One Hundred Days Smarter

February 12th marked the 100th day of school. The kindergarteners have been working on their 100s Day collections all year. Each child collects 100 of something, like pictures, stickers, dinosaurs, etc. In the fall, Myles started collecting pine cones, but we only made a couple trips into the woods to gather some before it snowed. A couple weeks before the deadline, we realized that he'd never get enough pine cones since there was three feet of snow on the ground.
Myles decided to collect yarn instead. He got 100 pieces of yarn from me, Faye, Grandma LaG, and my friend Annie (one of her yarns was recycled sari silk that came from India). I knitted all the pieces into a mini scarf for his display, and this is what he ended up with:

Kids brought their collections to school the week before 100s day, and that evening the collections were open for public viewing. Our whole family went and looked at all the displays in all four classrooms before going to the spaghetti dinner in the elementary cafeteria. We had a lot of fun helping Myles celebrate being 100 days smarter.

Home Alone (Almost)

On February 16th, Merlyn spent her first night away from home by herself. She got to stay overnight at Aunt Claire's house. I took her and Berkleigh to Aunt Claire's while Bryan stayed home with the boys to cut wood. Then I dropped Berkleigh off at Grandma Faye's so I could help Bryan with wood at home.

Later that afternoon I took Carter and Myles to Faye and Jerry's and brought Berkleigh back home. The boys spent the night with Grandma Faye and Grandpapa.

That night it seemed strange to have an only child at home. Berkleigh was perfectly fine without her siblings, even at bedtime. She specifically asked to read books from Merlyn's room since Merlyn wasn't there.

The other three kids had lots of fun on their sleepovers. Merlyn still talks about her time with Aunt Claire and wants to go back soon, for two nights next time.

Happy Birthday to Berkleigh

Berkleigh June turned three on Monday, February 18th. Our phones and internet connection were a little wonky, so I couldn't post on Monday.
Here's how the birthday girl uses her fingers to say "3":

Berkleigh likes her dress cake.

Grandma Faye and Grandpapa came over for cake and ice cream. Grandma and Grandpa LaG weren't invited because there's still some cold symptoms (and germs) floating around our house.

Berkleigh blew out the candles. I still have to figure out some of the features of our camera, but I actually like the blurred action shot.

Some fun facts about Berkleigh:

She can count to 13.

She's been daytime potty trained for over a year, and nighttime potty trained for 4 months.She knows her left from her right.

She wants to go to Mr. Potato Head's house.

She knows her full name and birthday and what hospital she was born in.Once Bryan told her he was going crazy when she asked him where he was going. Now when he's going somewhere, she asks him if he's going "to crazy" and if she can go to crazy, too.

She knows the "full names" of everyone in the family:

Berkleigh June B

Merlyn Rose B

Carter Rose B

Myles Rose B

Mommy Rose B

Daddy Rose B

She always kicks off her blankets at night.

When she's alone with me she talks nonstop and ends every sentence with "Right, Mama?" I have to say "right" or she will keep repeating "Right, Mama?" louder and louder until I answer.

She's a real character and a great source of entertainment.

We all love her very much.

Pinewood Derby

Last Saturday was the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Bryan helped Carter and Myles each make and paint a car to race. They each won at least one heat, but didn't win the grand prize. At least they got a tase of victory and had fun.

Grandpa's 81st Birthday

Grandpa LaG. turned 81 on January 28th (the same day Pat turned 32!). That Sunday we went to Faye and Jerry's for dinner to celebrate.


After a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" we had a dessert of brownies, apple pie, and ice cream.

That was when Myles first started showing signs of sickness. Between his ear infection and a snow day, he only went to school one day the following week.

Berkleigh loves her daddy.

Parties wear little girls (and Grandpapa) out!

Painting

Another favorite activity at our house is painting:

These pictures are a few weeks old, but at least I got them on here. We've been pretty busy, still catching up on things that got away from us while everyone was sick. Bryan was outside all weekend plowing and doing wood. He also had a lacrosse coach meeting in Potsdam yesterday. I had daycare kids both days this weekend, so even though I was inside, I could get too much deep cleaning done. At least the bathrooms and kitchen are clean, and we have enough clean clothes to get the boys to school and work today!

Grandma's Mittens

A few weeks ago, TAUNY (Traditional Arts in Upstate New York) had a knitting exhibition. Aunt Mary gathered pairs of Grandma's mittens from all the family members to create a display. Faye and I helped her set up a practice one at Faye's house.

Grandma has been knitting these mittens for 60 years. Every year her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren get a pair for Christmas. A conservative estimate would be that she has knitted more than 500 pairs of mittens over the years. Image nine more of these clothes bars full of mittens...

I went to see the exhibits on the last day. Faye dropped me off there and I got to experience my first ever Sit and Knit. There were probably thirty knitters there and even though I didn't know anybody I made friends quickly. I was surprised at how loud it was -- everyone was chatting with everyone. I forgot my camera, but you can get an idea of what the display looked like.

For the display at TAUNY, Aunt Mary put a barn board on top of the clothes bars with a picture of Grandma and Grandpa on their wedding day. Kelley and Alison each wrote a nice explanation of what Grandma's mittens mean to them. It was a wonderful way to showcase Grandma's mittens and their legacy in the family.

Favorite Things

One of Merlyn's favorite activities is playing with Playdoh. She got a ton for Christmas (you can never have too much Playdoh) and lined them all up the first time she used them. You can see that she was so eager to play that she hadn't even gotten dressed first.

My mom gave Merlyn the Colorforms Silly Faces Game for Christmas. It was a great discovery -- Merlyn loves it and so do I! She and I played it one morning when Berkleigh slept in. It's similar to Cooties in principle but it's a lot easier (perfect for younger players). Afterward I went to take a shower and Merlyn played the game by herself.

Since then, everyone has played the game and it's been a big hit. I especially like it because Merlyn and Berkleigh can play it by themselves while I get housework done. They show me their funny faces and even tell me who they are. From left to right above, the funny faces are Berkleigh, Merlyn, Myles, and Carter.

Sick Kids

I apologize for the lack of posts last week. All four kids got sick, so things were tough for a few days. Myles and Berkleigh got sick first with fevers and ear infections. On Thursday they were both so bad that I realized they needed to go to the doctor. The doctor squeezed us in. Both kids looked awful and were so lethargic everyone at the doctor's office commented on how sick they looked. Myles had one ear infected and Berkleigh had both ears badly infected. That night at dinner, Carter developed a 102.2 degree fever. It couldn't have been the day before, of course, so he could have gone to the doctor with the other two. Friday morning the weather was awful so the doctor told Bryan (who was at work) that she could see him if he came in right away. Carter also had two bad ears. Luckily our new doctor is only five minutes away (instead of 45 like our old one). However, siince there's no pharmacy and we only have one vehicle, Bryan has to come home from Massena, the we go to the doctor, then Bryan has to go back up to Massena for the prescription and to go back to work. Of course, Friday night Merlyn had a 103.1 degree fever. She actually got better over the weekend, so there's no doctor visit for her (as of right now, that is.) Last week was hard for me, though. Berkleigh only wanted to be held, so I got nothing else done, and even while I held her she cried. She and Myles both cried for an hour on Thursday. That's when I decided it was time for the doctor. Now things are sort of back to normal. The weather looks better (Last week we had one and a half snow days) and the kids are feeling like themselves again. Today is half a day of school for the big kids, so things may get crazy this afternoon. I have laundry and dishes to do (Berkleigh is still asleep at 9:15) and then I'll try to post some pictures before the kids get home.