The Snow Break

Everyone was watching the weather for Friday.  The blizzard was supposed to start during the day sometime.  At school, we were preparing the kids with a bit of work for them to do, assuming we'd likely be out Friday and maybe some the next week.

But Wednesday night, after dinner, Lar took Abigail to karate and within an hour, a sheet of ice was precipitated and then snow began falling, fat and fast, on top of it.  Karate is 1.5 miles away and Larry was worried about making it home.  These "light flurries" (as they had been called in the forecast that morning), put us out of school starting on Thursday.  We found a lot to do with the kids inside.  We had to; we had 11 straight days with them, which was only 1 day shorter than our Christmas break this year!

My favorite activity that I did with Abigail was to do a "mommy and me" painting.

My little artist at work

Us with our finished paintings

Another thing that the kids chose to do (a LOT!) was playing in some of their costumes.

The First Snow of the Winter

It isn't much, and it isn't sticking to the ground, but the deck is apparently cold enough to have a dusting of accumulation.  The kids think it is a blizzard, so we'll just go with that!

"Hey Mama, how does Grandma's
Snow Stick work."

"We put it in the ground to see how much
snow we have."

"Oh.  How much do we have?"

"Um, hard so say with the grass in the way."

Christmas 2015

Weather:  warm, nearly 70F, overcast and a bit rainy

Location:  the farm, western PA

From Santa:  Abigail got a tiny hedgehog stuffie, Joseph got a Blue Angel plane, and together they got a 4-person set of laser tag

Abigail's gifts: Legos, an MP3 player (which we loaded with a variety of music for her, yet she has gravitated towards the Broadway songs we put on it and has been walking around singing from Avenue Q and Book of Mormon), many Star Wars items (classic Han action figure and BB8 stuffie are favorites), t-ball set, Card and Go Seek game

Abigail got to go to a fairly new coffee shop in the town (there certainly was no coffee shop when my brothers and I were growing up there!) with her aunts and uncles, which was awesome to her.  She cherishes experiences with them so much more than gifts they give her.  The experiences (hot cocoa at the coffee shop, learning to play checkers, playing laser tag, watching her brother fall in the creek) are what she is still talking about several days later.  

Joseph's gifts:  Legos, a camera (it is SO adorable watching him taking pictures of everything), many Star Wars items, a kids' drum set (click here for a 30 second video), a lunch box (he has been so jealous of Abigail's), Good Night Construction Site PJs and Excavator stuffie 

My family put up with me trying to capture a new family picture to include Joseph.  The weather and lighting were weird and it was beyond muddy, but we did it.  

The Bittersweet:  My parents are saying this is the last Christmas at the farm.  I want them to live closer to me, closer to their 2 grandkids.  But I don't want to lose the farm. I cannot imagine Joseph never remembering it or Abigail pining for it.  I want the kids to grow up knowing the magic and beauty of that land, the woods, the creek, the quiet.  I wish we could just do a farm-transplant to Virginia.  

listening to music while waiting for everyone to
wake up and come downstairs 

taking 100 pictures while waiting for everyone to
wake up

hot cocoa at the coffee house

we were lucky to have such nice weather on Christmas
Day so Joseph could take tractor rides and Abigail
could play in the woods

Christmas #2 at our own home

J'adore

Good-bye Terrible Twos

Happy Birthday, Little Guy!

As we finish your week-long birthday celebration, your Baba and I are amazed at your sudden on-set of a LOT of words being put together into LONG sentences.  You really have a lot to say and you desperately want us to understand you and we are absolutely trying!  Your mind is sharp and your problem-solving skills are great.  Right before your 3rd birthday you asked me for your toy broom.  I got it from the closet for you and you handed back the dustpan, saying that you didn't need it.  Then, I watched in amazement as you went beside the couch, laid on your belly, and stuck your broom under the couch to sweep out a toy you had lost under there!  Clever, clever little boy, we love you so much!

You are handsome and funny.  You still think your sister is the most amazing person in the world.  You asked for a birthday party with "candy, cake, ice cream and juice."  You picked out a box of Skittles at the store several weeks ago to be your birthday present and it stays in the closet and when you see it you point to it and say "my birthday" because you are demonstrating your first delayed satisfaction.  (You are sometimes mean to the dog: she is not a football.)  Your facial expressions while you tell a story are priceless.  You can never get enough YouTube.  For two weeks, you have slept until 5 in the morning.

