Old Man Pants

My kids love to take ridiculous pictures. 

Finn got a hearty laugh out of these. 

Sacrament Meeting Drawings

It's been a remarkably warm winter here in Bar Harbor, we've enjoyed it some, but really we just want a heap of snow to play in. The kids have been alternatively whining about the lack of snow and wishing they could live in Arizona. ?? 

Sacrament meeting art by Finn.

^^I'll give everyone three guesses to figure out what movie Finn is obsessed with right now.^^

I finally finished Madie's Christmas mittens. I had finished on before Christmas, but wasn't able to get the second done. So I started on it afterward, stayed up late one night to get it as close to done as possible, and just as I was laying down at 2:30 am, I realized, I hadn't left a hole for the thumb. UGGGHHHH. Literally everything I stayed up for that night had to be pulled out. That's what I get for working tired, I guess. After I finished knitting them, Madie asked to have them fleece lined, but by then I was working on a shower gift for a friend's baby. Finally last night I finished the gift and the linings for Madie's mittens. And as happy as Madie is, she's not as happy as I am to be done.

Finn, Nellie, Elvis, and I enjoyed a stroll through the woods on a warm, 48 degree day a few weeks back.

Finn calls this his "woodman's jacket."

I love living in a small town. And winter is really the best time here, when the tourists clear out. No driving in circles for a parking spot, no crush of people in the aisles, and no long lines for anything. The kids love the fish counter the best. And the man working on this particular day is the absolute nicest. I was waiting at the deli for the worker to finish slicing some meats and cheeses, and P went over to watch the lobsters float lethargically in their tank. The man saw her and took one out for her to touch and look at--they often do when asked, but she never even had to. Finn ran over to check it out too. He kept them occupied for a good five minutes while I finished by deli order.

Christmas

It was a great Christmas, New Years, and season in our home. Here are a few highlights. 

There is nothing quite like sitting in front of the wood stove after a bath, with your feet kicked up on Elvis' side in the nude. I'll just leave that one right there...

We all went to the annual JAX Holiday Party. The kids were looking forward to this for weeks!

On a Sunday afternoon, Finn and I walked to Lakewood to check out the ice. We saw hundreds of fish through the ice, tracked dog and deer prints, and spotted some nests high up in some trees. We assume they were eagle nests. Finn loved walking on the ice and throwing rocks to hear the cool noise it made (cue the 1970's spaceship sound effects). 

At one point, we had enough snow to make a small snow cave. We haven't had that much snow since, unfortunately. The kids got to play in it for one evening at least. 

Christmas morning was a blast. We loved watching the kids open their presents. We headed to Grammy Haskins later that day for some fun in Dover. 

Madie holding up a stuffy. 

Petya was a big fan of Uncle Seth, as he coddled her and let her eat whatever was in front of her. Such as this huge cut of ham. 

The lunch crew, enjoying a post-Christmas lunch. 

A few days after Christmas, we went for a walk in downtown, and had brunch at Chocolatte. The kids have been taking up playing chess lately, and were pretty excited when they saw the chess board sitting there. 

This day was particularly warm, and we enjoyed some sunshine on the deck with our workbooks. 

No comment necessary. 

Since New Years Day was on Sunday, we couldn't do our traditional polar bear plunge on New Years Day, in honor of the Sabbath. Instead, our group met on Monday and plunged then. Finn almost plunged with me, but backed out at the last minute. It's a quick process, and he had commented that he wanted to dig in the sand...not sure he was clear on what we were doing at Sand Beach.

After Sand Beach, we took the Dauk Family to Monument Cove in Acadia to show them around. It was an absolutely perfect day. Sun, warmth, and fun scrambling on rocks. 

Sweet Boy

Finn has always been a kind kid--until recently. The past 5 months or so have been filled with over-reactions to minor personal fouls from siblings, me, Dad, whoever. I've been explaining to him that if he smacks Madie after she wronged him, he's the one who gets in trouble, regardless of what she did, because he decided to punish her instead of leaving it to me or working it out with her. So, she got hers from him, and now he gets his from me. Lucky kid.

My Christmas wish is that this will sink in before February.

But every once in a while a little piece of Old Finn bobs up to the surface and you get moments like yesterday. 

On Friday our neighbors (a couple) put down their 12-year-old dog. It was very difficult for them. I mentioned this at breakfast on Saturday morning and suggested that we make some "Sorry" cards for them. 

