Utter Disaster....

..... is what happens when mommy finally catches up on Downton Abbey.




Not to mention the baby feels free to graze on crayon-laden carpets.

Thank goodness Season Two is over. Now back to life.

Muck Raking

I swept my kitchen on Saturday, y'all.



As in Saturday 48 hours ago, not Saturday 10 days ago. I've been thinking I will leave the pile there and maybe it will make an impression on the boys. They will see it and become so overwhelmed with remorse that they will promise never to make a mess again. Good idea? No, you're probably right. They would shuffle right through it unawares, and what doesn't get kicked back to where it was a few moments before, would probably end up in the baby's mouth.

Do you ever let something like a pile of dirt shape your thinking for an hour or two? Suddenly it mirrors all the things in your life that are unfinished, thankless, needing to be done again tomorrow. It signifies all the frustrations you have during the day with your naughty little boys who peel all the onion papers off 10 lbs of onions, shred the cotton off dozens of q-tips, stick stickers all over the furniture, and wipe boogers all over the walls. (sorry to be graphic, but it is cold season around here.)

Have you ever seen the movie Amelie, where the guy she wants to meet is late, and within 30 seconds, she has concocted a dreadful history in her head about what might have happened to him? I think he ended up in her imagination as an exiled sheep-herder in Afghanistan or something. My imagination went a little wild with that dirt pile tonight, and suddenly all the little problems and difficulties in my life became a looming mountain- perhaps in Afghanistan somewhere- who knows.
I knew in the back of my mind all of the reasons why I should be thankful for that pile, for the little onion-peeling hands that more often than not fill my life with gladness. But sometimes I have to remind myself not to be like the man in Pilgrims Progress who spent his days bent over, raking muck, while the joys of earth and heaven went by unheeded around him.
I really didn't mean to pontificate like this over my nightly sweepings, but jotting it all down on 'paper' helps ground me back in reality. And perhaps tomorrow I will joyfully help create the snowstorm made out of q-tip heads and wipe the runny noses before grubby fingers beat me to it. Just so long as they leave the onions alone.

Where there's a will.....

"Mommy, will you peel my orange for me?"

"Not right now Etienne, mommy's busy. And you know how to do it yourself."

"Yes, but I always squirt juice in my eye when I do it."

"Well, give me a minute and I can help you."

Apparently a minute was more than he could stand waiting for his orange, because I found him engaged in peeling it a short while later- with protection.




You can imagine the pride I felt in seeing this child of mine improvise a squirt shield out of my clear plastic quilting ruler. I raced for my camera to capture such an innovative moment. Move over Thomas Edison, here comes my boy.

Ah, the irony

"But mom, I dropped my ball in the mud and just needed to get it clean!"

(I also love that he avoided both door mats but nailed the bath mat and used the toilet to step on instead of the footstool right in front of him.)

January Miscellany

So January went where? Still looking for it. And still trying to remember what we did with it. Oh yes, we did do a few things. I think it was mostly gearing up for the great project- the great work to begin on our huge unfinished house that I haven't blogged about for a few years now because just thinking about it made me a little bit crazy. If you got our Christmas letter, you remember that we received some funds to recommence work on our house. So we have been attempting to begin, but so far it feels like we are spinning our wheels a bit. After several days of cleaning up and organizing and prepping to replace all the wire that was stolen a year or so back, we were broken into again. Thankfully, there was no new wire up yet to steal, but we have had to focus on amping up the security on the house since it is obviously being watched. This may or may not include moving our rottweiler over there, just to introduce him to the neighborhood you know. It definitely includes a fence and security system that will allow us to alert the authorities should someone attempt to break in again.
Another thing we did in order to help simplify our lives was to take James out of school. We debated a lot as to whether or not this would help minimize craziness, but so far we feel we have made the right decision. And James is loving homeschool. Since he is such a fan of filling out papers and getting all his work done right away, it leaves very little for me to do except, of course, put stars on things.



Since we've been slow to get going on the big house, and since it has been the rainiest January that I can ever remember here, I've been a little stir crazy. So I started a few projects. One of those was to attempt a rudimentary mastery of french pastry- again. Many times over the past ten years of life with my pastry-loving husband, I have tried to attain that elusive, ethereal, epitome of baking- the croissant. But after so many failed attempts, I gave it all up in despair. I mean, who can stand all that butter going to waste? But after an inspiring blog post at my new favorite food blog, Annie's Eats, and a sigh of longing from my husband, I tried again. And this time- success! Well, at least the beginnings of success. I was so excited that I made a triple batch of dough (please don't ask me how much butter was contained therein) and froze it in sheets, like the puff pastry you can buy in boxes at the store. I've been playing around with it, and this morning we enjoyed pain-au-chocolat with strawberries. Not bad for a Friday morning.




