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Carter's Blanket

On Sunday, I finished Carter's blanket. Just like Sean's, it is made from all of her old t-shirts. It came out good enough, I suppose, but not as good as Sean's. In order to make her's large enough to cover her (infant t-shirts are pretty small, even though I had a decent-sized pile), I had to use pieces of a polka-dotted purple sheet as 'filler' between the t-shirt tiles. But trying to sew jersey material to a cotton sheet was a huge pain the rumpus. All-in-all, though, I'm sure Carter loves it - and that's all that really matters.

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 27, 2009 06:56 AM | Comments (0)

Hopscotch

Lori drew a hopscotch board (do you call it a 'board'?) on the driveway Friday afternoon, and the kids spent some time enjoying it. especially love this shot of Carter - she lands her jump with authority! What conviction!

Posted under Photos by Joel on October 26, 2009 07:25 AM | Comments (0)

Hugs

The kids were playing a wrestling, hugging, kissing game the other night. No real story behind this one - I just thought that it was a sweet picture. They spend so much time arguing, it's really nice to see them getting along.

Posted under Photos by Joel on October 25, 2009 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

The Ladybug Invasion

Two nights ago I came home from work to the announcement that we were being invaded by ladybugs. The day before, there wasn't a single ladybug in the house. The next morning - dozens. I rounded up and released almost thirty ladybugs that night before the numbers got low enough that I could ignore the rest. Carter followed me around the house, serving as my "ladybug spotter". She's got sharp eyes.

Posted under Stories by Joel on October 24, 2009 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

Subtle Differences

So we are about to start the goodnight show for the kids' bedtime wind-down, when Sean says "Mom, where is my milk?". Lori is outside getting the dogs to come in, so Carter says to him "I will get it for you, Sean." She brings it to him as he's watching the show, and he distractedly mumbles to her, "Thank you, mommy". To which Carter replies "I'm not Mom, silly." So just to keep it going, I say to her "Are you sure? You look like Mom to me!". She looks at me and says "No....I'm not Mom. I have a different shirt!" As though she thinks that the only way that I can tell my daughter and my wife apart is by their wardrobes. So cute!

Posted under Stories by Joel on October 23, 2009 08:47 PM | Comments (0)

Autumn Leaves

Lori took the kids out to play in the leaves last Thursday, and she caught two especially good photos of the dynamic duo. She said that they had just as good a time as it would appear from these pictures. I wish I could have been there. It was good timing for them though - I blew all the leaves off of the lawn over the course of the weekend.

Posted under Photos by Joel on October 21, 2009 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

Dinosaurs!

Carter and I were out at Michael's (the store) last weekend, when I came across some of these wooden-bone dinosaur kits. Does anybody else remember doing these as a kid? A grabbed a stack to do with Sean - ther were about a dollar apiece, and I can't resist a deal like that. We made the Triceratops Sunday night, and had a blast. A brief aside about this picture, though: I think it's hilarious that when I asked him to smile for me, he technically did - but his eyes are still fixed on the computer screen. Heh.

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 21, 2009 07:03 AM | Comments (0)

Weekend Hikes

I've been sticking to my plan to go for a hike every Saturday morning. It's been about six weeks, and the only Saturday I've missed was the morning of Carter's birthday party - there was just too much stuff to set up at the house for me to squeeze a hike in. But other than that, I've been going every Saturday, rain or shine. I'm really starting to get to know my way around Maudslay a lot better, and don't bother bringing a trail map anymore. To be honest, it isn't a very accurate map and really wasn't much help anyway. I plan to keep this up all through the winter, as well. I eventually plan to branch out and add other parks to the pool, but for now, I am enjoying Maudslay that I don't have much of an urge yet to go elsewhere.

Posted under Hikes by Joel on October 21, 2009 06:56 AM | Comments (0)

42 Words of Wisdom: #14

"You live and learn. At any rate, you live."

- Douglas Adams

I read an article this morning about new research showing that you have to make mistakes in order to learn. Seriously? This is considered "new research"? This is what I have always believed, and is one of the fundamental principles of the way I raise my kids. To quote the article: "For years, many educators have championed 'errorless learning,' advising teachers (and students) to create study conditions that do not permit errors." To me that doesn't sound like learning, but rather memorization. And how long does memorization usually last? Just long enough to pass the test - that's how long. Being afraid of making mistakes just means that you will never really learn anything.

Posted under Stories by Joel on October 20, 2009 08:02 AM | Comments (0)

Carter's Third Birthday

		We had Carter's third birthday party last weekend. We rented a moon bounce and had it at home. We had looked into doing it somewhere else - like Party Playland or Chuck E. Cheese's, but at most places you only get an hour and a half, and then they toss you out. I've been to a few of those parties, and they always feel so rushed. And renting the moon bounce for the whole day was the same price. Every had a great time - even the adults. The kids were all starting to 'help' Carter open her presents, so I went in the moon bounce with all of the kiddos to distract them. I was tossing people off of the walls, flipping them over, starting pig piles - even the kids I don't know as well got into it. Carter got lots of great presents, including a toy mailbox that she's had her eye on for a long time. The weather was cooperative, the food was great, and glorious, glorious fun was had by all.

Posted under Stories by Joel on October 18, 2009 06:50 AM | Comments (0)

Sean's Drawings - The Two of Us

This time Sean drew the two of us together. I'm the tall one, in case you couldn't guess. I love the grumpy look he drew on himself - he really captured reality with that one. Heh.

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 18, 2009 06:44 AM | Comments (0)

Sean's Drawings - Friendly Spider

Another drawing Sean did for me. He says that it is a "friendly spider". He excercised a little of his 'artistic license' with the leg count, I think. :)

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 16, 2009 06:51 AM | Comments (0)

First Snow

Saw my first snow of the season on my way into work this morning. It wasn't cold enough to accumulate, but still - first snow. I've got mixed feelings about it though. While it makes me think of the holiday season, snowballs, and sledding that are to come, it also makes me think of the shoveling, plowing, and oil bills that come along with it. Hopefully the REAL snow is still several weeks off.

Posted under Stories by Joel on October 16, 2009 06:43 AM | Comments (0)

Sean's Drawings - Self-Portrait

Here is Sean's self-portrait. I love that the eyes are starting to get more sophisticated than just dots.

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 14, 2009 06:57 PM | Comments (0)

Carving Pumpkins

A week or so ago, we carved a pair of Jack-o-Lanterns for the porch. The kids favorite part was pulling out all of the pumpkin guts. They don't often get a chance to get super-messy on purpose, so they really got a kick out of it. Lori and I helped them with some of the actual carving - although we let them do a lot of it. It's rained a fair bit this week though, so they're starting to grow some mold inside. We might have to toss them on the compost heap and carve some new ones before Halloween.

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 9, 2009 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

Sticks and Leaves

When we go outside lately, Sean makes a special point of collecting some sticks and leaves. I wonder if it's because they are collecting things outside at school for their projects? I suppose I'll find out over the next week or so as the projects start coming home.

Posted under Photos by Joel on October 7, 2009 05:46 PM | Comments (0)

Big Girl Bike

I think it's time to buy Carter a big-girl bike. She's been stealing rides on Sean's, and she's really getting the hang of it. She's figured out how to pedal it up and down the driveway, and can turn and stop and everything. This spring, we'll take her to pick out a cute little girly bike.

Posted under Photos by Joel on October 4, 2009 06:35 PM | Comments (0)

Costumes

Just a cute photo of the kids modeling their Halloween costumes. Can't wait to Trick-or-Treat!

Posted under Photos by Joel on October 4, 2009 09:48 AM | Comments (0)

Sean's Drawing - Gargamel

Sean drew this sometime last week. Lori and the kids brought home a Smurf video from the library, and Sean really likes Gargamel. You can see that he even got the hair right, and he drew his body as a long rectangle because he wears that robe. And I think the arch shape around the top is supposed to be the stones that make up the arched entrance to Gargamel's tower/castle thing.

Posted under Projects by Joel on October 3, 2009 10:44 AM | Comments (0)