cleaning wax off the stove :-)

Snow!

Well, we finally got snow this weekend.  There was a taste of it Friday morning in a very light dusting and at that point there was a chance of more on Saturday.  We ended up with snow all day on Saturday and with about 10 inches of snow gathering in our yard.  We went out a couple of times to play and shovel in the yard while it was snowing.  We also went sledding down Shoreby Hill yesterday.  It was the perfect afternoon for it because it wasn't at all windy.  We were the first on the hill but soon there was a crowd of children going up and down the hill on tubes, sleds, snowboards and saucers.  Harry tried out the snowboard and did pretty well.  Robert would have stayed all afternoon - but it work Kevin out after a while hauling him back up the hill.

Today is cloudy and warm (already over 32) and we are expected to have warm weather and rain in the next couple of days, so the snow will melt.  For me this is perfect a wonderful weekend of fun, but snow going away to make getting out and about easier.  I am proud of myself because on Saturday instead of feeling trapped by the snow, I felt content to sit and play and read.  I have been working hard to see the good things about this dark, cold time which is a New England winter and it seems I may be making some inroads!  Yeah!

So without further adieu...here are some pictures :-)

This was thought to be proper snow gear - Mom added a few layers and some proper mittens 

While the wind blew and the snow fell - we were treated to a magic show - here is the audience

And here is the magician

Time to inflate those sleds 

Our 3 - 6 inches was really about 10 inches

Waiting for a ride to the hill

Might as well play in the snowbank while waiting

Here we go - Shoreby Hill - sledding with a view

Note the little guy trudging up the hill on his own - didn't last long

Ready, set....

Happy Boy

Here I come - soon had Harry go down first because when the little one collided with the big one there was less damage

Those red cheeks were still rosy at bedtime :-)

January happenings

This is my only photo of the boys at Sturbridge 

This year the school department changed the way that they are doing things around vacations/long weekends.  They added teacher work days to the end of vacation weeks and the beginning of long weekends.  This has made vacations and long weekends longer for the kids.  I am pretty oblivious and thanks to Robert's preschool teacher I haven't sent Harry to school on a non-school day.  At any rate, they started school back from Christmas break on the Wednesday after New Year's and then the following week they had Friday off in anticipation of the long Martin Luther King weekend.  When I realized that they had Friday off I thought, that would be a good day for a mini trip.

I did a little research and found out that Sturbridge Village was having a deal that children are free in January.  I found a hotel with a pool nearby and we decided to take a mini trip Thursday-Friday.  I told Harry it was a mystery trip and he wasn't thrilled not to know where we were going.  I am still uncertain if that is the way to go with him - he wasn't too upset about finding out on the day though and it was only about a week's build up so that was good.  Even Robert was excited for something out of the ordinary to happen and kept asking when we were going to leave.  I had told Harry the day before that we were going to go right after school on Thursday and Robert heard.  He had school Thursday too, but it ends at 11 and he kept wondering all afternoon when we would leave and couldn't Harry get home already?  A caveat here is that recently when Robert would like Harry around (usually right after vacations or weekends), he will tell me that it is time to go to school and pick up Harry because he is ready for him to be home.


"Old Sturbridge Village is one of the country's oldest and largest living history museums, depicting early New England life from 1790-1840 with historians in costume, antique buildings, water-powered mills and a working farm."  That's the brochure description of Sturbridge Village.  My parents used to take Jessica and I as kids and we always loved it.  I knew it would be a great thing for Harry and hoped Robert (at three) would like it.  When I checked the weather a week out it looked like it would be a nice day.  The actual day was drizzly and cold and muddy, but we had fun and didn't mind dashing into warm houses to see what there was to learn about.  


I do think that often the thing that the kids find most fun is dinner out and swimming in the pool and then having a big sleepover in the one hotel room.  That was most definitely true in Robert's case.  After about an hour and a half at Sturbridge he wanted to go home or back to the hotel for a swim.  He wasn't happy to hear we were really going all the way home and staying for a few more hours.  He made it through though and found some fun things to distract him along the way.  Harry loved it and got to dip candles and make a tin candle holder.  He likes those physical memories of trips.  I think having something to feel and touch reminds him better of what went on and what he saw.

