family of four
"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star." Nietzsche
May 26, 2008
May 18, 2008
A flower
Welcome to the world, JonesGirl!!
May 15, 2008
the non-word edition
May 11, 2008
there are foxes living out back
May 6, 2008
Dandelions and ice cream
We went over to the arboretum again this afternoon. It's hands-down a much better place to walk than, say, the mall. The mall is sort of the cliche place where a pregnant woman who is desperate to have her baby goes to walk and walk. Since I go to the mall maybe once a year, if that, you can see how much appeal that has for me.
When we go over to the arboretum, it seems that one special thing strikes me every time, whether it be birthday daffodils, exhilirating flowering trees, or fiddle-headed ferns. I never know what it's going to be until I get there. Today it was dandelions. Last week, my mom showed Ellis how to Pick a Dandelion and Give to Your Mom. We walked along, and he picked a puffy dandelion for me. I showed him how to blow the puff (sorry, arboretum). Before I knew it we were plopped in the grass blowing puffs and sniffing buttercups. It was magical in the way only a kid can make an pesky weed be.
Before we went over to the arboretum, I was in a majorly crabby mood. I didn't sleep well last night. I'm cumbersome, tired, and huge. blah, blah. I know it sounds cheesy, but being there in the quiet with the green and the trees and the scent of honeysuckle in the air was incredibly soothing. Yes, it really is that idyllic there. Communing with nature is in my roots, and it comforts me in a deep primordial way. I hope I can give my kids a similarly satisfying experience, of pointing out all the details that my parents showed us, to show the pleasure we take in watching the ordering of the seasons, first the bulbs, then the trees, trillium, lilacs...
Ellis noticed the pollen strands littering the sidewalk underneath the oak trees. I showed him a branch with a few strands still attached, and we watched them blow down in the breeze.
We stopped by the little cabin that sits next to a gurgling brook. I sat on the bench and Ellis threw bits of leaves into the stream. I saw a woman painting with her easel set up on the bridge. I thought that if I could paint, I would want to capture the way the sunlight glimmered through the young maple leaves.
I enjoyed this afternoon with E. We have so few remaining, just the two of us. He probably won't remember his life before his brother, but I will.
April 30, 2008
More Spring at the Arboretum
In a few short weeks, spring has exploded upon the inhabitants of the local arboretum.
My favorites this time were the fiddle heads on the ferns.
And the two crazies who kept me company.
April 29, 2008
School Fun of late
We've been having a lot of spring fun at school lately.
Almost two weeks ago, the early childhood center had their spring fling, which included presentations by all the classes. Ellis's class (the youngest) did a little play/presentation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which they've been studying this unit. E and his best buddy A and Cute Little Girl were the "narrators" with some help from the power point on the big screen behind them. The other kids took turns showing big posters of fruit. E and A were especially cute. They were like a standup comedy routine, totally playing off of eachother and interacting with the powerpoint. They had everybody cracking up! I wanted to make a little movie of it with my clips...there's still time. My boy's first play!!
After the presentation, the kids played outside for a bit in the warm spring sun, and then we had a little pizza lunch in the kids' classroom. E was such a little host to me, I was really touched. He went up and got a plate from the teacher who was serving and chose his little pieces of fruits and veggies (he doesn't like pizza). When the teacher instructed him to go sit down at the table, he said NO, picked up another plate and signed Mommy, and made sure I had exactly what he had and then we sat down together. It was so sweet. *melt*
Saturday was Community Day at PSD, which basically translates for our family into Inflatable Paradise. Ellis went down these slides for about two hours straight. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was saying/signing "MORE", and off to stand in line again.
The Grand Finale for the class's unit on The Very Hungry Caterpillar was a trip to the Academy of Natural Science. One of the perks of being a stay-at-home-mom: getting to go with my kid on his first field trip! And let me tell you, there's nothing cuter than a little school bus full of car seats. So how does a field trip of 2-3 year olds work? One adult per child. There were a couple of other moms/grandmas and some extra staff, and I was impressed with how smoothly everything went.
We had some time to look at the exhibits, which the kids loved.
