Sunbathing in February

The sun was shining. The sun was shining! What a glorious day. On our way home from the library the thermometer in the car was reading 35 degrees and the sun was warm so instead of shutting the garage door and running for the shelter of the house when we got home we donned sun glasses and pulled out some of outdoor toys for a while. And as I sat there on the cold driveway, the chill from the cement seeping into my three decades old bones, I started to think about those 35 degrees. In November, when the winter is first descending upon us, 35 degrees is awfully chilly—it's when we first break out the winter coats and dig deep in the closet for that other mitten we're sure was there last year—but in February, after three long months of blustery days and usually absent sun, 35 degrees is a heat wave, and has us breaking out the summer toys and sitting outside to play, only to find that, 35 degrees is still actually chilly.

Project 365, days 36-42

Spent more time "playing" with pre-K workbooks, then wrote his own Valentines to give to his (imaginary) friend, Mouse; Got a lot of practicing in on the sewing machine and got a lot done, including, finally, pillows and valances for the window seat; Listened to the Lone Ranger on our replica radio during dinner; watched the little dog maneuver through snow drifts during a beautiful February storm; had a very difficult day and were whisked away for a rescue dinner by the (grand)parents; Thursdays at the Dexter Bakery for pretzels before library = love.

Moose

This is our Moose. As an eight pound dachshund he weighs about 1/100th of the animal that most normal human beings are referring to when they use his name. He turned ten years old on my birthday this year and he's blind. Not "blind as a bat" blind, since bats can actually see, albeit poorly, but more like "blind as Helen Keller" blind. He has not always been blind but lost his sight rather suddenly last August due to bad genetics, and it has fallen to us to make his life as manageable as possible, mainly by keeping things in their place. This is a daily battle with a busy child in the house, but I think Moose has gotten used to the fact that the play room, at least, is never the same place, morning, noon, or night. Although he'd have an easier time of it if he was more than an inch or two of the ground—as it is he trips over the slightest things, including a flat piece of the favored, and often in use, train track—I think he's used to it by now. The rest of the house we try to keep to a relatively unaltered map, including the front step and garden. One thing we can't help, though, is weather.

Who put that snowbank in my way?

Project 365, days 29-35

Better late than never?

Went to the resale fill-a-bag Mom's Club event (ask me if you want to know more), and scored 22 items of clothing PLUS this great cow outfit for dress-up purposes for a total of $10; So excited about the first day of swim class he wore his swim suit to breakfast, complete with slippers; spent the weekend working into the wee hours of morning on a work project; started off the month of love with a new hand-made wreath; tried a pretty good granola recipe that turned out to be a winner; enjoyed some quiet days of sunshine...yes, sunshine; library day, one of our favorite days.

Time warp

I lost a week. A whole week! Not in the real world, of course, but my usual blog writing time is either after Calvin is in bed at night (when, for the past week, we've been working until the wee hours on a project for work) or when he is in bed during the afternoon for naptime. Well, guess what? That few hours reprieve in the middle of the day is no more. Though he is actually still happy to oblige with a nice two to three hour nap every afternoon if I send him up to take one, the extra afternoon sleep was making bedtime into a battle, and even after he was in bed, at around 9pm, he wouldn't fall asleep until almost 11pm, and would spend the time between yelling for this or for that, or singing (albeit happily) at the top of his lungs. Sans nap, he is now in bed ten minutes before 8pm, and is asleep before the hour hits. Amazing! And quiet. And since he's not unhappy during the day without the nap, and is very willing to spend an hour or more of "quiet" time alone in his room anyway, this is the route we've decided to take, not to mention that it is easier to organize a day without having a chunk of time during which I am chained to the house to tiptoe around a sleeping child after hanging a do-not-disturb sign on our usually friendly front door. It is a new-found freedom.

But I did lose a whole week last week, and rather than try to go back and pick it up, I'm just going to start fresh from right here, now that I have my new daily structure re-worked out. I'll be back with pictures later, and crafts, meal plans, recipes, etc. I can see already that my hour of "quiet time" this afternoon will be busy.