He's got rhythm

Siiiiiiick

It's unfortunate that parents don't really get sick days.

I'm sick. It's not a bad cold, just congestion and a sore throat, but it would be great if I could nurse myself back to health without also needing to meet the needs of others. I hope the husband makes some yummy soup for dinner tonight and that I'm all better soon!

How does my garden grow?

When we planted veggies in our garden we broke the rules and planted outside before Mother's Day. I mean, really, what do farmers do?! So I was thrilled to see signs of life out there!!

Free-Range Kids

I just finished the book Free-Range Kids and I have to say, it's pretty genius! The concept of trusting your kids to play right outside the house while you read a book or work on something inside is something I wanted to be able to do but couldn't wrap my head around. I wanted to trust Jack enough to let him play close by 'unsupervised' but society says I shouldn't do it because it would make me a bad mother. This book spoke to me about how and why we could trust our kids. Empowering them doesn't mean we're endangering them (this is so obvious to say but to actually say "Hey, 3-year-old recently-toddler baby of mine, go forth and play. I trust you not to run away, or somehow get hurt while not under my constant vigilant supervision." That's a whole other thing.

As I type this Jack is playing in the sandbox outside and I'm sitting on the couch inside while Henry plays. I can hear Jack, occasionally I'll poke my head out to see that he's there but I'm not actively watching him. We talked about staying close to the house, coming when he's called and staying AWAY from the storm drain (I mean, hello! Did we learn nothing from baby Jessica!)

This is great because Jack is happy to get some time in his sand box. Henry is happy to play without being harassed. And I'm happy because they're happy.

Bigger than that- this is another thing I felt like I had to wait for. When we were trying to sell our house I felt like I couldn't learn to use my sewing machine because I needed a craft room to use it. I couldn't put Henry in cloth, I couldn't make preserves, I couldn't line-dry our clothes because we needed a house not a townhouse to do all those things. Also on the list was let Jack play. I clearly needed a fenced yard in order to let Jack (and eventually Henry) play outside. I'd be a derelict if I let him play outside unconfined.

Not so!

Henry showing off his prototype diaper. I'll make a few changes to the design but over all I'd call it a success!

Dino-mite!

Henry's First Birthday was a blast!I made a happy birthday banner, which will now be used for years to come, assuming I don't misplace it!The pteranodon's flew in for the event.Henry loved the balloons!Snack table all set up. Apparently my party signs are famous ('famous' might be an exaggeration...). I'm not going to lie- I love coming up with how I'm going to label the food. I usually laugh out loud while I'm making these signs!

I made 2 types of sub sandwiches: chicken and cheese for the Carnivores and hummus with sprouts for the Herbivores. Henry's Cupcake!Om nom nomnom nom nom.We were excited to have a pair of party-crashers Lindsey and Cady made an appearance so we got a pic of the Ladies night crew reunited! Good times.We also had a little Phi Sigma Pi family reunion (my big and my littles) so we took a pic of the 'family' with the next generation! Left to Right: Jack, Henry, Me Josh, Jen, Andrew, Jen, Brody (in front), Bella, Heidi, Tara

Roar!!

Happy Birthday, my sweet little boy!!

Success?

I cannot believe I made a diaper! My littlest guy is going to have the cutest fluffy booty. And I made it!

Today we'll find out if A. it fits and B. if it leaks. Wish me luck!

A year ago tonight I went into labor in my yoga class. And then I gave birth! And then I met my Henry! It was awesome!!

You would think, with today being April Fools...

That I'd have a good "gotcha" story.

I was reading Free Range Kids as recommended by Rixa at Stand and Deliver. Because I'm feeling crampy and sluggish this morning, I was relaxing on the couch while the boys played so nicely together. Jack told me that the kitchen was the storage room. And they were doing 'constructions'. "Cool!" I said. Oh, man, I was so wrong. It's so not cool!Why does Jack look so pleased with himself? After a few minutes of quiet reading and play Henry came crawling back into the living room. His chin and hands and pants were totally white. WHITE? Had they been putting holes in the drywall? What was that white stuff. I jump off the couch and run into the kitchen.

This photo was taken after I'd cleaned up about 50% of the mess.

I find Jack standing paintbrush in hand painting the pantry door with Killz Primer (acrylic based, in case you're wondering). Somehow I manage to keep my head, which is so not typical me, and I say "Okay, nobody move! Jack come stand over here." Hmmm... "I understand those orders are mutually exclusive so please come stand over here so Mommy can do clean up."

"I'm just painting the door, and the table."

"I know, and you did a good job but now it's time to clean up." How am I going to clean this up? I immediately thought about just burning down the house and starting over. Too wasteful. Then I grabbed some Clorox wipes (also pretty wasteful, but I was desperate!) and got to work.

It's coming up. Oh thank God, it's coming up! Now it's not coming up! Some of this is dried on already!

::phone dialing::

"Hey, honey, how would you get primer off the hardwood?"

"Um... why?"

"Jack painted half the kitchen."

"Mineral spirits. On the utility sink. Go! Go! Go!"

"I'll call you in 5 minutes with an update."

We are nothing if not efficient.

Turns out mineral spirits and Clorox wipes and soap and water was all I needed. The kitchen is now actually cleaner that it was before it happened.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Henry's clothes.

So who's idea was this?

Well, they've got that whole solidarity thing down.

This might be weird but I'm most impressed by the fact that Jack used a flat head screwdriver to take off the lid. Found 2 paintbrushes (one for Henry). And managed not to get any paint on himself.

Henry was another story.