I also started (and finished) a baby quilt. I love making quilts, but starting a big one always takes over my whole house and my life. So I content myself with baby ones. My mother is an incredible seamstress and makes beautiful quilts for all her grand babies, but that means all the nephews and nieces on my side of the family are taken care of, bedding-wise. So I started making them for the nephews and nieces on Steve's side of the family. It's a nice gift to send since it is lightweight and unbreakable and sometimes needs to be sent as far away as the Indian Ocean. This one is only going as far as the north coast of France for my sister-in-law's third child- a girl.



I delight in making girly things, and I obviously don't get the chance very often.





It turned out to be sort of reversible too, since when I outlined the individual flowers on the front, they are traced on the back too. And I love how the green edging turned out.



Anyways, this kind of thing helps me whenever I get the urge to sigh for frilly dresses and flowery decor, or to repine because the only sewing I do for my boys is patching the knees of tattered jeans.

So I guess that was January. How was yours?

Play Days

It's been a quiet week around here- going nowhere and lots of playing with new stuff. We are resting up for the new year, which looks to be somewhat busier than the norm, which is saying something. But I don't want to think about that 'til tomorrow.

We had a lot of fun picking out Christmas gifts for the boys this year. A few were duds, like the remote control car that died almost instantly and had to be taken back, and the cheap dollar store toys the boys 'bought' for each other and broke within hours. But mom and I picked out this winner months ago when she was in town, and I have been hiding it ever since.





The boys actually love playing with doll houses, but I couldn't find any that weren't pink and frilly. What could be more manly than a rocket doll house with elevator included to transport various astronauts and aliens? And I love that all the boys love playing with it- even the baby.



I also got the boys some little chests with their initials on them, filled to the brim with art supplies. I didn't realize Etienne was really interested in art, but he has hardly stopped coloring since.



The weird thing is, he always colors inside the lines. It's a little unnerving for a four year old.



My favorite gift we got for the boys was the k'nex roller coaster. I enjoyed k'nex when I was a kid, and we have decided to go the k'nex route, rather than legos for our boys (at least at this juncture.) I had been looking for a cool set for a while, and Craigslist had a big roller coaster for a steal, but it was already sold by the time I asked. So I got another one at Walmart- not so impressive, but not too expensive. The day I brought it home, the lady from Craigslist called and told me the first buyer had fallen through and did I still want the bigger roller coaster. I decided to go for it, and hid the other one in the car to take back. Of course I forgot about it, and the kids found it a few days later. They brought it in, raising it high in the air and absolutely ecstatic. It was then my painful duty to tell them we had to take it back. Amidst the tears and wails, I tried to explain to them that they needed to trust that mommy knew best, and they wouldn't be sorry. I think they doubted me right up to Christmas morning. The coaster from Walmart had 400 pieces, the one I got had 2500. And Steve and I had a blast putting it together with them. Granted, it took a couple of days, and it is taking up almost the entire bedroom, but it was worth it. And it actually works!





Steve and I decided not to get each other much this year, but he did buy me these wonderful new shoes.



I just love the cuffs with the buttons!

And my mom got Steve this indoor lemon tree. We hope it will actually produce some fruit, but if not, it's still a lovely little tree and smells great.



We got the pot at the local nursery for five bucks! Couldn't have found a more appropriate one, eh?

So all in all, we had a very Merry Christmas. We are looking forward to 2012, and to putting our poor wilting Christmas tree out of its misery.

Oh, and Santa also delivered a few teeth. Thank You!

Christmas Eve

This year was the first we have ever spent without going home to see my folks and sisters. It was difficult for me in a lot ways, since we have no family in town. I am used to a huge family affair, but we made the best of it and had a sweet time. It was definitely the most laid back Christmas we have ever had, and I sure didn't miss the jetlag. These are some shots from Christmas eve and early Christmas morning. I didn't get a lot of shots of the boys opening gifts after church, since I was trying to rein in the chaos most of the time, but I will try and post some of their gifts at a later date. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!