Art Day

The girls were working on an art project today.

Actually they have been working on this one for about three months now but yesterday I kicked it into high gear. Chloe asked a friend of mine who does mosaic art work if he had any left over supplies that she could work with. He happily lent her some, and she and Alexa sketched out pictures and started it. Then she stopped. They both did. And this bin of supplies sat on my floor for about three months. "It was a lot harder than I thought it would be she told me." And it was. They both had sketched really small pictures- even though I had suggested just creating a simple big design. They quickly became frustrated with the attempts to find the right shape and fit everything where they wanted it. This were set aside and all but forgotten I think until yesterday. Yesterday I stubbed my toe on the box and announced that either they were finishing these things or I was handing back the box. One way or another I was clearing it out. Well they decided to take a putty knife and scrape off (OK I did that part) the original attempts and start over with something bigger. The result was MUCH less frustration and after two days Chloe has hers all pieced together and Alexa is well on her way.

I don't know why no one listens to me about these things.

Gardening Season

Alexa wanted to grow vegetables this year. Not just tomatoes but lots of vegetables. This sounds like a simple enough request, just put in a garden. It isn''t so easy though if you live in an old neighborhood in Burlington. In a house with a nice big backyard that has seen years of use. I took some soil samples last year and sent them to the UVM (University of Vermont) agriculture department for analysis. The results came back much as I had suspected they would... high lead levels. You see, my house was built in 1894. Lots of years of lead paint and lead paint removal over those years has led to contaminated soil. So for us to have a garden puts all of us at risk of lead exposure. I decided not to risk it and opted to build a raised bed garden so that I could bring in good soil. Fortunately, I, myself, did not do the actual building. Instead I hired my friend Jason who has moved back to Vermont and is starting his own handyman business. He built me this...great huh? It of course was lacking on key thing. Dirt. For about two weeks now it has made a lovely smelling (made from cedar) lawn ornament. Suitable for small dogs to run around in.

Well, today I received my delivery of two cubic yards of dirt. Nice compost from the Intervale made for raised bed gardens. The nice man in the dump truck arrived this afternoon and dumped it right here...
at the end of the drive way. Which is a very long way from where I had the garden built. So I had to make friends with Mr. Shovel and Mrs. Wheel barrel.

It was a a nice bonding session as we hadn't spoken much over the last few years. It was also nice that my friend Jason decided to stop by and pick up his plants off my deck that I had been storing for him today. He felt compelled to help my shovel dirt. Now the garden looks like this...

Which is good because I noticed that one of Alexa's tomato plants already has a blossom.

She is going to need to start her planting this weekend.

Art Arrival

A few weeks back Alexa created a picture. I scanned this picture and sent it off to my friend Jason. He has been diligently working to recreate this art piece as a mosaic for Alexa. Well, today, it arrived.

She is so excited to have it. We were looking at all the details, and I mentioned to Alexa that Jason said this piece was a real challenge for him. She said, "Aw, I should have made it easier so it wasn't so hard for him to do."

I told her I didn't think Jason minded because I made him try out some new things and learn to do more tricky things.

She smiled at me and said, "I did it! I made him smarter!" Thanks Jason. It is amazing, and she is trying to decide where she wants to hang it in her room.

A Special Package

We got a rather special package today from my friend Jason. He was kind enough to send Alexa a birthday present. She loved the Angelina Ballerina doll. She put on her new tutu, a birthday present from me, and they danced together.

He also included a new puppy dog for Chloe. She has already begun its training on the dog team. Bu the present that had Chloe most captivated was the mosaic he made for her out of her drawing.

She keeps petting it and is very excited about how it came out.

Thank you Jason, you made their day!

Oh... Christmas Tree

On January 1, 2011, I had enough of Christmas occupying my living room and felt it was time to bid farewell to our tree. Much like Chloe's poem about what happens to a Christmas tree when Christmas is over; it made its way to the curb. We are fortunate enough that our city will pick the trees up and take them to be chipped up for wood chips. Because we still had a fair sized snow bank at the curb side the tree was stuck into the pile. I always like to do that (although Jason did actual removal) as it gives the appearance of a more tree lined street.

This morning when I woke up we had received a few inches of snow over night. Since our city is not terribly quick in picking up the trees left curbside, the tree is still there. I have to say with a nice coating of snow on it, it looks all the more a permanent fixture on the street.

Well, excepting the fact that it is beginning to tip a bit.

Thanksgiving

OK, so I have been holding out on you a bit. I owe about a weeks worth of posts. Things have been rather busy around our little house. We had a lot of company over Thanksgiving which made for a really fun week. Along with the usual turkey and fixings, there were...

Cute, cuddly, little babies named Sam...

piano playing...

tiara adjustments and princess finery...

dance shows...

a lot of taira wearing factored into things...

butterfly sunglasses...

cute, cuddly dogs...

pathetic mooching dogs...

worn out squirrel chasing dogs...

and more cute, cuddly Sam moments.

We also learned a few things. We learned:

• three girls can all sleep in one bedroom and actually mostly sleep
• two little girls can share one bed and actually sleep, if they are properly worn out from a long day
• making a good case for downsizing the McMansions of this world five adults and four children can actually get along in a house just under 1,300 square feet with one bathroom. Although I wouldn't want to test that for too long.
• Grammie Eva will just keep on knitting things for ever if you keep feeding her and giving her access to new yarn. Her week's work: three hats, three pairs of mittens, and one pair of socks. The woman is a machine!
• snow pants are excellent protection for children going ice skating for the first time.
• a scant 1/8 inch of snow can send three children outside on a quest to build a snowman... not terribly successful, but it cleared them out of the house for a bit.
• Three little girls can take a shower at one time and think it is fun too
• four adults working together do not actually know a lot of the crossword puzzle answers

We really enjoyed having everyone. Alexa told me on Sunday, "I am really sad that everyone had to go home." We miss you and are so glad you came. Next time we will make sure to pack in Aunt Andrea and Uncle Ryan. I know they both look great in tiaras.

Pet Sitting

We have a guest at our house for the next few months. A small furry guest named Lucy. Lucy's dad, Jason,  has to travel a lot for work over the next few months and need a place for Lucy to stay. He brought her up from Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend and stayed for a few days to help her adjust. Cabbie and Lucy are getting along quite well, although he is a bit of an attention hog. They are quite a lap-ful when they sit on you together.

Cabbie makes a point to be wherever anyone might be dishing out a few pats.

We do try to make sure that she gets a little attention all to herself.

I mean sometimes you just want someone to lay in a sunny spot with you and show you all the cool toys in the toy catalog.