It was snowing in the morning, but was turning to rain some time during the day, so the kids went out with Mike to work on the snow fort in the morning to get some play time in before it got too slushy. I had been lying down with Petya and had fallen asleep. I woke to Finn yelling for Dad to come help him write something out. I got up and found him in the house with a piece of paper shouting out the door. 

"Finn, what do you need help with?"

"Oh, good! Come here." He took me into his bedroom. "How do you spell sorry?" 

I sound the word out slowly while he spells it on a piece of paper. He signed his name and drew a black stick-figure dog. "Is this for Mike and Amy?" 

"Yeah, it's a sorry card. I'm gonna make another one." After two or three cards, he ran into the living room and we began redressing him for outside. I saw one of our neighbors was out in the yard with Mike already. They were chatting while Madie went down the snow fort on a little blue sled. I found out our neighbor had been feeling down (of course) and had come over when she'd seen the kids in the yard. She had given them a couple of sleds. She spent a good while out there before her husband also came over to chat. They appreciated the cards very much. 

That evening Finn came out of bed with two more cards. "Can you two write 'Thank you for the sleds' on these? Here Mum, but Dad can write on one, too."

The sleds are the flexible kind with the handle in the front you pull up between your legs. Though I'm sure, with the accurate depictions, you did not need an explanation.

Gingerbread Houses

This past week has been a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Monday brought a snowstorm that kept Madie home from school, but before the kids could get out to play, it started raining. Our driveway has been a lethal threat since.

We made gingerbread houses for family night on Monday. The kids always love it, and always pile the decorations on so thick that when you stand up the pieces to put them together, half the candy falls off.

"You guys, if it's not touching the icing, it's not going to stay put."

Whatever. They just eat them anyway.

This is Madie's I-AM-smiling face.

I don't know what face this is. I guess it's an effort to look nonchalant? Like, "Oh, I just made this house. By myself. Well, my mum helped a little."

Madie has memorized the chorus to Jingle Bells on the piano. She says she now wants to learn a "fancy" version. I told her we could do that, but we might not get to it until after Christmas. She's cool with that. She just likes to play songs she knows well. 

But hear this: she's also been after me to teach her more (major) scales on the piano. I told her we would, once she had C, F, and G mastered. (I was planning on it after New Years.) She took it upon herself to just learn all the other major scales (starting on white keys only--she hasn't realized you can play it starting on any key). She can now play A, B, C, D, E, F, and G major scales. THEN--and here the bragging is really ridiculous--she taught herself to transpose the chorus of Jingle Bells into all those keys. Good grief. What next. She basically teaches herself.

This is not the version she has learned, but it is an aspiration. Perhaps next year.

Tuesday was gorgeous. I was downtown alone, for some reason, and saw this great sign. It's not until Friday, but it's never too early to break out the Festivus pole.

Madie was sick on Friday, so she stayed home from school. Some sort of stomach bug. Petya had it a little, too, on Wednesday. Today (or I guess, yesterday. Saturday is what I mean.) she still wasn't 100%, but hopefully tomorrow will be a marked improvement.

All this time home and inside has meant breaking out the marble run. The kids love it, even though it leads to some stress-induced arguments. It's always good for at least a few minutes.

He gets it from Dad.

Conversation of 12/7/2016

Dad: One of you please get the forks and one of you get the napkins.

Me: Oh, there aren't any napkins. There are a bunch in the dryer, but I haven't brought them up yet.

Finn: Thanks, Mum.

Dad and I look at each other.

Me in my sweetest Mumma voice: Thanks for what, dearest?

Finn: For washing the napkins and leaving them downstairs.

Dad and I look at each other again. I roll my eyes.

Mike in a whisper: I don't think we taught him sarcasm, I think he just has it innately.

Story Time

I can't remember what day exactly, but after I had worked out, we decided it was too nice outside to just go straight to the car. So Finn and Petya hit the playground with me. 

Finn is a good pumper. Petya is even picking it up a little from watching him.

It was fun to just run around with them. Usually when I'm at the playground, we're with friends, so I sit and chat while they play. I love that too, but it's good to just run around with them and do what they want.

In the past Finn has felt lukewarm about story time at the library. He likes seeing his friends, but if they're not there, he's often not interested. Recently though, he has really been looking forward to it, especially the little craft. This week, after realizing it was almost time to head to the library, he exclaimed, "I wonder what they'll make this time!"

Finn shares a Calvin and Hobbes book with Logan. The two of them were giggling in this corner for about 10 minutes after story time.