visitors

Nana and grandpa came to visit yesterday and Grandpa took some great photos.

mother robin

Here's another toy I made for Jane. (Free pattern available here!) Malcolm's trying to decide between a snake and a blue whale for my next project.

gymnastics

I got to join the kids in their class last week!

knit cats

I made some more progress on the knitted farmyard over the weekend. Now the cats are done!

skating lessons

Our town has a free outdoor skating rink, so I thought it would be a good idea to have the kids take lessons. I wasn't sure how to teach both of them at the same time! Malcolm seemed kind of stunned and took it slow, and Jane kept falling and getting up and not wanting help. She wasn't upset at all, though.

Here's a quick video:

sledding!

We had so much fun sledding with Jacob and Eliana!

snuggling

Jane holding her (40 pound) "baby"

playtime!

This winter the kids are taking an art class at the local playspace, so that means we get to go whenever we want to play without paying extra. We found after lunch is the best time to go because most other children are taking naps. :)

Jane's in a fire truck and coat way too small for her, but she still had fun!

They have legos different from ours, so that's fun!

Here they are at art class on a different day.

(I didn't really change Jane's name to Maura, the name tag was stuck!)

"Mommy never lets me do this at home!"

playgroup

Since there was no school today I think everyone forgot to go to playgroup. So we were all alone, but we still had fun!

more snow!

This winter has been so un-snowy that whenever it snows we all stop what we're doing to go play outside. Jane and Malcolm were working on a "snow slide" that they climbed up and rolled down.

it actually works!

We were having a problem getting out the door on time. I felt like I had to stand there and dictate: "Put on your hat, put on your mittens," etc. every time we had to leave the house. I wanted to take myself and my frustration out of the equation, so I made a chart for the kids to use.

It's actually working! We've cut down our getting-ready time from about 20 minutes to 10 minutes.

what we did today

This morning we visited our new friend Rhys!

Then saw a train in Waltham:

Later Jane and Malcolm helped make tortillas.

snow!

It finally snowed! I didn't get any photos of the kids playing outside, but here you can see our snowman snack and craft.

We also read "Mousekin's Frosty Friend" and the "Snowman Storybook."

thanks, Nana!

Nana bought this book for Jane when she was a baby and had it autographed. We read it and watched the accompanying DVD the other day and Jane couldn't wait to build her own fairy house.

We gathered all natural materials from the yard.

Almost done:

Waiting to see if any fairies came:

A few additions: birch bark blankets, a swimming pool, some dried crab apples and chives for a snack!

Later Jane made an indoor fairy house in her room. Our kitty Westie actually took a nap in it!

The swimming pool:

thanks, Grandpa!

Jane and Malcolm painted fish pictures from a coloring book from Grandpa with the foam brushes he gave them.