a cool dude who's also helpful

shoes.... she wants to get them on all by herself so badly. She did get her crocks on the other day (whew!) but quickly took them off because i guess they are too big. funny that when i offer to put her shoes on she grabs them and says 'mine!' but when kai offers she's willing. hmmm. the boy who has been calling her bad zaiah and a fungi. he has this book about the human body and one section talks about things that grow in our body, one being fungi. he was quickly facinated by this word. we talked about how there is good fungi and bad fungi. this is his favorite word lately for zaiah when they are squabbling.

the other day we were in the car, and he stated to zaiah "YOU are a fungi ..... and (with a whisper so i wouldn't hear ;) ) not the good kind zaiah. " i was cracking up inside.

kids playing and creating

(birthday cake for daddy: carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips.)

sick, sick, sick

yes, we've all had our rounds of sicknesses lately. so there's not much to blog about. you don't want to see pictures of green noses, runny diapers, grouchy kids, do you? we all are better now, but really i have nothing to report. we had a few days of really warm weather and playing outside. today we're freezing, under 40 degrees.

i am happy to report that we are finally starting a vegetable garden this spring after being here for 4 years. every year, i've said this is the year to start. and then the year goes by. i have kai on my back now. he's so hilarious. when we started planning what to grow he requested almost all things he doesn't like (tomatoes and potatoes). tell me how i birthed two kids who do not like potatoes. not any way - baked, mashed, boiled, fried. it's epic i tell you. i could eat a vat of them every day, any way. i'm always buying and cooking them hoping some day maybe they will break.

i'm looking forward to the growing process, and to share some of our garden successes and failures, etc. with you. right now i'm killing off the grass in the back in a roughly 6'X10' plot. i covered it with a tarp and i'm hoping that it will die in a few weeks then we can just till. anyway, the seeds we ordered and hopefully will grow are: tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, squash, beans, peppers, chard, broccoli, pumpkins. too much you say? andy thinks so.

got style?

i had to take this photo the other day. pants a little big, and your belt? a) take them off and find a pair that fits b) buy a new belt, or c) find power drill, and drill a new hole with pants and belt on.


this cracked me up. but didn't surprise me. for those who know andy well, this is his style. right?


we have another one in our house trying to find her style. here you see zaiah putting on many layers of clothes. pajamas half on. somehow she still has trouble getting past her neck so she prances around the house usually with more than one item around her neck quite satisfied. she is very, very determined to dress herself and pick out her own clothes. lately, especially socks. she really wants to get those on.

kai has no interest in picking out his clothes, or putting them on himself. as long as he's warm and his socks don't feel funny, he's good to go.

me? i like to pick out my clothes and put them on myself, without any power tools.

people are funny.

february: a teaser

we've been outside this week .... with no coats!! this comes at a strange time, especially since this weekend we're having a valentine/february de-funk party. we can't get too excited for spring yet, remembering last year we got snow in march. but we'll take this little teaser week.

kai and i are sitting here watching the weather outside twirling. a wind storm today. let's hope we don't lose power, again.

boots and napkins

a new favorite hand-me-down from my mom: 40 yr old fry boots!

one of my favorite things she does is pull out the cloth napkins in the kitchen drawer. she lays them out, stacks them, rests on them, pulls them over her head pretending to be a ghost, and plays with her dolls on them. it's precious. and it allows me to cook.

frozen

although louisville has been melting the past two days, frozen is the word that best describes this past week. we lost power again, for five days. a bit different this time since it looked like the above picture this time around. we needed heat, yes?

luckily we have many dear friends who live near us. one family that took us in for four full days. we turned this in to an all-week party. several of the nights we had dinner parties at friend's houses that had power. i have to say, i was a little sad to come home yesterday. it's kind of quiet and lonely now. i never thought i would say that with two little ones running around.