New Year's Trick

Last night we got a wonderful package in the mail! It was full of my Grandma Judy's peppernuts! Now to tell you the truth, this video came into being because Luke's been talking at about 300 decibels for the last three days and my ears hurt. My Dad suggested turning on some music, which we did. But I'm also experimenting with ways of keeping Luke's mouth full, but not his tummy.

Snow Days

see how deep it is here beside the driveway and how high the drift covers the tree?!

It was too cold to play outside for long today, but we definitely need some exercise on these days when we don't leave the house. So we're taking advantage of any slight rise in temperature to get outside and dig around in the snow. I intend to dig tunnels into the drift beside the driveway, out to our mostly buried tree and around it. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Expressions

Oh the moods Luke can express in just a short span of seconds!
We are held in awe.

monday photos

Luke's Christmas gift from Harv and Helene: an easel!

Our neighbor brought the WBS loader over and cleared our driveway one more time.

Can you guess what I got for Christmas?

Christmas Storm

Luke's Bilibo toy is supposed to encourage
children to use their imaginations.
I'm in favor!

This afternoon Derek cleared the snow and we somewhat miraculously made it to our gathering at Winkler Bible Camp, but as you can see, we couldn't get back onto the driveway when we returned! Thankfully we picked up Harv and Helene's old snow blower yesterday (timing,eh?) and it took a matter of minutes for Derek to clear a path wide enough to drive up. James saw us on his way home and stopped to make sure we could get up the driveway and then got stuck in the road himself! See our mucky road?

Derek says he is just grateful it isn't cold out. And you are disbelieving, "It isn't cold?!" Well, it's only around 20 degrees Fahrenheit, which to us feels balmy after our -40 F temps a week or two ago. The wind is powerful and in no time at all the hole is refilling, and we will most definitely have to shovel again tomorrow. You can see the clear patch in front of the garage left from the wind. The snow isn't deep everywhere, it's just drifting. See how our basement windows are entirely covered, and our front porch is also the target of an aggressive drift. Luke loves to watch his Daddy out the front window.

The smell of the snow blower reminds me of summer. Our little bit of Christmas adventure.

Christmas Morning

so much activity! Here's a glimpse.

What are you doing Christmas Eve?

Last night Luke figured out what a pillow is for and kept saying, "I tie-yod" and throwing his head down on the pillow. For a short while we shared a pillow and sang, "No more monkeys jumpin' on the bed!"

I would like to know what all of YOU are doing today! Our day is eventful, and with the snow falling steadily I think I'm catching the Christmas spirit.

We had a birthday breakfast for Derek's Mom this morning, Derek got into a fender bender, we shoveled the driveway, played in the snow, and now Luke is down for his nap before we head out again to Cameryn's Christmas concert at church, and some gift exchanging at Harv and Helene's afterwards. It's a full day, and a beautiful one! The snow is coming down so softly and quickly. It's quiet outside. And for the next hour or two it's quiet inside as well. I'm off to make this afternoon perfect by brewing a pot of tea and reading my book. Merry Christmas Eve!

Cat Nap

Luke is laying in bed crying right now because Baby Cat Gertrude and I just left his room so he can take a nap - by himself. I first put him down for a nap half an hour ago, went to do a load of laundry, did some dishes and was just about to sit down to read my book when I heard Luke saying, "Meow! Meow!" in his high-pitched cat voice. That's when I realized I hadn't seen the cat since lunch. I stealthily crept into his room, hoping he was just talking in his sleep, but this is what I found:

And so they begin

The Christmas gatherings began in earnest on Saturday night. We have another Thursday morning, Thursday evening, Friday morning, Friday evening and Sunday evening! I gotta admit, meeting with a bunch of people who love me and my kid, to eat delicious food that somebody else put a lot of work into is pretty much my ideal way of life. The positive forces in the universe don't nearly often enough conspire to bring these elements all together at once.

First Dentist Visit

This little guy visited the dentist on Friday to have a look at his chipped tooth. The dentist seemed to think the remaining bit of tooth looked healthy and wouldn't need to be capped or removed surgically. We will just wait for it to fall out and a new one to grow in.

Last night I was saying to Derek, "Is it strange that it doesn't feel like Christmas yet?" Four days to go before Christmas and I am in fact feeling a bit Grinch-y, especially when other people are exuberant about the annoying flashing lights that flash in time to a private radio station on Duster Bay (seriously, cars line up along the street and block traffic all the way out to Prairieview Drive until ten or eleven at night! I'd like to say I think it's tacky, but I've driven by once myself and wished I was cheap enough to park and watch like all the other gawkers). Or when Doug mentions he's got two weeks off and I remember the good old days when I had "days off". Yes I'm a little bit grinch-y. But today, listening to my new Christmas CD from Mom, and having picked up some gifts from south of the border wrapped in familiar Christmas paper with tags on them like, "To the best boy in the world, From Grandma", I am, perhaps, starting to feel a little bit of the Christmas spirit.

Connie Nona's Christmas Cookies

What a wonderful visit with Connie Nona yesterday! We stopped in, "For five minutes only" she said, which turned into two hours of visiting. How lovely. I love when Luke gets loved on by his grammies.
Yessir, and you can bet I got the recipe for the delicious morsels of waffledy goodness.
I will share it with you after I've tried it out and have some comments to add.

