POW - February

February Picture of the Week Assignments:

Composition:  Repetition and Patterns in Nature

River Valley just outside of Devon

Composition:  Manmade Repetitions and Patterns

a series of hand-cut dovetails (part of the dresser Justin is making for me)

Composition: Minimalism

Composition: Odd Numbers

We can only submit one picture per assignment -- these were a few others I took for this one that I liked:

substitution: big red car

Maklin has "guys."  Stuffies that he always sleeps with, and often have to sit in certain places to watch him eat breakfast, etc.

At nap-time today, we were at Lulu & Baba's, and we forgot to bring his guys.  While this doesn't seem like the cuddliest substitution - it was just fine for Mak to snuggle up with Lightning McQueen (aka 'Big Red Car' as Mak calls him) - wheels pressed into his face and all!

seahorse

"With a gentle squeeze, this cuddly friend glows and plays soft music, lullabies and soothing sounds of the ocean. After five minutes the music fades, lights dim and baby drifts to sleep." - from the box of the Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse.  


We thought this was hilarious when we read it.  BUT:  Maklin really liked it (this was a gift from Nana & Grampa when he was a baby), and Maeyer LOVES it!  AND -- it's true.  She's not dependent on the seahorse to go to sleep, but if we turn the seahorse on, she settles in, snuggles up, and goes to sleep within minutes.  Adorable ... and THANK-YOU Fisher Price!

Happy 60th Birthday Baba!

Yes -- this photo is focused on the bouquet of PRUNES!  hahaha

Baba turned the big 6-0 on the 15th.  Tonight we had a party for him.  When we asked him what he wanted to have for his party, he said "mashed potatoes".  Man did we deliver!

The meal mainly consisted of a few different types of mashed potatoes (whipped potatoes, mashed potatoes with kale, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and coconut mashed potatoes) and a ridiculous number of toppings:  chili, cheeses, sauces, gravies, pickes/olives, salsa, nuts, veggies ... we may have over did it a little (and we pared down our list, I swear!).  We also had salads, vegetables, potato buns, and roast beef.

I was heavily involved in the cooking/serving, plus nursing/changing/carrying Maeyer, keeping an eye out for Mak, and well, just enjoying the party!  Which means,  I somewhat shirked my duties of taking pictures (and sadly didn't get any of the potato spread ... it was quite something!)

Dessert was also mashed potato themed:
1) bounty bars (made with mashed potatoes, icing sugar, and coconut)
2) chocolate cake (with mashed potatoes and mashed potato icing)
3) sweet potato cheesecake

Mak helping blow out the candles.

Mae visiting with Auntie Ruth.

Everyone deep in discussion over the "Menno quiz" questions.

only have eyes for you

Happy Valentine's Day!

(I'm not even going to pretend I can get a pic of Mae in a shirt free from drool and/or spit-up these days!)

This was the very best of trying to get a shot of them together.   It doesn't so much say "Happy Valentine's Day" as "Mama!  Do I really have to be in a picture with (him/her)?"  Mak's bedhead is pretty awesome too ...

has spring sprung??

Hard to say whether the birds know something we don't ... or if mother-nature has tricked them!

We have a big backyard with big trees.  Every spring we have a week or two where we can sit and watch the swarms of Cedar Waxwings munch on all the berries (and make a huge mess of the backyard).

This year, the birds came early!  For the past week we've had visits from them - phenomenal sight to see so many birds!  It's a slightly less version of how I picture locusts ... you can actually watch the berries being stripped from the trees.

It's the beginning of Feb, and we were standing out on the deck - dressed like this watching the birds!  (OK - it wasn't quite nice enough for no pants ... but it was ok for a few minutes!  Mak was SO excited!!  He was asserting his belief that all birds say, "chickadee-dee-dee".  :)

Sportball

In addition to the library and gymnastics, Mak is now taking Sportball on Saturday mornings with Dadda (and thrilled that he gets to do it with Dadda!!).  It's a neat program: each week they are introduced to a new sport and do little activities that present very basic foundation movements of said sport - but in a way that makes sense to 2-year olds.  Oh -- and they get to run around a lot!

This week, in the car on the way there we were guessing which sport we'd play today.  I guessed basketball ... Mak said tennis.  He was right!

Even though he was busy ... Mak ran over to say hi to Mae and tell her what he was doing.  How sweet!