A New Hobbiest is Born

Anna has started carving spoons.  She began last February and her passion has been slowly growing.  Here's an assortment of her early carving attempts, all of them an exploration of wood type, shape, and utility.  It's pretty impressive.  

Treasure and Treasured

The gift of the winter is our proximity to the Intervale.  Now that we have Thea we go regularly, to give her a chance to run and be free, and also give ourselves the quiet and beauty of nature.

Anna and I go for long walks together and truly go off the beaten path.  We find all sorts of treasure.  Birds nests, hidden frozen rivers, murders of crows, and so many beautiful things we marvel together at our luck.  And at our mutual desire and love to be bushwhacking together.   Sometimes we have photo contests - who can find and take the most beautiful photo.  Sometimes we delight in showing the other something wonderous that we've found when out walking alone.  And then of course there's Thea.  Her joy at being free, running, sniffing, and chasing is almost as good as a birds nest or a murder of crows.  Here are some snapshots from this week. 

A Theater Kind of House

It's been all theater around here lately.  Kuba's been in another fall production, this time as the slimy lawyer, Mr. Samson Brass, in The Curiosity Shop.  Simultaneously, Anders was on tech crew for his high school musical, Urinetown.   I got a snapshot of him up in the lighting booth, where he was responsible for set lighting and spot lighting for the performance.  Both boys love being a part of the theater.  Kuba will be in The Sound of Music next. 

Here's a snapshot of all of the productions they were either in or helped out with in 2019.   

lighting techie - that's Anders up in that booth

The Curiosity Shop - Kuba plays Mr. Samson Brass 

Matilda - Anders plays a Russian Spy

Matilda- Anders plays Bruce

                                                                            Kuba plays

Shrek - Kuba plays Lord Farquaad

History Comes Alive - Kuba plays

                                                       Huckleberry Finn - Kuba plays

                                                                   Sound of Music - Kuba plays Friedric

Real Haircuts!

The boys don't often get real haircuts.  And by real I mean - a cut other than what Anna does.  She's been cutting their hair forever, but honestly sometimes her cuts don't always look that great.  We decided to try a salon that specializes in mens cuts.   Yes, we all went.  Yes, it was fun.  Yes, I took photos.  And WOW - Anders got the first really short, buzz type, haircut of his life.  The top is long, but the back and sides are super short.  I think it's going to look amazing in a few weeks.  Kuba still has his fun long flip of blonde hair, but he too got a great cut in the back.

Rowing

Anders joined the rowing club this year.  This involved teaming up with 5 other kids and a coxswain - the person who is at the helm of the boat keeping the rowers in unison and directing their rowing.

Two days a week for months, he rode his bike down to the waterfront and learned how to row with a bunch of other high school kids.   There were about three races for us to spectate at, the most recent being on the Otter Creek down near Vergennes.  Here are a few photos from the event. 

Happy Birthday Kuba!

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Kuba is twelve!   

We started the day with breakfast in bed, followed by a fun day at JayPeak Waterpark.  

Then we had a family dinner of his favorite meal -  manicotti.   

Birthday cake this year was a delicious fruit tart.  ]

It seems like Kuba's been twelve for years!  He is tall, and super capable at this age.

He's in 6th grade at middle school and is already thriving.

He remains the most creative boy in the land, full of joie de vivre and passion.

He is learning to play the cello an tuba this year.

He's acting in Very Merry, and taking a variety of art classes.
We are so very lucky to have this boy in our lives.