It was a fun 24 hours out of the "normal" schedule and we all came back to a still long weekend since there was no school/work on Monday.

The boys watching cartoons in the hotel room - Robert is the lump next to my purse :-)

New Year's Resolution - well sorta

I co-teach a Sunday School class.  It is the older children, grades 5 - 7 and since Sunday School in our church meets during the first half of the service, this year we decided to have breakfast together once a month and then go to church.  Otherwise the kids don't really experience the full service.  Most of them are not in church in the summer when there is no Sunday School.  For that reason they seldom experience what is my favorite part of the service, the reading of the Word and the preaching.  There is a rhythm to a church service and the Episcopal church follows a well thought out prayer book and when the children come in each week in the middle of the service they miss some of that.  But that is a discussion for another day.

At our breakfast this week, we discussed normal stuff and then brought up the topic of New Year's Resolutions. Nobody had really made any and nobody seemed overly interested in doing it.  I am not a big fan of the whole resolution thing, but it has gotten me to wonder.  I didn't overtly make a resolution, however with the new year I began writing in my blessings journal.  There were a couple of reasons for it.  The first was that I have been keeping this journal on and off for a couple of years and it tends to be a good thing for me to do, the second reason is that I really especially need it at this time of year.  I have a deep need to remember all the blessings around me and there are many.

During the dark winter days, I sometimes forget a bit who I am.  I lose sight of the faith that I have and my belief in a loving, forgiving God falls a bit by the wayside.    Most days I feel just fine, but I get a little blue and the apocalyptic tone of the press and the outside world really freaks me out this time of year.  Although I really do believe that things will be okay and "All will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well".  It behooves me to work on it at the moment to work on being happy.

So yesterday, it was a bit warmer than usual and Robert and I took a walk down to the beach.   There is a favorite inflatable dinghy that has oars still in it, that Robert is particularly fond of playing in.  I sat on the comfy edge of the dingy while Robert played away inside - imagining himself discovering treasures and I looked out at the view in front of me.  The sun was gently warming my back as seagulls flew and called around us.  There were a few duck families foraging about for food and I watched them stick their little rears in the air as they dove for treats.  Behind all this was the bridge and the lighthouse and the far away shore.  Sometimes I take for granted the beautiful place we live, but not yesterday.  It was a time out of time.

So this year my resolution is to seek out and recognize these blessings, I want to remember to cuddle a little closer to my boys who are growing each day, I hope I'll recognize the care and love of the folks around me and most importantly, I want to find ways to give back this love and care.  I hope I'll keep up my journal and maybe add a few of those blessings in length in this little blog, which I write ostensibly for whoever perhaps is reading it, but which also fulfills a need of my own to reach out and remark on this world around me which can be so inspiring and so confusing.

Happy New Year!

Today is back to school after the Christmas holidays.  The kids got an extra day which was a work day for teachers.  Harry as is often the case after a break was up early and ate his breakfast with time to spare.  Both boys were excited and ready for action this morning.  It is a our first very cold morning - it was 11 degrees when I got up.  It has been a warm winter so far, so I can't complain, but it is always a shock that first really cold morning.

I am in that time of winter where I feel challenged.  I am not getting enough sunlight and outdoors time (nor are the kids) and so I feel a little blue/anxious.  At the same time it is so cold out, that it makes sense to  cover up windows to keep in the warmth.  However, for my sanity, I add an extra layer on and open the curtains and let in as much sunshine as I can.  Intellectually I know that the days are getting longer, but the cold and the dark can be hard to take.  I think Harry has a similar issue, he often has a hard time this time of year.  Still I think that knowing that is my issue is half the battle, it makes me stop and do my best to enjoy life and my kids.  I try to remember that even as the outside world looks so barren, there are many things happening under the surface and in a few short months we'll see the evidence in crocuses and blossoming trees.

So anyway, Christmas break is over.  It was a fun time and not all toys are thoroughly discovered so that will give us some projects over the next few weeks.  Harry's been putting together lots of legos and Robert has been putting stickers in his many new sticker books.

Here are a few pictures from the past week or so.

Our favorite beach in the winter

Two boys on a plank

A makeshift seesaw

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