Now that William is more mobile (and getting much faster), the two boys just love chasing one another.  Here are some pictures I thought worth sharing:

March 17, 2010:  I just love holidays.  Any excuse for a celebration!  And a saintly celebration is even more exciting because it brings our faith alive in tangible ways.  Grandma Cindy was in town and we invited Aunt Jessica and Walker over to join with us in our breakfast celebration.  Joseph and I made cinnamon rolls and decorated them with St. Patrick’s Day sprinkles. 

 After breakfast Grandma Cindy read Tomie DePaola’s book Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland to Joseph, which really does a beautiful job telling the story of St. Patrick.  Joseph loved the idea of the shamrock and how St. Patrick used it to teach the Trinity, so I cut out a shamrock sponge and Joseph spent the afternoon painting shamrocks. 

Outside my window…it’s dark, finally.  I’m still having trouble adjusting to it being light so late!

I am thinking…it’s late and if I don’t go to bed soon, I’ll regret it tomorrow morning when two little chipper boys wake me up!

I am thankful for…Grandma Cindy and the rocking chair…she’s happily rocking away with William so I can write my daybook. 

From the learning rooms…St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Feast Day celebrations this week.

From the kitchen…a cherry pie, if I ever make it to the grocery store.

I am wearing…a brown t-shirt with flowered cream pants.

I am creating…memories, always creating memories.

I am going…for a walk at Cole Park with our wonderful friend Marjorie tomorrow morning. 

I am reading…How to Grow a Young Music Lover by Cheri Fuller.

I am hoping…for beautiful spring days before the heat of the summer sets in.

I am hearing…just the hum of the computer and the clicking of the keys.

Around the house…still haven’t found the remote, but I did finally give in and program the universal remote.

One of my favorite things…playing games with Joseph…after someone moves their player, he always, without fail, says “Leave it there!”

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Build a birdhouse for St. Joseph’s Day; take advantage of the beautiful weather and play outdoors!

Here is picture I thought worth sharing..

Don’t forget to visit Peggy’s site for more blogs!

Saturday was one of those days that I wish I could have put in a bottle so when it’s miserably hot in a few months I could open up my bottle and let out a beautiful spring day.  The weather was just right, with a gentle breeze and the warmth of the sun.  The water was gorgeous, a perfect reflection of the blue sky.  But…since I have yet to find a way to do bottle up perfect days, we had to just take advantage of the day.  To do that, we met Grandma Nury, Aunt Jessica, and Walker at Cole Park for a walk that morning.

 It’s amazing how much one walk can accomplish…two babies took their morning naps, three women got exercise and the opportunity to socialize, one toddler had the opportunity to get out and run, and all six of us shared a beautiful spring morning enjoying good company and beautiful weather.

William had his 1st hamburger on Sunday night.  Isn’t that just the cutest burger you’ve ever seen?  The funniest part is…he only ate half of it that night!

I hate to sound like a commercial, but I have absolutely got to share this with you.  I have discovered the most incredible cleaner.  It’s amazing!  It cleans my oven, the mold in my shower, and even the rust stains in the sink.  You have got to buy some of this stuff.  Thank you, Shaklee, for providing me with a wonder cleaner in addition to protecting me, my family and the environment from harmful chemicals.  (Oh and if you don’t already use them, be sure to check out their vitamins…nothing like prevention when it comes to cold and flu season!) 

PS. For more information, contact my sister by searching for Leslie Johnson on Shaklee’s Distributor link.

We own plenty of Montessori manipulatives.  You know…the little spoons and cups and bowls, all made especially for little hands.  Joseph loves using them.  He loves to scoop beans from bowl to bowl and pour rice from pitcher to pitcher.  He loves the feel of something that is made precisely for his hands.  Something that’s not too big and not too small.  It’s just right. 

It all seemed a little isolated though.  I mean, sure he could scoop beans from bowl to bowl, but I still couldn’t convince him to scoop a spoonful of food into his mouth.  Then we went outside and Joseph opened up his sandbox and climbed in.  He picked up the shovel and started scooping the sand into the back of the toy boat.  Just like that.  And I realized all the practice has paid off…even if for now it’s just in the sandbox. 

February 14, 2010

I had it all planned out.  For Valentine’s Day, I was going to help Joseph and William make homemade Valentine cards and then Joseph and I would bake brownies and cupcakes for all of our loved ones.  So I skimmed through some craft books and came up with a cute little design for the kids’ Valentines.  Joseph’s Valentines would feature his handprints artfully arranged to look like a heart and William’s Valentines would have his little handprint posing as a flower.  Oh they were going to be so cute! 

So I got out the paint and began the task of convincing little people to cooperate.  Joseph was so excited.  He kept telling me, “I’m going to make Valentine cards with lots of hearts.”  He happily picked up the brush to begin his artwork, but I quickly grabbed it and explained that we were going to paint his hands so he could make his hands look like a heart.  Not quite understanding me, but willing to try it out, he followed my directions perfectly and soon we had plenty of Joseph hearts.  I washed him up and said, “Okay, now you need to write I love you on each Valentine.”  Okay…he seemed to go along with it so I set him down to do his writing while I picked up a wiggly little William and began the almost impossible task of capturing a baby’s handprint on paper (once that paint is on a baby’s hand, they just want to squish their little hands together…not lay their hand flat for a beautiful masterpiece!) 

Finally after getting William to unscrunch his hands long enough to get his handprint, I looked over at Joseph and he was still sitting there with the black crayon in hand, just looking at me.  “C’mon, sweetie,” I said, “you’ve got to write I love you on each card…that way your Valentine cards will be done.  Do you need help?”  Of course he said no he didn’t need my help (did you read the blog No, Mom, No?).  Very hesitantly he wrote I love you on the first card.  Then the second.  And the third.  Then he looked at me and said, “But Mom I thought we were going to make Valentines.  I was going to draw so many hearts.” 

Ouch.  Once again, I let my elaborate Mommy ideas get in the way of what was truly important.  Joseph wanted to make Valentines.  He was excited to show his love by taking the time to make his own Valentines…not a mommy inspired, complicated piece of artwork.  So we turned over the mommy inspired handprints and Joseph began the task of designing his own cards.  A simple little hand-drawn heart.  One per card.  One per loved one.  So simple.  So beautiful.  So definitely from his heart. 

So this year I learned a valuable lesson.  I learned the value of simplicity.  And this year, each person that received a Valentine from our house really received 3…one from William, one beautiful heart drawn especially for them by Joseph, and one from Mommy (with the help of Joseph’s hands).  So Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us!

P.S.  We did still ending up baking brownies and cupcakes.  Although it was Mommy inspired, it was still a huge success (really what project that involves frosting and cake isn’t a success?) 

The night before Valentine’s Day, Joseph called each family member and asked if they’d prefer brownies or cupcakes.  He took the results and made a graph (super sneaky, wasn’t it…sneaking math into a Valentine’s Day project?!). 

Then early on Valentine’s Day morning, Joseph and I frosted and decorated brownies and cupcakes.  Having learned the simplicity lesson on the cards, I skipped the fancy decorating tips and handed over the sprinkles and heart decorations, because that’s what he told me he was going to do to decorate the cupcakes.  And he did.  And they were beautiful (and extremely yummy!). 

P.S.S.  I also learned another lesson…never leave Dax in charge of the kids when they’re painting!

To my nephew Alex on his 1st birthday…

(the following is from Bob Dylan’s song Forever Young)

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others and let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the sky
and climb on every rung
and may you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth and see the light surrounding you.
May you always be courageous
stand up right and be strong
and may you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
and may you stay forever young.

The renovations are coming along, slowly, but surely…