Then it was our turn for the Butterfly Exhibit, which is a room like a greenhouse, humid and full of plants. Butterflies and moths were flying freely everywhere and sitting on the plant life. It was really cool. I think everyone was entranced from the littlest kids to all the adults.
March 30, 2008
32 Weeks
March 21, 2008
Bath Fun and NEW CAMERA
So we made our final decision today and bought our new camera. I looked at the Canon SLR and SI series, but they were both too much camera for me. I really, truly wanted super compact. And I found myself gravitating back to the A series. Our old camera was an A95. Today we got the A720IS (image stabilization). Really, it was either that or the A570, the differences were minimal. But the 720s were on sale at Target and we wanted to have the camera by the weekend, so we paid a little extra for the 720. Chris had ordered the 570 at the beginning of the week, but got on email saying they were out of stock. So we ended up with the 720.
The first thing we did when we got home was get Ellis to bed. And the first thing I did was get out my camera for the first step in the process: the Bath. We have found a new way to make baths appealing and exciting again to E, who had declared a bath hiatus (though he wasn't getting one; he just wished he was and proclaimed so loudly). Bubbles!! The Bath Giving Parent blows bubbles and E catches them, and since he's all wet and soapy he can catch quite a few. Today he was aiming the Squirty Penguin at them, too.
I took a bunch of pics with the flash. haven't figured out the manual settings yet. But I'm pretty excited. And this A model is so much more compact and lighter than the old one. Responds waaaaay faster. And the construction is more solid. There were some construction flaws that exacerbated the quick demise of the old one (mainly loose seams) that are all one piece on this one. So hopefully we are well on our way to Second Child Photo Plentitude. He shall not be left in pictoral abyss.
March 6, 2008
E and M
We had fun enjoying some warmer temps the other day. I played with my friend's camera and got some cute shots of Ellis and Maddie. He's about 10mos older than she is, and the age difference is starting to close a bit. It's fun to see!
Also, notice his car shirt? Yea, basically E's two favorite articles of clothing are anything with cars on it and fun socks. The other day he insisted on wearing a pair of my socks (infinitely funner than the white sport socks I was offering). And it's pretty much a Major Tragedy to take off a car festooned shirt or pajama if another such car sporting item is not offered in its place. Yea, I'm thinking some stencils are in order to make part of his wardrobe acceptable items. haha.
He also seems to favor the color green. I can get him to wear a shirt that has green on it if it doesn't have a car.
February 22, 2008
The Snowy Day
We played outside for a solid two hours.
And built a snow Daddy and a snow horse.
And enjoyed some drinking hot chocolate and watching a little monkey when we came back in.
January 18, 2008
Child Labor or Water Wonderland?
He actually was a help, too!
January 17, 2008
It's snowing!
It was snowing all evening. I think it's stopped now. It snowed my whole way home from speech therapy at CHOP; it took twice as long to get home. But it was really pretty, since most of my drive was through Fairmount Park.
January 3, 2008
baby makes nice pillow
December 26, 2007
Day 25
And so (a tad late) I end the December Photo Project.
December 24, 2007
Day 24
Merry Christmas Eve!!!!
Wishing you Unsurpassable Peace.
Day 23
Hanging out with my sister on Saturday night. Watching movies. Eating turkey tacos.
December 21, 2007
Day 21
More Christmastime in the City. More no snow. It's raining today. Boring.
Happy Solstice!! I like the solstices both in the summer and winter. It seems so magical--the longest day and the shortest day...
December 20, 2007
Day 20
E had speech therapy at CHOP this afternoon. Going a little out of our way, we stopped off at Reading Terminal Market for a few treats. FIL circled around the block, and I ran in. Philly would look more Christmas-y if we had FUN SNOW! But as it was, it is still feeling festive around here.
Day 19
So I kept sewing. I'm happy with my little project. (Soon to be revealed after gifts are given.)
My saintly sister has been here all week. She played with E for HOURS while I sewed. Cleaned the kitchen. Made dinner last night and tonight. Made cookies and banana bread. I think I'll keep her.
