Happy as a pig in...

I left the house to this - Chava couldn't have been happier having Grumpaw all to herself. When I came home, she was peacefully sleeping in her bed, having given him no fuss whatsoever and thrown nothing over the gate (unlike on days when I try to get her to nap). I am going to offer him a full-time nanny position.

Woodworkers

On Wednesday night, Maddox's class had a sing-a-long. They have been doing a unit on woodworking and adapted a song they all know to reflect what they have been doing in school. The teachers got Home Depot tool aprons and kid-sized safety glasses for each kid (and Chava got her own set, too, which sent her over the moon). It was very cute.

Needs no explanation

Two more by Maddox

Sunday

Sunday involved making "Grammy Yum Yums" and then running around the house, working off the sugar high. Because my mother is a braver woman than I, she got finger paint and the kids enjoyed getting messy. We drove around looking for animals and saw cows, a horse, and llamas. We also visited the Toy Box, which is a great toy store. Finally, we watched about four movies and Maddox checked out the leftist political thinking of his Pioneer Valley relatives.

Visit to Amherst

We had a great time in Amherst. Granted, I had to engage the kids in potty talk for the last 15 minutes of the car trip to keep them from losing their shit (hah) but really, "peanut butter and a poopy diaper!" is tolerable.

Grammy managed to capture the highlights on film.

We started off building some "structures" from marshmallows and candy - Maddox saw this on t.v. and thought it was great. I now realize he really just understood it to be an opportunity to shovel as many marshmallows as he could in to his mouth. (He later got Grammy to play hide'n'seek with him and while she was off hiding, he was in the kitchen sneaking more marshmallows.)














We then spent some time parading around in Grammy's Purim costumes:
































There was an aborted effort at napping in there, too, including a 20 minute car ride for Chava during which she fell immediately asleep only to wake up the minute her body hit the futon. Oh well.



There was bed jumping:



























And the highlight of the trip, roasting hotdogs and (more!) marshmallows in the fireplace:









































After all that excitement, Maddox really needed to kick back in a relaxing bath:














Then we had some reading to do:





































(This last one had me a bit worried it was some old Southern tale with racist underpinnings - luckily, the kids lost interest on the first page.)














That was just Saturday.

My most favorite time of the week

For a while now, we have been lighting the candles and saying the blessings on Friday nights. I love it. Maddox is starting to mumble along with all the blessings, and he likes to pass out the challah. He has also added a glass-clink after we say the blessing over the wine. But my absolute favorite part is right after we light the candles, when Maddox yells out, "Good Shaves!*" and then both he and Chavie pucker up and look around expectantly for a kiss.

*maybe he really means "Good Chivas!" because he takes after Grandmum. Or it's a speech impediment.

My Funny Valentine(s)

Chava, by Maddox














Maddox, by Chava














another shot by Maddox

Quote of the day

Maddox to me at 7 a.m.:

"Mommy, your breasts are floppy."

Thanks, sweetie.

"Grammy is cozy cozy"

That was a direct quote from Chav upon seeing this picture.








Poor Chavie has a double ear infection. She is such a different kid than Maddox - he would have been a mess all weekend as it was developing, and would have slept for only 3 seconds last night. Besides waking up with a fever and needing a dose of Tylenol at 12:30, she pretty much slept through. She was a little clingy this morning, but still playful enough that she was really enjoying the game she made up, called "Wipe my snotty on mommy's shoulder and then tell her to get a tissue to 'cleem up'!"

More last weekend pictures

Last weekend we finally got to Ikea to buy Chavie a "big girl bed." (I'll have to take some pictures of that - very cute and very cozy.) The box from the bed started out as a tent, then morphed in to a tunnel, and finally became a restaurant before I insisted we throw the saggy, sad piece of cardboard out.

Weekend pictures! From a week ago!

Swimming lessons eat up a good part of our Saturday each week. But that's okay, because Maddox can now swim on his own with a noodle tied around him and is ready for the next step - lessons where you goes in the pool without Mom or Dad (yay!). Chava is a crazy woman and jumps in the water whether or not you are prepared to catch her.














Maddox is always a ham.

Brain Dump

I have some pictures in the camera, some cute kids stories, Chava's new bed and Maddox's hair cut to talk about. But we've all been sick this week (including me, now recovering, although now Al is starting to get it) and no one has been sleeping much (although Chava has really enjoyed her Benadryl nights, so I guess she gets the sleeping award). Last night both kids got doped up and everyone slept through the night until about 6:30 this morning. It was delightful and just what I needed to start feeling human again.

My mental health day on Tuesday (and then leaving early on Wednesday AND Thursday) allowed me a guilty pleasure - a little Oprah viewing. Which means that I just ordered this book on Amazon. Because I really do think it's all in how you look at it - I have the life I always wanted (okay, with a little less sleep than expected) and I don't think I'm quite appreciating it enough. I'm sure an Oprah bookclub pick is exactly what I need to turn things around. Stay tuned on that one.