first snow

We woke up to snow this morning. Though it was all gone by the afternoon (including this sweet little snowman, much to Ari's dismay,) but we had lots of fun playing in it while it was there.

We also took a lovely walk up into the woods. It was perhaps a bit ambitious as just yesterday Ari was on the couch with a fever, but he seems to jump back with such energy that it is easy to forget that he is still fighting something. He did great and we enjoyed a little forest picnic under the trees, a lovely way to celebrate the first snow. But then Ari ended up back on the couch this evening, so I'll keep him moving slowly tomorrow, even if he seems perky and energetic. But I do think that fresh mountain air is good for a body, he'll be better in no time I'm sure.

And it always seems that when my kids are down with something, they seem to come out of it older somehow, like they spent that time with a fever or a bug growing and changing. This morning Ari seemed a little bit older, his vocabulary a little bit larger, his play a little bit deeper. I love this Mama- job. Watching these kids grow is such a blessing.

warm stuff

Trying to catch up on some things I've been making: above is a warm ear flap cap for Ari. This was my thankgiving car-trip project but I ran out of wool on the way there, so I've just picked this up and finished it yesterday. I've yet to photograph the finished project, but it is a sweet little hat, that amazingly, fits Dorian, Ari and I. So if we can just somehow ensure it doesn't get lost, it could be kept in use for many years to come. This pattern, the Thorpe, was great, so fast with that bulky wool, and really well written. It is knit from the top down, and has a crochet border, which I had to haul out a crochet book to figure out, but it all came together. I left it waiting on Ari's chair to find in the morning and he was thrilled.
And here are a couple of the things I made Dorian for his birthday-he was in need of some warm wintry things, so that's what he got. This scarf is backed with the softest organic cotton fleece I bought to make his bunny some time ago, I had to buy a whole meter of it and there is still some of it left. And, that bunny's shirt is from the same fabric as this woodland linen I've had for awhile. Dorian is happy to have a scarf like his brother's, but we'll see if he'll actually wear it, he's a little picky about what he'll wear.

He also got some mama made wool socks. He does like to wear these. I think little socks with bright stripey yarn is one of my favorite things to knit. They are cute and pretty fast, and they are worn so much. My boys like their hand knit socks much more than other socks they have. I need to knit Ari a pair or two, those feet are growing fast!

And a book bag for dear little girl's birthday, with a book- our house favorite.

Happy Sunday friends!

arty

It has been a little crazy around here lately. We have been managing to carve out some family time amidst the busy-ness, and these are some pictures of a lovely spontaneous craft session Ari initiated- making Halloween decorations for our home. Our walls and windows are covered with some seriously cute monsters (still his favorite subject!), witches, bats and skeletons. ::skeletons::
::black cat on a broomstick::
::bat::

This is a monster (I'm not sure if he has really long teeth or if his feet are coming out of his mouth, or if his eyes are somehow connected to his pointy teeth, but really, anything goes with monsters, right?) and Ari traced over my lettering with such focused concentration. This is by far the longest art making/craft project he has ever had. He just kept going back for more- after a morning of monster making he spent most of the afternoon drawing and cutting and taping, and then declared the evening "family monster night" and we all sat at the table after supper and made monsters together. I love this kid.

There was also a midday bath-paint session. I make this by putting diluted castile soap through a foam soap dispenser and mixing it with food colour. The boys spent a good hour painting the walls and themselves, cleaning the walls and themselves and then playing with some animal toys in the greenish-blue water and soap "icebergs" Did I mention it has been rainy and miserable out? We have to keep busy somehow! The craziness I mentioned is related to some changes up here on our community land. One of the families we bought with 8 years ago have decided to sell their section and move into town. Given the fact that we are all owners of the property, this has been a little complicated, involving meetings and meetings and more meetings, though all very amiable ones, thankfully. But all the trips to banks and lawyers and e-mails and phone calls and legal documents and late-night-after-the-kids-are-in-bed property meetings has meant a very busy month.

But everyone is pleased with the process and the new directions we are headed, so we are grateful, and glad it it almost done!

And I am sitting here at 10:00 at night with a two-year-old who will not sleep. He is happy enough- opening our homeopathic kit and pretending to give the remedies to "somun (someone) sick" and packing it back up to bring with him on his choo-choo train trip. Though he doesn't seem the slightest bit tired, I am feeling pretty exhausted, so I'll be packing up this little homeopathic doctor of mine and heading to bed now. Goodnight!

cooking, eating and fighting dragons

The weather has been pretty wet these last few days, and though we've been getting out in it, there seem to mostly be pictures of indoor activities on the camera, so that is what I'm sharing. Baking cookies, eating cookies, making forts and having picnics in them, and of course, plenty of imaginary dress-up play. We are lucky to have these noble knights in our home, as it has been positively overrun with dragons lately. They like cookies too, I hear.

And me, I've been knitting. These are some mittens I knit for Dorian's birthday. I am in love with the single row stripes, something about them just makes me happy. I think I need to knit myself something stripey- wrist warmers maybe, or knee socks...
I've finished some other projects lately, I'll round them up sometime soon.

Off to bed. Hope y'all had a happy Monday!

kids at the cabin

Just posting a few more weekend shots. Water and mud, berries and books, puppies to pet, playdough to play and good food to eat= happy kids!

weekend: autumn adventures

A lovely weekend with friends at their beautiful cabins. It rained all weekend, but that didn't stop us from having lots of outdoor fun. It was such a treat to spend the long weekend in this incredible place. The kids had a grand time playing and getting wet and stomping through the forest. And there was yummy food and good conversation- a wonderful weekend all round.

Today we are settling back in at home, wading through the laundry piles and the big case of tomatoes that needed to be processed the minute we got in the door. But already we are looking forward to joining A and C again sometime on a cabin adventure. Maybe next time we'll be skiing?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend too.