Iveyrock

Chava looked out the window and said, “Mommy, it’s a BEAUTIFUL day!”

These pictures were taken early in the day (as you can see, Ian still has his pajamas on…)

The kids were thrilled, of course. They spent a good amount of time watching out the window, and Ian and Chava bundled up and went outside. They thought maybe it would be Christmas, and Chava decided that we must be in Ohio

I set some trays outside, and it didn’t take long before they had a couple of inches of wet snow in them.

(Micah eating the snow)

I meant to get pictures later in the day, but we wound up going to a friend’s house. The kids played outside, but I was too busy chatting to take pictures.

My friend Jen is a talented photographer, and got some great pictures of the snow

I love talking to you, and hearing your discoveries and ponderings about life. You think deeply about everything, and you are always aware of what the people around you might need. I have loved being your mommy as you grew from a tiny baby into a little boy, and I am excited to see how you grow and change from here. I have never been the mommy of a five year old before… I am honored to get the chance with you.

We spent our Family Night on Friday making Valentines for each other, and eating popcorn and ice cream for dinner. Ian declared it the best night ever.

I agree, because my amazing husband sent me Vegan Assorted Chocolates for Valentine’s.

Ian wrote us a thank you note for the night. According to him, the picture at the bottom is “everything”.

Micah recently got to try out play dough for the first time. He was completely thrilled to be doing with the big kids were doing.

Of course, the first thing he did was put it in his mouth.

We spent a little time demonstrating how it doesn’t, in fact, go in mouths. This is him shaking his head “No”.

Then he got down to business. As with everything else he does, he watched the older two closely, and then went to work.

The brush only had water on it, and I taped the paper down, so it wouldn’t slide. This was his first art project ever, and he worked very intently. (Clearly, this was from a bit ago, since he hasn’t had his hair cut yet in these pictures.)

When I was a little girl, I never played tea party with my dolls. In fact, I don’t remember playing with my dolls very often, at all. My little sister kindly taught me how to play tea party, and I thank her for it. It’s something everyone should know how to do, especially if they one day find themselves having tea parties with their own children.

A bit ago, my son asked me to come to play with him. I was thrilled to be invited, because my kids are usually so deep into their imaginary worlds that I am given a side role, if that.

Then I realized that he wanted me to play tea party.

He had the whole thing set up on the couch. I was still feeling honored that he invited me to play, so of course I didn’t tell him that I am not very good at tea parties. As it turned out, this tea party included something else I am really bad at – playing cars. I think it’s safe to say that I am even worse at playing cars, than playing tea parties. Never the less… I did my best.

It’s hard to see in this picture, but there is a little (headless) Lego man, roasting on a fire. The cars are all sitting around, waiting to be served. Ian allowed me to serve the top half, and he served the legs. After all of the cars had been given their servings, we put them to bed. Then we set out art supplies, for them to discover in the morning.

When I was a little girl, I really had no idea what being a parent would bring. I am amazed at the depth and beauty it brings to my life. I would never have dreamed that I would be so honored to be invited to play with my boy. Or that a tea party could include Lego-eating cars. Or that I would ever say, “Are you enjoying your roasted torso?”