Coen is Funny

Despite everything going on Coen makes me laugh everyday.

Tonight he is playing a game we will call "I rescue him". He keeps taking his bear and putting it in peril. He then tells me "Mommy hang on tight" and drapes his body over my arm, reaches down and grabs his bear. Then he screams "I rescued him, I rescued him!". After about 50 times of this he then shook things up doing it with a bucket over his head. I tried to convince him that dads make good cranes to- to no avail. Apparently only mothers can be rescue cranes.

Last week we went to Darren and Tisha's to introduce ourselves to Tanner. He and Beckett hit it off and were instant best friends. Witness the love.

Yes, yes I am working on editing the rest and will post them when I finish. Get off my back people (I am referring to the guilt inducing people in my head).

Here is the sweater. Joan and Anna came to play Rumicube and Monopoly today. How lucky am I that I get to hang with these two cute girls. Oh- Joseph was here too and he and Coen fought the entire time. That was less fun.

Why Blogger Why- for no reason you turn pictures upside down- Why?

Musings

We live just down the street from an old cemetery. Often the boys and I ramble around in the afternoon. I just love an old cemetery. I think this in genetic- my grandmother loved an old cemetery. She used to go "meandering" with all of us kids piled into her giant Pontiac. She would just drive, down any dirt road, take any turn that struck her fancy, just spend the afternoon getting lost. She always stopped at an old cemetery. She would also take us to see our relatives- definitely on Memorial Day and Veterans Day as well. So I am inclined to spend time wandering around a cemetery and I just love that there is one just across the street. My favorite of all cemeteries is the little country cemetery in Tipton, in the middle of farm fields and a little bench sits next to a row of junipers pointed in the sky. I can't go home with out a little stop in this sacred spot to sit and talk with Micheal and now Grandma as well.

The cemetery across the street is a wonderful one. Crumbling around the edges, the woods slowly creeping in along the borders, weather worn tombstones, creeping vines, and old iron work. Anyways, a couple of the tombstones stood out to me. One was made of granite and shaped like a tree trunk of a pine tree, about 3 feet tall. On the top it said "Here lies a woodsman of the world" on the trunk a dove with an olive branch and resting against the trunk an ax and a mallet. Interesting. Any thoughts on the meaning? Also two sweet ones- this one for a toddler "Our son, our only son is gone, his sweet voice is stilled, a place is left in our hearts, that never can be filled." and in a family plot one that only said "Blessed Mother".

We Laughed and Laughed and an Awwwe Moment

So tonight we were watching 24 and Alma said "Oh Jack don't use your powers for evil" and I said "Honey this is the way of the 24- Jack uses his powers for evil for good- and then evil for good inside some evil." and we laughed and laughed and laughed. Uhm- maybe it isn't as funny now as it was then.

Today Joseph spent the day with us. He is so sweet. He and Coen just played and played. During Coen's nap Joseph was sitting on our bed and I put Beckett on his lap and Joseph put his little cheek next to Beckett and said "I just love him so much", Beckett then jumped around like crazy and Joseph looked up with his huge toothless grin and said "And he loves me!"

So that is my day. I know I haven't written much- but for many reasons our life is in turmoil and it is just a little too much for me.

Insanity

Insanity is staying up until 1:30 am so you can finish a sweater for your little sister's best freind's doll. Total insanity- even crazier to stay up a little longer so the doll can have matching leg warmers. Now I go off to bed to lay down my crazy little head. Gee- I sure love Anna and Joan. Happy Birthday Joan. Maybe if I am not too busy in the morning trying to get to music class and work I will take a picture of the little tiny sweater.

Visit from Becky

Today we are in recovery mode. Lots of laying around, TV and napping. Becky left yesterday and Beckett has a little cold today-so we are spending a quiet day at home.

Last night after Becky left Alma said "Isn't it nice we live with just our family?" and "Two kids and two parents is just right but four kids and four parents is a mess." This isn't to imply that Alma disliked having Becky and Nick here, just after a four days in a house with four children under the age of three you need a little space. In fact, one of the great things about my life is how much Alma and Becky get along now. She gets his humor- and he likes her brains. Nick fits in well too. It is just great to hang out. I like having someone around when Alma starts to spout off about some absurd theory or other- just so I can look over at Becky and give her that look that says see what a crazy I live with. And then Becky keeps debating Alma- humbles him a little (okay nothing really humbles him but at least he is reminded I am not the only one to find his logic lacking, well logic).

So here are some pictures of the fun time together. Susie's kids were here this week so there is a little of every one. They are in no particular order and cover park, sledding, and Beckett pulling himself up to stand for the first time, yeah! There are tons of pictures- for those of you who care.

Christmas Crafts

So here are some of my favorite of the Christmas crafts. These are the little trees I made Becky and Susie for Christmas. They were inspired by the first Christmas decoration our Grandparents bought when they were newlyweds. I got to use diamond dust- which was tons of fun. And yes this is what I needed the vintage sequins for.

These are for a craft only partially finished- I will have to do the rest next year. I spelt out the phrase Peace on Earth and put some coordinating paper behind these globes. I have some great blue and gold ribbons that I am planning on twining through a garland and hanging these from it with some matching little ribbon. I just never got the garland. That's okay it will be fun to put together next year.

Here are some close ups of the blocks I showed earlier. I wanted to show the back ground paper and the tree that according to my darling dearest "just ruined it all".

These are the ornaments I made for my cousins. These were a lot of fun if you want to know how to make them I will do a tutorial if any one asks. I only had a few left to take pictures of but I did all different styles. Modern polka dots- vintage santas. And all sorts of decorations in the center- from glitter snowflakes to epoxy reindeer. I was really happy with how these turned out- especially as they were completely my brain child.

So after working like a crazy person- I finally got the house cleaned and ready- the Brown family rolled in and now I'm wondering- why exactly did I do all this? Because here is my house right now: