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

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”.

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.)

Ian has been asking for his very own pet for awhile now. We tried to convince him that the cats could be his pet, but that wasn’t what he had in mind. He wanted a pet that was just his.

So we went to the pet store, and he used his own money to buy a pet that is JUST his. After looking at all of his options, he choose a blue and red Betta.

He has named his Betta “Ian.” He had explained to us that if we want him, we should call for “Ian Person”, and if we want the fish, we should call for “Ian Fish.” That way there won’t be any confusion. In case we forget, and don’t add the qualifier on the end, his plan is to go get the fish and then come – so that all the bases are covered.

Ian seems really pleased with his choice. He’s spent some time talking to his fish, and making introductions. He’s been watching him all day, and even ate his lunch at the island, so he could watch the fish. I think Ian the Fish will fit in beautifully at our house… and I am interested to see what the future holds, now that we’ve opened the possibility of pets.

It is just pure fun to watch Micah as he grows. I am fascinated by him, and startled almost daily by how much he is thinking like a toddler, instead of an infant.

Just in the last couple of weeks, he has started to really play with his big brother and sister. Instead of orbiting them, and observing, he wants to be right in the middle. He wrestles, he climbs, he pushes cars around the floor. He isn’t content to be distracted; he wants to be one of the big kids.

He likes to ‘read’ books, and help me with my chores. He is very good at putting things away – the trick is to make sure he puts away the right things, in the right box. Not, for example, the clean laundry into the full bathtub. His favorite chore is sweeping, and he doesn’t want to just hold the broom anymore. He wants to swish it around, right in my pile of dirt. He gets very offended if he’s moved anywhere else.

He has discovered climbing, and he loves to get up on something, and laugh until I get him back down. If I don’t come get him fast enough, he yells for me.

He is a funny, happy, sweet little boy. He loves to cuddle. He isn’t talking yet, but he has a soft little babble that I love.

This last year, he has been my companion on this journey to take life as it comes, and not miss the little moments. He has shown me, more than anything else, what I am striving for; and he has continually jolted me out of my worry and over-thinking by the everyday, amazing things that he does.

He loves my singing. He likes it even better when we ’sing’ together. What more could a mama want?

Tomorrow we start driving North. The plan is three days in the car – we’ll see you when we get there!

It’s becoming a family tradition to head out to Burnet and walk through the live nativity put on by First Baptist Church.

It was cold this year. We were all bundled up, but it was also less crowded, and we got through the line a lot faster.

My favorite thing about the whole experience is the details. I love the little touches that make it feel like a working little town.

It’s hard for my camera to capture the feeling of the town, because it is all darkness and candlelight. The smell of the smoke and baking bread is everywhere, and as you walk along, you are surrounded by the sounds of people living their lives. Vendors are making and selling their wares. Families are cooking their meals over wood fires. Children are playing. Taxes are collected, and those that can’t pay call to you from the jail. There is music, and the sounds of the animals. And in the background of it all, as you walk through, there are mentions of a couple, staying in a stable. Overheard conversations, about the rumors of a baby.

While we waited for the “messy” volcano to dry, we tried out Ian’s original plan

(putting in the paper rocks)

Explosion!

Ian was thrilled that the ‘lava’ pushed one of his rocks out, just like a real volcano.

There are days when nothing seems to be going quite right, and then there are days when everything just sort of falls together. Yesterday, through absolutely no planning of my own, turned into a science sort of a day.

Ian started off the morning by asking me if he could do an experiment, to make confetti. (We’re on a confetti kick right now.) He wanted to dissolve paper in water, then heat it up, then take it out and let it dry, to see if it turned into confetti. I told him he wasn’t allowed to put it in the oven for very long, and he decided not to include that part. So here the kids are, experimenting with their confetti…

… which turned into a couple more things, before Ian decided that it was our decoration for Christmas.

Then, after lunch Chava asked me to read her a book about kitchen science experiments. (It was one we got from a restaurant somewhere – as much as I would like to take credit for the educational-ness of her book choices.) One of the pictures showed vinegar and baking soda fizzing together. I happened to mention that those are the things we use to clean, and we decided to do the experiment.

We got set up on the counter, gave Chava some pickles (the book also had some pictures of pickles), and combined our ingredients. The kids were impressed, of course, and I happened to mention that those were the things that people used to make model volcanoes explode.

Now, way back in the beginning of the school year, Ian wanted to make a model volcano. Since then he’s been researching volcanoes, but hasn’t really been interested in making one. As soon as I mentioned making it explode, he decided we needed to make our own model volcano. He had a really great plan to use a glass jar, some paper in the shape of a cone, and paper rocks.

Then I mentioned that there’s another way to make them. A messy way. I have no idea what I was thinking. His idea was actually really good, and I want this to be his thing, not mine. Plus, why on EARTH did I bring up the messy way when I didn’t need to? What mother does that?

So naturally, Ian decided he wants to do it the messy way.

I haven’t done paper mache since I was little. So I went to look up some recipes on the Internet. Ian noticed some videos people had posted of their own model volcanoes, so we spent some time watching those, before quiet time.

After quiet time, we got started on our “messy” volcano.

(I’ve heard that a piece of tape is a good way to entertain a baby. Micah sure was impressed by it.)

We put it in the bathroom overnight to dry. Because it’s going to take awhile to dry, and because Ian’s original idea was a good one, I suggested that we try his way, while we wait for the paper mache one to be ready. We ran out of time yesterday, although we spent the last bit of the day before Daddy came home watching more homemade volcanoes online.

The most intriguing thing of the whole day, for me, is the way these kinds of days pop up right when I am starting to get anxious about things. Ian has been interested in volcanoes since that first day he asked about them. He’s read about them online, gotten books out of the library, and written his own book about them. He built a volcano exploring robot out of Lego’s, and made us all wear hard hats. But it’s been awhile since he’s talked about them. We have a notebook with questions that he’s asked, and I haven’t been sure how to get back on the topic to answer them. The whole thing has been very much his project from the beginning, and I absolutely don’t want to take it over. The couple of times I’ve mentioned the questions, he wants me to read them all to him, and then says that’s it for the day. I’ve been wondering if I should have just forged ahead with making a volcano way back when, since he was interested then.

But it always seems to happen that right when I am really anxious about something, and have decided that I am doing everything wrong; a day or two later things just click into place. And it never has much to do with me. There’s nothing I could have planned that would have re-sparked his interest like that. Now we’ve talked about acids and chemical reactions. We learned a new way to research, we talked through what you need to make a volcano, we’ve used some creativity and planning. And I have a volcano drying in my bathtub. I certainly didn’t have that before.