oh, William!

Tonight, Aidan was running in the hallway and bumped into a wall and jammed his finger badly. He was crying very hard, so John comforted him in our bedroom while I went to the fridge to get some frozen corn in a baggie to put on the swollen finger. I brought the corn in and while John helped him, I headed back into the kitchen to get something. Then next thing I heard was Aidan and John laughing hysterically. William had come in to see what was wrong with Aidan. When he saw the corn pack on Aidan's finger, he said 'that's not ice', and then stuck his hand in the bag and started eating the corn. When I came in, Will was just standing there munching on the corn, as if there really was no other sensible thing to do!

post-party wrap up

Then they blew bubbles and mopped the floors.

Will's happy birthday

My favorite thing is that he calls it his 'happy birthday' instead of just 'birthday.'

That, and everytime we give him something special (cake, a present, a happy birthday wish....) he'll grin and say 'thanks!'

The sun was pounding in our windows, so unfortunately, most of the pictures were fuzzy and/or washed-out. Man, I need a new camera.





































From us he got the Star Wars ship you see here (what it is called, I can't remember) and Luke Skywalker to go inside; from Grandparents Sproul he got nice new clothes and a gift certificate to Toys R Us, and from Jolene and Jonathan and family he got some great new puzzles. Thanks, guys! He'll also be thrilled to discover he gets more toys at his party on Saturday.

recent paintings

Eeking them out slowly, but surely....

holiday magic

You'd think that being artists would mean we do infinitely creative things as a family all day long. Not so, fair reader. Creative homemaking continually eludes us.

When Aidan insisted the other day that, instead of a toy, he wanted to buy the mini baking pans at IKEA and make cookies, John and I realized duh, that might be a fun idea. Then it was monday, and lo, time for family home evening which we seem to regularly hold -- at the last minute. So we put two and two together. Too bad scandinavia doesn't do halloween and that IKEA didn't conveniently provide themed halloween cookie cutters with their standard baking set of hearts and stars.

Aidan's scary pumpkin.




























Will opted for a modernist 'paint for paint's sake' concept.




A view of the kitchen mess. I have lots of photos I've taken over the years that chronicle the kitchen mess. I find it therapeutic.

quote of the day

Since Aidan is gifted, and along with that, emotionally intense, I've been reading up on the subject in an effort to help him deal with all his feelings. Here's a nugget of insight:

"Intense people living with other intense people often have more compassion and understanding for each other, but may feel conflicts when all the intense people are intense simultaneously."

Heh! Let's just say that's why there's never a dull moment around here!!

Bean

Here is an article about a house in the area that our community council, along with neighbors and the city, has been fighting to tear downbecause it's so horrendous, not to mention dangerous. It may look like your typical ugly house, but what it really is is a single-wide trailer the owner hoisted up one day onto the top of an old garage foundation. Tap into the plumbing buried in the street below the garage, add a deck, and you've got yourself a two-story. And the name of the owner? Mr. Bean.

(the house has since been sold, as the article states).

http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c3ce72ce-60a1-4891-a1e3-d866560c5ca7