New Hats

I've started wearing a couple of new hats, that of a work-at-home-mom and the other of a blog contributor.  I know.  That last one seems almost laughable considering how frequently I've updated my own blog lately.  My first contributing post albeit short but sweet went live yesterday.  I was asked to shoot some photos initially and this just sort of happened.  You can check it out at www.burbsfoodie.com 

Kind of like work.  I wasn't looking for a job.  One just happened to find me.  The arrangement is right for a busy mom with littles that still need a whole lot of little kid sort of attention.  I work  from home in the afternoon while Maxwell naps and/or at night once both boys are in bed.  

So October passed in a blur of foodie photo shoots, a weekend at the cabin to help chop wood for winter, a trip to the neighbor's family farm, trick-or-treating and a myriad of other adventures big and small that keep us Flynns hopping.

You'd never guess from some of these photos that this is October at Horseshoe:

Yep.  Our kids were IN the lake.  Swimming.  In October.  It was crazy.  Those kids are crazy.

And the Landelin Farm.  Oh my.  I shot well over a thousand pictures that day.  Seriously.  We took Gator rides, played hay stack tag, made friends with horses and kittens, picked pumpkins big & small and got a first-hand view of what a real, honest-to-goodness, all-American farm looks like.  Agriculture.  It was incredible. Awesome.  This, friends, is how food gets on our tables.  It's pretty amazing to think about.

Halloween brought with it the appearance of Bat Max and Super Chan.  (Don't tell Channing I called him Chan.  He much prefers Channing and is very vocal about it.)  It was chilly.  The boys had a whole lot of fun though.  And candy.  Way.  Too.  Much.  Candy.  Of course.  That's what Halloween is all about.

Right around the corner is Channing's birthday.  We're going with a Scientific Celebration this year.  He's inviting a few friends from the neighborhood and a few more from his class at school.  We've traditionally invited parents and siblings too.  It's hard to break away from that.  This year felt like time to do it, especially since the kids will be doing hands-on experiments at the party.

And that, in a nut-shell, is October.

No Buddy

These two.  There are days when they're at each other from the moment their eyes open in the morning.  And then there are days like this.  They're the best of best friends.

It was drizzling as we left our house and headed out in search of a frog or two.  These guys didn't mind one bit.  They were decked out in their rain gear, and with their red Radio Flyer wagon, butterfly nets and animal cracker tub turned critter keeper, they were ready.

On the path to adventure, they stopped to pick flowers for me and to speculate where the leprechaun was as they discovered a nice, thick patch of clover.

With Channing trolling the edge of the path and Maxwell hauling the gear, they managed to nab a few creatures for their always-evolving collection.

Maxwellie has a soft spot for anything that creeps or crawls.  I kid you not.  Papa Doug found him out front one sunny afternoon with bumble bees pinched between the thumb and forefinger of each hand.  A big, fat toad spent the better part of another afternoon blasting into outer space, as with Max's help, he flew the rocket ship from the space station play set.  And today was no exception.  He found himself a 'gwasspapa' as big as my middle finger, gave it a kiss and told it, 'It's OK.  I'm a nice boy.'  (Despite Max's assurances, that grasshopper made a hasty escape the first chance he got.)

Nearly two hours and a mere half mile later, we made it home.  Muddied boots were cleaned.  Bugs were again carefully inspected.

And, this mama's heart smiled, as truly 'there is no buddy like a brother.'

Glow

This evening's activity, via Pinterest, was slightly frustrating and mostly fun.  Frustrating in that it is a lot harder than it looks to shove a glow stick bracelet into a plastic Easter egg.  Seriously.  It shouldn't be that hard, should it?

I got the bracelets at Michael's.  $1.50 for 12.  I vaguely recall glow disks.  In hindsight, that would have been the way to go.  Oh well.  We made due. 

The brightest eggs had the corresponding color bracelet inside.  And, if you do this with your own littles, take care not to snap the bracelet when twisting it up.  We lost two that way.  

See the dull egg to the right?  Green egg + orange bracelet = not so good.  

Looping the bracelet twice sort of seemed to work.  Although, we did have a few eggs break open during the hunt.  Granted the boys weren't exactly being gentle with the eggs.  I'm so very grateful they weren't real eggs.

What they were though was real fun.  We took turns hiding eggs and find them again.  

Max was the best.  He'd hide all of the eggs in one spot.

I loathe flash photography.  In all honesty, because I simply do not understand it.  My aperture was wide open here and yet the pending darkness wrecked havoc on my shot. Unless the boys were perfectly still, my images were all blur.  Oh well.  It's just another reminder that they're both in perpetual motion.  

Then he'd show you exactly where they all were.  Hilarious to me.  Infuriating to his big brother. 