December 18, 2007
Day 18
I've been sewing a bit today. It's sort of a nebulous project. I think I'll quit. It could get really cool and big or just fizzle out. I've had a nagging cold for over a week, and I'm just wiped out.
December 17, 2007
Day 17
Even Darth Vader manages to get into the Christmas spirit. Too bad he can see out of only one eye hole at a time.
December 16, 2007
Day 16
We want snow!!!!
Enough of this boring rain!!! If it were just 10 degrees cooler, we could have fun snow. There's enough precipitation in the forecast to have a white Christmas. But, no. 10 degrees separating us from dreary and damp, and fun weather! We have snowpants to use. Snowmen to build with Mommy! We want FUN SNOW!!!!
December 15, 2007
Day 15
It's the little things.
Day 14
Making dough ornaments, part 3. Hang on tree.
December 13, 2007
Day 13
The sugar and caffeine to get me through this dreary day, and my nice pregnant uterus.
December 11, 2007
Day 11
We are all patiently waiting to put up the tree, hang our ornaments, and take some cool pictures already.
December 10, 2007
Day 10
Picking out the tree on a perfect snowy evening.
Day 9
Unzombify me, please.
December 8, 2007
Day 8
For the record, he caught on immediately to the Snowball Throwing concept.
December 7, 2007
Day 7
Making Dough Ornaments, Part 2. Apply paint and glitter glue. Squeeze really hard to get the glitter glue out.
(I know the pic is a little blurry, but E's face was so funny)
December 6, 2007
Day 6
Pennsylvania countryside en passant.
Promise I'll get some cooler photos around here when I find my cord to download them from the cam.
December 5, 2007
Day 5
Yesterday at my mom's we made salt dough Christmas ornaments.* It's part of the Quest for Unbreakable Ornaments meets Crafting with Toddlers. It was fun to see how much Ellis has matured. He can roll the dough so well now and sort even managed cutting out a few. Today I stocked up on glitter glue from ACMoore. This weekend we will paint and beglitter our baked stars and birds.
*BTW, this recipe that I linked to worked out great! 1/2c. salt, 1. c flour, 1/2 c. water. Mix, knead. Roll on floured surface, bake on ungreased sheets for 2 hours on 250F. Couldn't have asked for better!
December 4, 2007
Day 1-4
The December Photo Project is underway. I'm a little late getting going, but I have funeral amnesty. So today I'm kicking off and catching up. Check out the Flickr pool.
Ice in Iowa
Cousins! (all 28 except for 2, plus a cousin-in-law and 2 great-grands)
Road trip
Spray-painting pinecones
November 10, 2007
Gone Pro!
Yay! I've finally gone Flickr Pro!!! Which means the pics over my 200 quota for display as a plebian member are now visible again. Here's E just over 2 years ago. Can you believe it?!
November 2, 2007
Ready for Goldilocks
August 14, 2007
The Simpsons meet The Fam
July 18, 2007
Sign "airplane"
May 28, 2007
Memorial Day '07
Because I was a dork and forgot my camera, I'm still all my pics.
We went out to Lancaster today for Memorial Day/Graduation Party. Our friends Jason and Amanda came with Ellis's best girlfriend Maddie. My mom had an awesome pool ready for the kiddies.
We ate super yummy food outside. My favorite great-aunt and uncle came, too.
All five of us kids were there, WITH our spouses, and 2 grandbabies. A rare moment.
May 9, 2007
Fun with Photo Booth
March 31, 2007
Help, I woke up somewhere in the Middle East!
IM000661
Originally uploaded by lingofamily.
MY NIECE! Isn't she cute?
Isn't that an awesome mural my sister painted in her room. (It's Noah's ark in case you're not up with your biblical imagery).
March 22, 2007
Ellis sits with his bus
Thought I'd share a couple of pics from our recent trip to Louisiana
My friend Erica took this pic. My camera is acting weird. I love that double decker bus we found at the thrift.
Here we are in front of our old apartment where C and i lived for 4 years (upper right--man, I miss that porch). No repairs have been done since Katrina. The water was about half-way up the first story. Frankly, that house had serious structural issues before, I'm not sure if it's even worth fixing up. But it was home, had character, a great view, and a lot of memories. Ellis lived there for the first 8 months of his in utero life, because, yea, I moved 1200 miles while 8 months pregnant.
