Garage Update - and Luke on a Bike

So a lot has happened in the past 3 days. Here is a picture of what was actually at the end of the last day the last time I posted (make sense?). Seven courses of block up in the back and scaffold ready for the next day.


The next day:


Did I mention that guy up on the scaffold is 83?



Here's my front garden bed. Alec trimmed the lowest branches off the trees. Would have been nice a day earlier so I wouldn't have had those branches slapping me in the face for an hour while I worked there.


Beginning to expand. I try to reclaim a little bit of yard each year for more flowers, but I am resigning myself to admit that I am a seasonal gardener. If the weather was like this all year round, I would have beautiful gardens. As it is, I have perennials and bulbs. And weeds.


On Friday, Mr. Jim took his son with him. He is also a mason and didn't have work that day. He is also quite a fast worker.




On Friday we went on an impromptu playdate to a friend's house. Luke played with a little bike there the whole time and after about 15 minutes on it, was riding like an old pro. We took the training wheels off his own little hand-me-down bike as soon as we got home and he was happily occupied for the rest of the afternoon.

I like this next little video because it shows how he starts to get himself going - hasn't quite learned how yet at this point:



Erin runs through the next one. It's really her bike - pink princesses - and she's a tad bit peeved that she can't ride it yet. I told her she has to learn how to steer on the tricycle first. I'd forgotten how pitiful 3-year-olds are at that important skill. She frequently tips herself when over-correcting her direction.



Erin played too - mostly ran around. We took a walk to the playground down the street and Luke discovered that the basketball court there is better than anything else to ride on. It isn't regular concrete - I think maybe it's asphalt - and is VERY smooth. He practiced going in circles.

It was quite warm and when we got home they wanted to lay down in the shade. Luke asked to take off his shirt and of course Erin wanted to, too!

By the end of Friday, the walls were up as high as they need to be. There are spaces for 3 windows - 2 in the back mostly to just let in more light. Next week is the tricky part since Alec has to chip out bricks on the existing front so the new bricks can be toothed in and the metal piece put in for over the garage door.

And totally unrelated, but today I finished another crocheted baby blanket. This one is special. I have a friend in CBS who has been trying for years to have a baby. They went through numerous IVF cycles and even had 2 miscarriages about 2 years ago. They moved away and last spring I learned that she was pregnant - with no IVF this time! Pretty clearly God's timing and power. As soon as I heard, I got out some scrap yarn and started crocheting. Every time I got it out I prayed that the baby would be healthy and everything would work out this time. Last week they had a little girl and tonight I finished the last round in pink. I'll send it out on Monday.

Concentrated Luke

At the beginning of the summer I bought a couple of coloring books for Luke from the Dover Publishing Company. I wanted him to work on neatness - he typically hurries and is quite sloppy. He picked one with airplanes and I picked one with geometric patterns.

He hasn't colored any pictures in the airplane book yet - I think it's a little too complicated and he wants it to be just right (he's a perfectionist who is afraid to try things if he thinks he won't do it right the first time). I didn't push him to do any pages in it since it will require a bit more small motor skill first. However, he LOVES the book I picked (score one for Mom). It is all geometric patterns that mostly use squares and triangles. He's made some really colorful pictures and improved quite a bit with staying in the lines. When we first got the books I emphasized that these were special coloring books and he had to do his best work in them. I showed him how to outline a box first and then how much easier it is to fill the rest in without going out of the lines. He resisted my technique at first (of COURSE he knew how to be neat!) but after he tried it he proudly showed me how much neater he could be. Hmm. I guess I do know a few things after all. Score 2 for Mom!

He's pretty funny to watch when he is really working hard. He often has his tongue hanging out. I wanted to get a few pictures of him without him being self-conscious about me taking them. It was harder than I anticipated to get a good one of the tongue, especially after he saw me and started talking to me.


Here's a little of it.

Finally used the zoom and got a good one.

He was being goofy here, but I thought it was cute.

He uses colored pencils in this book since he's discovered that it is easier to be neat with a nice point. We bought a little battery operated pencil sharpener and he learned how to sharpen his own pencils - and then use them gently without breaking the nice new point!

If the tongue isn't hanging out, this is the other thing he does.