The little monster HAD to be in the shot.  I sewed it for Channing today.  One for Maxwell too.  Max calls his Chip.  Channing's has yet to be named.  They're squishy and lovable just like my boys.  

Granite countertops can be a photographer's delight.

Nonetheless, we had more smiles than frowns.  And I may have had a wee bit of fun playing with my camera settings in the low light. Happy egg hunting, my friends.  Happy egg hunting!!

Happy

Yes.  Delightfully so.  This little guy got down and dirty on the farm this morning.  Apparently, his animals-the horses in particular-needed some love and attention.

See?  Happy.

And yes, that face is inherited from me.  That's my 'I-love-you-so-much-I-could-eat-you' face.

As I snapped away, the animals were fed and watered and patted and kissed.  And then lined up.  And then the farmer decided, as he often does, to abandon his socks.  And then he hopped into the line-up too.  'Cuz that's what farmers do, right?

My heart is full of light and love and happiness.  I caught him being little and captured it forever.

What To Do

OK.  So my renewed efforts at blogging fell a wee bit short.  Life happens.  Fast.  I just get caught up in the moment.  Much time passes and a blog post playing catch up (again) seems rather lame.  But, here I am.  Digital files finally dumped from the camera to the computer.  Ready to share.  

We've been cooped up.  The scooters, strider bike, wheelie turtle and in-line skates are permanent fixtures in the kitchen/dining room.  I tried to take a selfie while riding the scooter in the scooter/ride-on turtle parade I had with the boys one evening.  It was simply a blur.  We did have some bitterly cold but brilliantly sunny afternoons spent wheeling about.  It was grand.  And warm.  We like warm.

And then, on a recent day off from school, Megan popped over for the afternoon.  We got caught up in art and snacks.  Jim had to call and ask for her back.  We simply lost track of time.  Watercolor + washi tape + popcorn = good fun.

And then, Channing had two celebrations at school that needed special attire.  He celebrated the 100th Day of School and, the following week, he celebrated Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character Day.  I whipped up the shirt and the Cat In The Hat costume.  In hindsight, I should have photographed the process.  Both were easily done and the How To would have been worth sharing.  

And then,  Kelly & her sweet family paid an impromptu, week-long visit.  I hardly picked up the camera.  We were simply too busy having fun.  I did, however, make a point of taking pictures of Little Lil with the quilt Grandma Kathy made for her.  Sweet.  Both Lil and the quilt.

And then, we tackled another Kiwi Crate.  I seriously love them.  The boys do too.  I usually let them choose just one activity from the box to prolong the fun.  This day, they did both projects in rapid succession.  My little bakers made chef hats & aprons and then 'baked' cakes.  

And then, because not everyone follows along on Instagram, these things happened too.  

Max is in perpetual motion.  Whether he's on his own during school hours or Channing is around to egg him on.  This boy does not.  stop.  moving.   

Kath & I are part of the Bag of the Month Club.  This is January's BOTM.  I think, for now, we're skipping February and moving right along to March.  The March pattern is by NoodleHead.  I [heart] NoodleHead patterns.  

My justification for this is that it's 'healthy'  And by 'healthy', I mean it has fewer calories than regular peanut butter, plain almond butter or Nutella.  It's great on toast with bananas or berries, better in a smoothie and better still eaten with a spoon.

OK.  Maybe he will sit still.  But only for this.  'Me play choo-choo, Mama.' 

Sometimes the boys from down the street come to play as their mom and dad play Two Ships Passing In The Night.   On their most recent visit, there was a fabulous hour of Lego collaboration. 

One afternoon I went into Maxwell's room to wake him from his nap.  All I could see were his sweet little toes peeking out from under his quilt.  This was one of those moments I knew I would miss terribly at the very same moment it was happening.  That feeling hit me like a ton of bricks.  Why do they grow up so fast??

Channing has mastered the fine art of making Jell-O.  He likes picking a flavor to match whatever he is wearing.  

Maxwellie is still having a bang-up time at MacPhail Center for Music.  On this particular day, we played both the spoons as well as pots & pans.   

I have a confession.  I like ball fringe.  I would put it on EVERYTHING if I could get away with it.  Since I can't, I put some on this St. Patty's Day pillow I pieced together in the last week or so.  

Which brings us to today.  I'm sitting here in my very sunny office with no less than four sewing machines at my back, the cursed coverstitch machine is taunting me as neither Kath nor I can figure out how to get the silly thing to work properly, a mountain of fabric is waiting to be refolded and stashed, muslin and a skirt pattern are at the ready and I've got a hankering for a 'quick fix' sewing project.  Yet a gallon of 'Dewy' paint is whispering from the corner, 'Forget the sewing projects.  Pick me.'  

What to do...what to do...