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.