March 5, 2007
Wide Open Spaces
Throughout my life, I've sought wide open spaces. Spaces to feel the wind, think, pray, cry, rejoice. Something about the freedom of the air can clear a tortured mind and invigorate an enthused soul. Pivotal moments in my life have been processed through a wide open space.
These are some of my favorite wide open spaces in the past. I haven't found a new one yet since our move over a year and a half ago.
(Caveat: I've lifted all the pics off of Flickr. I didn't take any of them. It was fun looking for them.)
February 12, 2007
so fast
Is this child HUGE or what? Who's this big boy and what happened to my baby?
January 17, 2007
Slacker mom or crazy kid?
I'm going to die young, folks. That's all there is to it.
January 9, 2007
little boy BIG bell
My friend Stina is visiting. We're having a great time. It's her first time to Philly, so we were sure to get in cheesesteaks, pretzels, and the Liberty Bell. Hey, it's not every day you get to pay homage to a national relic.
January 3, 2007
Some Christmas highlights
December 22, 2006
December 22
A friend from church is a goldsmith...nay, an Incredible Craftsman and Artist. I've never seen jewelry in real life like the stuff he's created. He's an incredibly gifted person, but begs total incomprehension to things electronic. Chris has done some computer work for him and enjoys being his unofficial "tech guy".
So anyway, last week, our friend came over here to drop something off briefly, and hands us a little velvet bag. I open it and find this beautiful silver ornament he made! It has a place of honor on our tree. I love ornaments that will make me think of the people that have touched our lives.
***
I'm back from Virginia. Tired. But, I'm going to go put on some Cmas music and make cookies!! Woohoo!!
December 19, 2006
December 19
December 17 & 18
Brought to you by the Uncooperate Christmas Photo Shoot.
One can never have too much glittler glue.
December 16, 2006
December Photo Project--catching up
I married into a family that thinks that Christmas trees should be themed. To me a Christmas tree is the representation of all the hodge-podge that is the its family. Besides, I find it incredibly limiting to have a themed tree. I want to be able to purchase a beautiful ornament or make some cute ones without the stress of sticking to The Theme. Chris's theme before I took over his life (heh, heh) was a nautical tree. Some of the ornaments are really beautiful, and I love having them on the tree...next to my snowflakes, angels, Ellis's first Christmas, and stupid ornaments that I made when I was a kid that I just can't seem to part with.
Ellis is a great help. Seriously, what did we do before him!?
Two words: CHA.OS! But great things are happening, my friends, great things.
December 12, 2006
December 12
Yay! I made a garland! It's starting to look more festive around here. And starting to smell more pine-y. Double yay!!
I also did a major haul at A.C. Moore today which means Let the Crafting Begin! Homemade is the theme for this year's C'mas gifts. It's going to be fun, too. It's also somewhat of a dance maneuvering around Toddler Who Must Be Involved. I keep telling myself in a year or so we can really start channeling this for our benefit. In the meantime, I throw him little things to lend the illusion that he is involved. Well, it's not really illusion, because he's right there in my face: involved! whether I like it or not.
December 11, 2006
December 11
This garlic head started sprouting in my fridge. Now I'm kind of curious to see what happens.
December 9 & 10
I love this season for Panettone and cappucino!
snowman jammies
Sorry...I fallen a little bit behind on the December Photo Project. I've been a bit under the weather this weekend. I had pink eye (!?!?!)...not my kid but ME. Who gets pink eye? anyway. It was short-lived but have been battling weird sore throat since.
December 8, 2006
December 8
Couldn't resist this picture of Philip the Fair at the art museum a couple of weeks ago. See his Golden Fleece pendant?!
___
We had friends over to watch Rear Window this evening. I think it's easily risen to the top as my favorite Hitchcock. The music was so interesting...I need to watch it again.
