Beds are for jumping...but where do you sleep?

The boys have been working on some interesting places to sleep lately. Particularly our little J-man. When we were staying with Cliff's folks, the boys had taken to sleeping under the desk, next to the sewing table, or in the closet of the room they were in. Anywhere but actually on the air mattress or in the bed.

We have two beds for the boys here at the new place. Liam has his old loft bed and Jonah has a regular twin. The beds have been placed on opposite ends of the room so as to discourage bedtime hijinx (not that it works...but you know making effort and all). So under Liam's loft has become the fort and with all the stuff in their room at the moment (bins and things), they've really made some tight quarters. One night I came in and found Jonah sleeping in the middle of the floor on the foam mats under nothing but a flannel sheet. Another night he was under Liam's bed sleeping on the box my wedding gown is stored in.

Today he's been asking to sleep under the kitchen table. When I said that maybe on a night where he doesn't have to go to school the next day, he seemed to concede. So this afternoon I took the baby up for a nap. I may have dozed for a minute or two but I woke to the phone ringing. I came down to answer, and while flipping through the menu to look at the missed calls, I couldn't help but hear heavy, even breathing. I looked in the fireplace room -- nothing. I looked in the family room -- nothing. I came back to the kitchen and it got louder. Under the table, on the hardwood floor with nothing but a flannel sheet and his pillow, snoozed Jonah.

I didn't catch it on film before he woke up (the phone rang a third time and I actually got it...). Our new schedule of getting up and driving to school every morning (more stuff for another post) and getting used to being in the new house is wearing our little man out. Just the other day I caught this:

Just a few minutes previous to this picture, he was humming jingle bells to himself and pushing the trucks on the table. Maybe we all need a little more afternoon napping.

Wildlife

Now that we're in the new house, I'm still getting adjusted to the feel of the place. The kitchen is definitely the heart of this home. When you walk in the front door, it's directly ahead, welcoming you in. I've felt the need to be cooking and baking more now that we have appliances, which means there may also be inviting smells to bring you in too.

Our kitchen and dining area face the back of the house and our lovely back yard. Just before we first moved in, I was moving things around and glanced out the dining room window. Four deer moved in quick procession along the side yard and through the back yard off into the neighbors trees. Since moving in, there has been a repeat performance in the opposite direction of five deer. I love that I can look out the window and I just might see some wildlife right outside. We also have many of the birds typical to this area. It seems there are more chickadees here than the cheeky little house sparrows that I'd grown to love at our old place.

The view out our kitchen window

The snow has proved to be very interesting in all of this. Something of the four-legged variety with paws (seems bigger than a cat), makes a daily trudge through our yard, always following the same path right up near the dining room door and around the deck. I keep hoping I'll catch a glimpse but no luck yet. The only way I know that it's been through are the fresh tracks in the snow. It doesn't take long for fresh, pristine powder in our back yard to become riddled with tracks and paths made by little creatures. A bunny left little paw prints in the snow on our front porch last weekend and before the snow started melting yesterday, there were tracks going along the back trees, through the yard, and along the fence. I know for certain that they all belonged to quadrupeds and not my little bipeds, as their activity has been restricted to shoveling the snow in the front of the house.

What are you sneaky little thing?

Cute overload

Getting ready to leave to teach, so gonna have to be short. Went to the thrift store last week and got a few things for the girl. Little corduroy jumper dresses and a pair of pink leather mary janes that were just the right size. One of the jumpers matched a tee that I'd gotten the last time I thrifted for her. She's got 4 teeth through now, and it seems she may have my gap between the front two (well...like I had when I was little anyway. I'll have to dig up the pic.)

Been playing with the new camera some too. So here are some cute pics to brighten your day. Well...they did mine, anyway. Have other things to post about but not enough time to do it. Go figure.

Big girls get cake

Back again for my once monthly post. I'm hoping now that posting will start to become more regular. We are officially in the new house as of last weekend (I was adamant that we were in before the new year) and finally starting to get settled in. Still many boxes to move around, much purging that has been done (and more to do), but all in all, it seems to be turning out.

Christmas was not as great as some years past, as I came down with the that killer cold virus mere hours after scoring my first two goals in soccer the Saturday before Christmas. I was completely down with fever, chills, aches, cough, etc., for 4 days before I felt even halfway human. By down I mean must lay down all day can't even knit sick. So I got it on Saturday, Liam got it on Christmas eve, Miss C. came down Christmas Day, Jonah had a variant of it the same time Liam did (though it didn't slow him down as much...something about the orneriness of that boy), Cliff had a variant of it the day or two after Christmas, and MIL also came down with her usual upper respiratory stuff after Christmas. We all managed to get through thanks to everyone chipping in. Needless to say, I was so sick that being in the house before Christmas wasn't going to happen. But now we're here and all is well.

The new year has been ushered in with plenty of excitement. Our little baby is not such a baby now. Our Roo turned 1 yesterday, and to celebrate, I whipped up a cake. I've only ever once before tried to make a cake from scratch, and the last cake I made was less than stellar. I thought I'd try my hand at a red velvet cake, so I scoured the internets for a decent recipe. Luckily, I had most everything on hand, though I didn't have enough red food coloring to get the truly red color. I frosted it with cream cheese frosting (yum), and here is the resulting cake...with one candle for the girl.


She seemed to enjoy the cake, even though it wasn't the best cake ever. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't fantastic. It was all about the process for me. Miss C. never did get all covered in cake, as she was very carefully eating it with one hand (and fork).

Mmmm...might have to go have a piece....

So what has our girl learned to do this year? Well...all the usual baby things like rolling over and sitting. She's been walking now since the beginning of November and has added dancing to her repertoire. Dancing involves spinning in a circle with hands outstretched while clicking her tongue. Sooooo cute. She can wave bye-bye and use her hands to tell you when she wants more. She's said mama, dada, can call for the boys, and generally gets her point across despite her limited vocabulary. She loves oatmeal and hot showers and she's not allowed to date till she's at least 20. All around she's this energetic, sweet little person that we're all growing fonder of each day.