Sick

It seems all the males in this house have been hit by some virus or another. Gabe has some sort of flu (which I diagnosed as the Norovirus because Google has made me an amateur MD), Anderson was diagnosed with croup (for real, when it come to the kids I see an actual doctor) and Beck has had a mild fever and congestion which I am crossing my fingers turns in to nothing more. It has been 3 days of laundry, Lysol, hand-sanitizer and bleach. Not to mention unacceptable amounts of Spongebob, dinosaur documentaries, and the Disney Channel. While Gabe is quarantined in our bedroom being grumpy, I have been trying to at least enjoy the snuggles that come from 2 sick little boys. This, too, shall pass. Quickly, I hope. Sleeping on the couch and dealing with grouchy sickies is terrible.

A birthday quilt

I spent most of last week on the sewing machine working on this quilt for my sister (and maybe a couple other secret projects that I have yet to photograph). Though I cut out about 3/4 of the squares back in June, it wasn't until last Saturday that I actually got my act together and started putting it together for my sister's birthday on Friday. Is procrastination a disease? I think it must be. I need to look into that. Later, of course.

Though this is not technically considered "quilting", it is about as close as I may ever come. This is the second blanket like this I have made and while not challenging, they are very time consuming and I tend to get a bit bored with the whole thing about half way through (procrastination and a short attention span? I really need help). Maybe I need to stick to making them baby-sized? Anyway, I am really happy with how it turned out (even if the pictures in the crazy rainy-sunny-cloudy-within the span of 5 minutes weather don't do it justice). I know she loved it and I loved giving something that I made.

A dozen years

Gabe, this week marks the 12 year anniversary of our very first date. A lot of flirting on both parts went into making that rather odd date a reality and I could not have been happier to see the boy that I had pursued for so many weeks show up on my door step. I don't think that either one of us can deny that within days we knew we had something special. I love you to bits, Palmsley Mosley. ;)

And, oh my gosh, how young do we look in that picture?! I swear you were the youngest 30 year old ever! It's amazing what 12 years and 2 kids can do, right?!

Mad

"Daddy, I'm mad at mommy!"
It was 5:15 am and almost too early to care, but I did. I do. Telling us he is angry or upset or sad is nothing new, but expressing anger specifically at me? Well, I guess it's a sign he is growing up faster than I can even fathom. How quickly these entirely dependent, emotionally immature little creatures grow into their own independent, free-thinking little selves capable of not only experiencing, but identifying a whole range of emotions far beyond the "I'm sad" and "I'm mad" of toddlerdom. Here we go...

Oh, and the reason for the anger? He wanted me to read to him at 5:15 am. In the dark. While I was asleep. And while I am sure every other mother in the universe would have joyfully sprung up and put on their best children's librarian voice to really bring life to the iPad story of how dinosaurs came to their ultimate demise before the sun was even considering rising, I simply did not want to. And I faked it. And that, to an almost 4 year old, is infuriating. He stomped off and told me he was "getting out of here", to which I may or may not have replied (under my breath, of course) "good, just let me sleep".

The sand between our toes

Last Sunday I was shivering underneath two sweaters, a coat, and a scarf. One week later we are burying our bare feet in the sand while enjoying a rare little dose of sunshine and warm air.  Though Gabe was trapped indoors working, the boys and I spent the better part of the afternoon castle-building, sea-gull chasing, and sand-angel making.

Lately (at least according to my phone)

 

Lately our days have been filled with dinosaur staging, learning and imagining, mess cleaning, park visiting, Lego building, salted caramel bar eating and library going.  Nothing unusual, nothing super exciting, but everything just right. 

Christmas Recap (just a bit late)

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and I am beginning to think about Valentine's Day decorations. So easy it is to say that I am late in putting this post together because I have been so desperately busy for the last few weeks, but the truth is I have just not wanted to come to terms with the fact that such a great part of the year has already come and gone. It's not even that time is speeding by as it usually has a tendency to do at this time of year, I just simply made enjoying the moments of December a priority over documenting them in real time. December went something like this:

We chose our tree

and built a gingerbread house.

I made, addressed, and mailed the cards

and the boys and I made cookies for friends (but we ate most ourselves!) and cupcakes for school.

We sang tons of Christmas songs and Anderson performed a few favorites for his school concert.

The boys visited Santa

and Santa visited them.

Anderson ate his weight in candy canes

but he saved some for his friends.

We celebrated with the extended family

 and tried desperately to get a decent family picture

repeatedly

I made little gifts for teachers

and wrapped a few for my boys

only to be over-shadowed by the awesome wrapping job Gabe did for me.

Santa delivered the rest

and the boys played all day

but not before the obligatory "everybody in front of the tree looking terrible in your jammies first thing in the morning"picture

Yes, there were a few more things in there (light viewing, dinosaur tail sewing, glass etching, DIY decorating and way more glittering than I care to admit), but I either failed to take photos or took some too lousy to do the projects justice. Maybe next year.:)

 

All in all it was a really great month. We were fortunate to spend a lot of time together as a family and really focus on involving the kids as much as possible. I am sad to have wrapped it all up as I removed the wreaths from the front doors yesterday, but I am so excited for this new year and all of the possibilities it holds. Here's to January! 





Natural History Museum

 

Recently Anderson has developed a bit of a, well, obsession with dinosaurs. I honestly have no idea where or when this began, but he looooves them. He talks about them, sings about them, watches documentaries about them and even recites facts about them "Mommy, a triceratops has a shield with spikes, 3 horns and a beak, but no spikes on his tail". Needless to say, we have all become a bit more knowledgeable about the prehistoric creatures. Thankfully Santa and just about everybody else indulged this new-found love and bestowed upon this little boy everything from dinosaur books and robotic dinos to model dinosaurs of every size and shape. And so it seemed only fitting that we visit the Los Angeles Natural History Museum to take a closer look. Anderson and Beck were in heaven with giant skeletons above and all around and bones, bugs, and antlers to see, hold, and examine. It is a really nice museum and I am so happy I ignored my inner voice that told me the boys were too young to appreciate it because it turned out to be a pretty great morning. Sometimes the best kind of expectations to have are none at all.