The world can learn a lot from you.  Well, at least I certainly can.

Be silly. 

Be cuddly.

You don't always need to speak with words out loud to communicate.

Greet the people you love with abandon. 

Be empathetic.

Share your stuffies. 

Lavish your loved ones with tight hugs and sloppy kisses.

Read a lot of books.  

Use up all of your energy every day and collapse into bed knowing you had a full day.  (I do that too, buddy.)

Dream big: get big ideas and try to carry them out.

I hope the very best for your 4th year on this planet, that you are safe, healthy, and secure.  Many happy returns on your birthday, Joseph!

Abigail: Best Kid Ever

Abigail continues to amaze us daily with her kindness, creativity and dry sense of humor (often times it is complexly tannin-like dry, although at other times, it does enjoy a good fart or boogie joke). She is an AMAZING big sister, with lightning-fast problem-solving skills and we adore her.

For example, the other day, Joseph had his last speech therapy in his current program (he is aging out). Suzanne, his speech therapist, suggested we get him to practice controlling his air better, such as having him puff out his cheeks full of air and holding it. Three adults couldn't get Joseph to do this if our lives depended on it. But later that evening, I causally mentioned to Abigail that it would be great if she could get him to puff out his cheeks with air, she turned away from me as if she hadn't paid attention to anything I said. But without missing a beat, she went to the playroom and said "Hey Joseph, we are going to pretend we are under the ocean..." and for the next 5 minutes she had him practicing the air thing!  


Again, today, she used her allowance to buy a new toy she really wanted.  Then she let Joseph sleep with it tonight, telling him that he could have the first turn.  

With all the talk of thankfulness this month, I don't know what Larry and I did to deserve this child in our lives!

An Abigail Update, on the Eve of Her Sixth Birthday

"Now We Are Six"

When I was one,
I had just begun.
When I was two,
I was nearly new.
When I was three,
I was hardly me.
When I was four,
I was not much more.
When I was five,
I was just alive.
But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six
now and forever.

 Author: A.A. Milne


Abigail has been looking forward to turning 6 all month.  Once we flipped the calendar over from September to October, she announced it was her Birthday Month.  The she lost another tooth, we all blinked, and the month is just about over.  

She had her first nervous day of first grade on September 8th.  Her teacher is a lovely, no-nonsense veteran with a style that reminds us of my dear mother in law, Kathleen Crosswell.  If only Kathleen were still around: she was my go-to source for "what the heck is going on with my kid" since she was a genius about children, whom she called "little ones" in the plural. I think she would like who Abigail is becoming.

First day of First Grade

Abigail is a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do.  Karate nights are difficult in our house:  Abigail gets home from school at 4 and usually is asleep by 7 or a few minutes after.  That gives us only 3 precious hours together every evening, (well, 2 and a half really, because we watch a friend of Abigail's until 4:30 every day because her parents work later than we do) and even fewer hours on karate nights.  And that 2 and a half hours has to include feeding the kids, bathing the kids, bedtime, and homework.

Currently, Abigail's favorite:
color is turquoise, movie is Lion King, drink is juice, book is Harry Potter, restaurant is IHOP, outdoor activity is playing with her brother, indoor activity is painting, outfit is collar-shirts, song is Let It Go, food is spaghetti and meatballs and dumplings, snack is Rice Krispy Treat and best friend is Aniyah.  She also says that "Joseph is my best-est friend ever."  Her nicknames are Abbers, Abs, and Jie Jie.  

She gets a weekly allowance of a dollar, which, together with money she gets from grandparents or the tooth fairy, she uses to buy clothes (she only has to pay half), toys to share with her brother, or small toy horses. She knows Hamilton is on the the 10 dollar bill and Washington is on the 1. She loves Broadway. She has lost 3 teeth and a 4th is wiggly.  It cannot be overstated how much she adores her brother and what best friends they are.    

Sunday Snapshots: Pumpkin Patch

They did this jump castle slide
for about 25 minutes.  Over and Over and over.

Jos and Abigail with cousin Zoey: a big pile of Asian kiddos in the
jump castle.

More Asian cutie mosh pit action in the jump castle!