And as long as we're talking art here, here's the latest baby blanket I finished. Pink for new baby Josephine, new daughter of my friend from grade school. It took a lot longer to make than I thought it would when it started, but I was satisfied with the result.

Art & Crafting

Last month I realized that Erin has never used watercolors, so we hauled them out. I was surprised at how meticulous and careful she was - usually she is rough and speedy. She made lots of tiny little lines on about 3 pages and then she was done.

Here's her first ever watercolor painting:



Luke wanted to make a seascape and put fish stickers all over it.


His kind of coloring is generally the type Erin usually does.



Then Luke made a dragon. I was impressed. He's not usually so creative - he really spent a lot of time on this.


After watercolors, Erin moved on to Color Wonder markers.


And as long as we're showing creative accomplishments, here's my latest finished project. A crocheted baby blanket for one of the many expecting friends.


Luke asked if I would make one for him, too, because the yarn was so soft.

Fun with boxes

Luke and Erin are explorers today, thanks to Huggies. We cut apart a Pull-Up box and made telescopes and binoculars.

Luke searching for an elephant.

"Ooh! A big giraffe!"

Every explorer needs a break for some trail mix.

"Sit down, Erin, so we can drive our jeep."
Incidentally, apparently the telescope can become an exhaust pipe for a jet pack when it is put into a backpack and worn. Very versatile.

"Me too want to drive too!" (still working on grammar with her)

End of the Year

Last week was our last week of CBS for this year. It's always interesting because the little children do the opening the last week and share some songs and verses they have learned. This year was Erin's first year in a class and so it was her first time "performing." Thankfully, I remembered my camera. She's hard to see in these pictures because I had to hide from her or she would fuss, but she did OK.

Her teacher used to be a music professor at UMD so she frequently uses her recorder when they sing and march. Erin is to the left of the teacher in the back (the recorder is kind of pointing to her).

Here's a close up. Like the other children in her age group, she didn't really sing. Just stood around while all the ladies oohed and ahhed at how cute (or mischievous) they were.

Luke, on the other hand, did a complete 180 from last year. Last year, he and another boy ran circles around the communion table the whole time. This year he was in front, singing and doing motions while most of the other little boys stood there like duds. Here he's doing the "yes sir!" from I'm in the Lord's Army.

And here he's zooming o'er the enemy.

And bubba-bubba-bubbling over with joy. I was pretty proud of him. At the beginning of the year, he didn't participate during the singing time with 2 combined classes - just stood there while the other kids sang and had fun. His teacher told me at the end of the year that he was one of the best singers and loved singing time, so I guess his attitude changed. Progress.

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We've had some pretty chilly days again. Erin likes to snuggle.

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This picture is from May 3. I took it because Erin is wearing a dress that Mom made over 20 years ago for cousin Erica Beelen. It just fits her now - probably not for much longer since the skirt is so short and the sleeves so tight. I wish I could've gotten a better picture, but she doesn't hold still for more than a second.

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Our irises bloomed this week. I don't think we've ever had this many blooms before - and they were all so dark and full. Lovely.

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Remember this picture, taken last year after I planted some new perennials in the front?

Well, I've been working out there some more lately. Reclaimed some more from the yard for my curving flower bed and planted a few new perennials and also some annuals for color.

Those lamb's ear were tiny last year.

Planted a spirea that is already flowering.

Some Gerbera daisies for color and height.

Impatiens in the front where there is less sunlight.

The lamb's ear with new spikes shooting up.

Anyone know what this clump is? I've been leaving it because it looks like peonies and I'm hoping it will flower one of these years but it never does. If it doesn't do anything this year I'm yanking it.

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Alec bought a blueberry bush. Not sure where it's home will be yet, but if it does well we might get a few more.

It already has berries on it that are starting to darken in color.

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Alec's current project - backyard shed. He's working on it today so I'll add some updated pictures later.

He's also been splitting a lot of wood. He had to move the logs to build the shed so he figured he might as well split it and stack it so he won't have to move it twice.

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My latest new project. A few friends had new babies and I wanted to try something new. Thanks to sister-in-law Kelly for the idea - she does something similar on t-shirts for older kids.