Two Boys, One funny and One Regular

Kuba was describing our family the other day..."We have 2 girls and 2 boys...one funny boy and one regular." When asked which was the funny boy, he of course confessed. Isn't it interesting how often it seems that the youngest child takes on the comedic role. He's only three and clearly sees himself as the funny one. It's fascinating being a parent.

Life Couldn't Be Better

We visited a friends farm today and the very best part about it was watching the boys jump from bale to bale in the hay barn. It was magic. It was beautiful. The boys were so happy. The bales were stacked in all sorts of piles and heights which only made the jumping experience better. Plus some were a bit jiggly and perched precariously. Serious fun. Take you kids to a hay barn if you haven't yet!

Same A T T I T U D E Different Boy

What is it with my boys sticking their tongues out?

My Advice Is

As Anna was carrying a very tired Kuba up to bed,
I said to her, "My advice is to keep it very calm and soothing."
Kuba raised his head off Anna's shoulder and said
"My advice is...let it be."
This is a quote from his current favorite book, Cock-A-Doodle-Moo by Keith Du Quette.

He has perfect timing.

Concert Night

Anders and Kuba had a school concert the other night and it was fantastic. Each class in the school wrote a song with singer songwriter Jon Gailmor and performed it for the entire community. Jon was a resident artist for nearly two full weeks. The kids loved it and their songs were simply amazing. The boys (and I) are still singing the catchy little tunes three days later. You'll have to search for my very blonde little boys in these photos. Kuba is behind a girl with a pink head scarf, and Anders is sort of in the center of his class. The beautiful sun in the background was made by students in the school as well. It was a stunning night. If you want to see Anders and Kuba singing in the concert click here. This is a 10 minute video. Anders is in Ms. Radley's class(I think it is the second class,) and Kuba is in the pre-school. You'll get a wonderful look at the diversity and brilliance of the children in the boys school. There are over 27 languages spoken and children come from countries all over the world. My favorite song on this video clip is a song performed by the STEP class. This is a class of 16 newly arrived refugee children. The chorus of their song is "Bhutanese, Congolese, Vietnamese too. Burmese, Somalian, we love to learn with you."

Train Tracks

First Coil Pot

Anders and Kuba made their first coil pots today. Totally fun. We went to opening day at the museum and it was wonderful despite the terrible weather. The best part was making these coil pots at a kid friendly workshop. The clay was a white stoneware and it was so soft it made it easy to work with. Both kids were so absorbed that we stayed late and were the last to leave. We helped do clean up and the artist gave us about 10 pounds of extra clay to take home. I know what we are going to be doing on all these rainy afternoons coming up.

A T T I T U D E

Yep,
and he's all mine.

My Family Take Two

Retired

Anders has a laptop lunch box and he needed a way to carry it back and forth to school. So when he found a random green handle (we think from a sled) he and Anna crafted one from a perfectly sized cardboard box. It was great for about 6 months, but it is now time to throw it away. The cardboard on the inside is sticky, soggy, and gooey. Anders and I went out to the store this rainy weekend and he chose a perfectly respectable dragon lunch bag - but it's not nearly as creative as his homemade cardboard one. I'm going to miss sliding his laptop lunch into this masterpiece.

Lady Bugs

Anders made these lady bug pins at school for us as mother's day gifts. He was so proud and excited. I think they are charming. I know he felt really lucky that he was the only kid that got to paint two. Plaster of paris, spoons, paint, mod podge, and googly eyes never looked so good.

Candy Necklaces

Candy. Clearly it can be an obsession - especially when it's around their necks. I think that Kuba ate his entire necklace in 45 seconds. Anders bit his all off and put the pieces into a bowl. He then pretended he was a dog and ate them out of the bowl. This took a little bit longer. Should a mom ever stop this kind of candy scarfing? Who ever came up with the brilliant idea of a candy necklace anyway? I mean, think about it, there must be 50 pieces threaded onto that little piece of elastic. That is a lot of candy. I wonder about this and about the kind of toothpaste they should then brush with at night just to get rid of the sugar coating on their teeth. Luckily, this doesn't happen often. Although, I betcha they wouldn't feel that way.

Still Life with Sunflowers

Anders first still life with me at our kitchen table - a Ball jar with five sunflowers.

You Make Me Happy

Last night at 2:00 a.m. Kuba woke up and called out saying he was scared. I went into his room and laid down with him. As he snuggled next to me he said, "You make me happy."
He then fell immediately asleep.

He makes me happy.