December 7, 2006
December 7
I learned how to make yo-yo's! I was always wondered what to call those things. I had a pillow once from the wave of my great-grandmother's things with a yo-yo flowers on it. Wonder what happened to it, because I really liked it.
December 6, 2006
December 6
December Photo Project
December 5, 2006
December 5
December Photo Project
December 4, 2006
December 4
What we do to get by...
*december photo project*
December 3, 2006
December 3
Part of the December Photo Project
December 2, 2006
December 2
This was taken at our trip to the Philadelphia Art Museum last week. We took a break on the third floor. On the other side of the window is a big Christmas tree overlooking Ben Franklin Pkway with Center City beyond. What is reflected in the window is Athena with her bow and arrow on the other side of the room.
*This entry brought to you by the December Photo Project*
December 1, 2006
December 1
This was actually taken a couple of weeks ago, but it was a night much like this one. Balmy, unseasonably warm, rainy, windy, ushering in a cold front. I was standing at our local train station watching the light in the puddles and train tracks glisten.
___
I decided to participate in Rebecca's December Photo Project. Participants still welcome.
A picture a day until Dec. 25. I will try to avoid harvesting the archives every time. :-)
November 24, 2006
Thanksgiving 2006
Here are a few of my favorite pics.
Linnea doing the eerily jolly Norman Rockwell pose.
Aunt Torture. They still manage to steal kisses from my brother after 27 years.
Our little family
November 6, 2006
Walk at Pennypack Park
This afternoon was one of those days when you have to get out and enjoy the fresh air. Since Chris was working there was no thesis work to be done. My friend and I went to the local incarnation of Fairmount Park with our kids. Her Maddie is 8 mos, and she's a social baby like Ellis. They were Thrilled to be together. They kept giggling at each other. It was so cute. Then Ellis tried to climb all over her stroller.
The peak of Fall's colors is over. But the pathway was lined with copper beaches whose remaining leaves created an amber canopy around is.
November 4, 2006
Christmas shoes!
We had another baby shower for a church friend this afternoon. Her baby is due in early December, and she doesn't know if it's a boy or girl. I know these are blue, but I thought they could go either way. And I couldn't resist the Christmas-y-ness!
I'm working on my own bootie pattern. But it's hard to figure out how to work out the kinks. Since these were for a gift, they are largley based on Heather Bailey's Bitty Bootie pattern. Even though it's more work, I prefer to line my booties, even though the pattern doesn't necessarily call for it. And I don't like how the toes turn up in her pattern. Hmmm. Maybe I'm just being too picky.
Anyway, I was pleased with how they turned out. Now it's back to thesisizing. (a few more details are on Flickr)
October 31, 2006
Happy Halloween!
October 24, 2006
Fall Walk
October 22, 2006
Cute!
dress vintage fabrics, size 86/18 months
Originally uploaded by kinchimama.
Found these adorable dresses on Flickr. This woman is a genius! I love where she finds her fabric. Recycled tablecloths, pillowcases. Definitely worth a quick peak at her work.
October 20, 2006
My friends make art
Rebecca's picture that I've arbitrarily called "Leap off of Haymound" and Katie's beautiful portrait of her daughter Eden have given such delight this morning as I sit with my computer accompanied by the dreariness outside and the march of black and white words across the screen.
Found this pic on Flickr
October 11, 2006
Some art
To the responders to the art meme:
The top 5 are Twirly, Lynn, Alli, Jo, and Em. If I'm nice and feel like taking more pictures, which is likely since it's pretty fall out, I might take one for katiek, Dawn, and AmandaK, too.
The first picture is for Jo.
It is entitled, "Kafka."
The next one is for Lynn. I was experimenting with long exposure and fingure-spelling your name in ASL. It's not as dramatic as I had hoped it would be. And the background is kind of unattractive, but the shelf in the boy's room offered the best height and light to place the camera.
"Your Name"
The last one, for now!, is for Em, who reads my blog. It features two substances close to my heart, coffee and advil. I thought you'd appreciate the Ikea mug. ;-)
"Come and Have a Cuppa"
I'll be back with more!!!
October 8, 2006
E!
Thanks, twirly!
August 4, 2006
playing outside