What HE said

Catch You Up

I've been terribly unmotivated to do anything other than read my book this week (Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett) and haven't been on the computer much. So I apologize for my absence. Today however, was busy. I had Wendy over for coffee and then the neighbor girls came over to make sugar cookies after school. After they left I baked a chicken and made peanut butter balls (I still owe some baking to those burly men who moved our piano!). Now I am tired.

We've been laying low this week, staying out of the cold wind. But today was warmer and we went outside and played in the snow. The snow is very dry and acts almost like sand, so with the help of Jenny and Eileen we buried the lower half of Luke in the snow. Sadly, my camera was inside and by the time I got back out he'd rolled over and out of our snow hill. Luke is also keeping busy taking the vent covers up off the floor and putting things down the pipes like shredded newspaper, the head of the broom, blocks, wipes, socks, and his face. He's also enjoying getting down on all fours to drink out of the cat dish, and climbing up and standing on the kitchen table. Now that we have the piano, we are also spending a significant portion of our day singing and playing.

We were over at Mark and Katie's for dinner last night and their son Jack went to bed before we left. Luke said, "Ni-Night Yuck!" I got a kick out of that. His talking is just amazing. He will repeat entire sentences after me now! When he's on a time out I ask him to "Repeat after me. Don't" dote "Touch" tuch "The" da "Tree" tee. "Don't touch the tree" don' tuch da twee.
I also ask him to repeat nice things like, "I love grandma" and he does it with joy! This evening I made a grumpy Derek smile by asking Luke to pray after me, "Dear God" dear gut. "Thanks" tens. "For" fo. "Sunshine" susha. "And" an. "Daddy" dadd-n. "Amen" A-men!

Sewing Projects

Last week I did a LOT of sewing. This new diaper bag was a rough draft which I am loving just as much as a finished bag. And the other sewing I have to keep a secret until Christmas! But in the New Year I will definitely let you in on the fun we've been having. If you want an easy (seriously - 1 hour from start to finish and a total of $3 spent in materials), fun, cute Christmas sewing project just email me and I will tell you what I've been up to.

So much to say!

First of all, isn't it amazing how children's bodies change so fast and they seem to just roll with the punches? We adults are not nearly so accepting and willing to "move past it". Luke chipped his front tooth Saturday night and I cried more than he did! I mourned the loss of his perfect, beautiful little smile...until he smiled again and reminded me that teeth are not what makes the smile beautiful - it's joy that makes the smile; and this little guy has abundant joy! I joked later that he was hoping for a percentage from the tooth fairy. Don't get too eager Luke.

Secondly we moved furniture this weekend, as you can see above (click the picture to see up close). And we had Dan, Jen and Mara over for supper (they arrived moments after the fateful fall). Mara and Luke were the amazing dancing diaper duo! Such smart children we have, and they've definitely got the beat.

Lastly, I'd like to report that "Nook", as he calls himself, asked to "go poop" last night. We got a toilet seat topper for him a few weeks ago, but we haven't started training him. We just let him sit up there whenever he asks. Well, last night when we put him on the toilet he actually went poop!! We are so proud. After he wiped, he flushed and put his small toilet seat down on the floor and asked to wash his hands. I don't know any other 18 month old children as amazingly intelligent as Nook - I mean, Luke. They say that there are smarter children out there, but I don't think they exist.

Dolly Walk

Yes, our son has a doll.
Yes, he likes to brush her hair.
Yes, he gives her kisses.
Yes, I bought this doll for my son.
Yes, he drags her around by her hair saying, "Come Daya!".
Yes, I think it's adorable.
Yes, they have a special relationship.
No, it's not like that.

What I've been busy with

I just love the creative, design aspect of my job as a photographer. I love taking the pictures, but I have also really come to love "working the photos" after wards. It satisfies a creative, artistic, part of me that nothing else does (partly because I'm not GOOD at anything else?). Here are this week's achievements (I can't take credit for the photos in the top card, just the design...although I did fiddle with the photos a bit to make them a little more "card friendly". But the bottom card is mine from start to finish.)

Snug as a bug in a rug

It's been getting mighty chilly outside (yesterday was around -35 with the windchill!). But we have managed to keep cozy, and enjoy the winter outside our windows. We've ventured out twice for groceries etc, but for the most part we are happy with our books and blankets, and the occasional visitor. We have birds on our deck that come to push the snow off the bird feeder, and we haven't seen the rabbits yet, but the evidence of their visits is a tremendous mosaic across our back yard. But best of all is when Luke's Daddy comes home for lunch.

My Christmas present from Derek.

Our newest piece of furniture, and by far the heaviest. This 130 year old piano is joining the ranks of our old, character-filled furniture. I am so pleased that our son will learn to make music on a beautiful old beast just like I did. Thanks Derek and (former?) friends for moving such a monstrous instrument into our home!

Can you guess what we're getting him for Christmas?

Stanley Skywalker Comic Strip: Episode the First

Another blue, snowy day around here and thankfully Luke and I have very little on our to do list. We are coasting into this hectic time of year and taking advantage of "the calm before the storm" by watching Christmas movies and staying in our pajamas until noon. Ah.