We have been celebrating the birthday of our sweet boy who has turned three. Three! I can hardly believe my baby has grown up so big. I'll be back soon with a few more birthday pictures, though not as many as I'd like as it seems my boy has developed a dislike of the camera, much to his snap-happy mama's dismay. This here is safe territory, the birthday wreath and the birthday bunting, both new to us this year. Off now to give birthday hugs to my boy who is heading off to sleep. Goodnight.
Walking down the road this morning so early, the birdsong magically uproarious, the sweet baby dozing in the sling after a night of teething, Ari's hand in mine. Ari noticing the seasonal stream, saying "hey, there's my friend the creek!" tossing in dried grass to watch it sail away. The surprise of two ducks, scared up from the pond, joy of their rapid wings and heavy flight so close to us, watching them circle and land close by. Crunching ice in the puddles with rubber boots, breathing in the morning.
The bird feeder Perry made us for solstice is bringing lots of joy and excitement to our days, watching all the visitors, and keep the bird books close at hand to help identify the newest arrivals. Ari loves watching all the birds, but the red-winged blackbird were the most eagerly anticipated. 
Everything also stops when he thinks he spots David Francey (or Dave and Francey, as he is quiet certain this is actually two people.) And he sees him (them) everywhere, in trucks and restaurants and riding the train with us. Any fellow with a beard, really. We are thinking of starting a fan club or following him on his summer festival tour. But really, I am rather loving just being with this sweet music and bird loving boy of mine, dancing to his versions of songs and sitting beside him watching the flocks of pretty birds.
~making our little nature table look more springy. But keeping some white fabric there to represent all the snow that refuses to melt. Enjoying all the birds that are coming to our feeder.
Oh Glory be, the sun is shining and spring is here! We've been splashing in puddles and having picnics on the hills that have melted and just generally feeling thrilled to be outside. Still plenty if snow to melt yet, but we are contented to play in whatever little snow free places we can find, and Ari is happy to work on shovelling away what is left. I feel so much lighter; the weight of the winter is melting away leaving bright green growth. Thanks be to Spring. 
Monster with big eyes and an orange nose.
Hairy monster with lots of arms and legs.
Whole lot of monsters
Speaking of monsters, here's the littlest one, modelling the starts of the costume I'm making Ari for his birthday. It is made of Jersey and sweater scraps and heavily influenced by the one Katurah made her little guy awhile back.
I plan to add to it a bit, a tail for sure, maybe more, but I'd say it's looking pretty fierce so far, no?
A day of painting eggs and making Ukrainian Easter bread at my mom's house. Both my brother and sister were home and we had some lovely family time. Ari was a little under the weather on Easter morning, but perked up later in the day and seems fine now. We did have to coax him into actually looking for the eggs at first though, so we knew he wasn't feeling very well. He got into it after awhile, and has since stashed all his Easter treats in secret locations. He has several caches of beloved objects around the house which we sometimes come upon when cleaning. The last one I found had a tin of marbles, a small (abandoned) wasps nest and some stickers. My boy the squirrel. I will dig the mama made objects out of hiding photograph them sometime when I get the chance.
Dorian got to taste some food for Easter and the Easter bunny brought him a new bib for the occasion. He seems to like the bib, but the food he's not so sure about.
He seems to enjoy the tactile experience of painting his yams onto his tray but he has to be reassured that I am not going to abandon him to solid food. He looks at me worriedly and seems to be wondering if this mush is all I'll be serving up for supper. But of course, there is mama's milk to spare. And I am secretly pleased he is not gobbling up the yams and avocados just yet. I wasn't quite ready for my baby to grow up that much. 
I know I said my goal was to be mindful and present with the weather, but I am finding it progressively more difficult as the snow continues to come down. Looking back at our weather journal, this time two years ago we were weeding the garden.
Sometime last week we got an unexpectedly large package in the mail from our dear friends on the other side of the country. On the outside was a sweet little poem for us and our boys, and inside- this bike! Ari was thrilled beyond belief. It is currently set up as a tricycle, but can be adjusted into two different sizes of scooter-bike with a quick turn of a wrench. It's sturdy and speedy (Ari is happy to demonstrate this fact,) and wooden. We are all rather in love. Dorian is not quite big enough to zip around on it himself, but he gets to be entertained by watching his brother zoom past, which he seems to enjoy a great deal. We are hoping to have a chance to take it outside soon- when the snow has melted enough- (please melt. oh please.)
Indoors though, this bike has been facilitating plenty of fun pretend play. He rides to to the ice cream store (where an adorable conversation involving ice cream flavours and payment for ice cream and size of ice cream cones ensues,) and the train station and the restaurant and the hairdresser. I've actually discovered that I can get a lot done while he rides around his imaginary town so long as I am willing to play along. For instance, I am not just cleaning up, I am the noisy street cleaning machine, I am not just busy cooking supper, I am the cook at the restaurant making up his order. I even managed to comb out the tangles at the back of his head and trim his bangs this way, something he would have never let me do if it wasn't for the bike and the hair dresser roll I was playing. He even came back for a second cut saying "I like your voice, hairdresser." Though if you were to look at the uneven-home-haircut style I gave him in my hairdresser role, perhaps you would not be counting this one as a plus. Oops. Sorry kiddo.
And while we are on the topic of luckiness- look how lucky this boy is and what the box the bike arrived in turned into. His Papa surprised him (and me too, he did this after I had already headed to bed) by transforming the box into a castle.
Complete with drawbridge, windows and rainbow flags (he is the teacher sponsor for the Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school where he teaches, so they are in good supply around here!) I think this castle is proof of what I have been suspecting for awhile now- that he might just be eligible for the best-papa-ever title. 
All round, we are feeling pretty lucky. Now, off to make one of those giant mango chocolate ice cream cones my boy is ordering up. 
Well, the computer news is both good and bad. The files are fine (phew.) But the motherboard is a goner, which costs more to fix than a new machine, so we are in a bit of computer limbo. I shouldn't complain though, we do have this laptop that is working just fine, I just have to muddle my way through using it for photos and blog posts. Though all our photo files are still at the computer doctors, there are new ones to share, like these ones from our spring break trip (which already feels like eons ago)
We had quite an adventure on our little journey to the coast. No, we never had to use that little hammer they provided as our emergency exit, but we were on the train a very long time asthe passenger train had to stop and wait for several freight trains to pass for upwards of an hour at a time. Ari found this thrilling- going up to other passengers saying "there's a freight train coming! It's gonna be very noisy!" His excitement about riding the train made the whole trip worthwhile.
Cutest little train travellers around, if you ask me.
The trip itself was, well, rather cold. We hardly ventured from the little area our B&B was in due to the snowing, blowing, ice-cream-headache-blizzard weather we had. So we have some museum shots, and some staring out of window shots, because that is what we spent our time doing. Also sitting in cafes, and having baths and knitting in the wonderful family room at the B&B, which didn't get photographed.
The B&B we stayed at was right on the docks, so staring out the window at the boats coming and going and at a small dock being built was entertainment enough for Ari. And Dorian and I managed a nap together right in the middle of the afternoon which felt like a holiday unto itself.
And speaking of naps and breaks, I am writing this right now in the middle of the afternoon while both boys nap. A small miracle really. Maybe I'll go celebrate with a cup of tea and a magazine or something wonderful like that. Or I could sweep the floor. Maybe. 
