I just got in from walking the dog.  We live in town,  there is no park in walking distance and no NO wilderness in sight.  But today as we were out walking the puppy, Chloe was busy taking more pictures of the snow, and the dog was sniffing stuff, I looked up and studied a tall pine tree.  Surprised by its loveliness with the sun shining right on it and the smell of pine needles all around me. Mourning doves flew over head, singing to me, I cought glimpses of them through the branches.  A little pocket of wilderness found in an alleyway.

Chloe is still young enough to jump in mud puddles.

And make up songs while we stroll along holding hands.  She asks me to be the echo, so I sing the diddy of the last line she says.  Today it was about a bike that could fly and wanted to be a bird.

I heard the "wah--cheer, wah-cheer" of a cardinal and asked Chloe to help me find it, so we stood still and looked and looked while it sang to us, and there up on a branch we saw the shock of red.

Just before we turned up our driveway on a little branch was a baby itty bitty chickadee.  So ridiculously small and not at all afraid of us, chirping away and its sibling was right there on the next branch.  Chloe and I stood there watching them hop from branch to branch at eye level for the longest time.

My friend Jenean came over for a visit and brought her little boy Eli.

It is different having a toddler in the house now that I know Steve and I know we will have one again soon.  It has been five years for us and in that time I forgot just what it was like.  Eli was busy-busy-busy, exploring, opening, closing, pulling, touching.  My insides were full of laughter watching him.  He helped me remember what I miss.

I miss having a diaper bag slung over my shoulder when I go out.

I miss thumb sucking

I miss sippy cups

Bibs

Crawling

The first steps, with little fingers wrapped around just one of mine

Drooly smiles reserved just for me

Arms reaching up to be held

A sleepy head nuzzled on my shoulder

A blanky dragging behind on the ground

Watching them sleep

First teeth

One word sentences

Like "Uh-Oh!"

Soft soft skin

Dimples

A reason to use Johnson & Johnson baby lotion

Steve and I clapping and cheering like crazy over every little milestone 

Board books

New soul through which to see the world

Happy relentless curiosity

Steve made a pop-up doll house for Chloe's Polly Pocket dolls.  They colored it together. Seriously, is there anything better than homemade?

When the Olympics were on I sewed a few book covers.  It is the perfect project to do in one sitting and so satisfying.  Here I was embroidering the vine that would crawl up the binding.  I wanted to cover This Cookbook  because the original cover was too "loud" for my kitchen.

Here is the cute one who would, if given the chance, take my sewing project and run with it to the nearest corner and gnaw on it with great intensity and joy.

Jeff is really interested in writing fairy tales for Chloe and adventure stories for Eti right now.  After his homework and chores you can usually find him on this end of the couch spilling out onto the paper all his ideas that he has been saving up all day.

They often ask to go to bed early so that they will have time to tell or listen to stories.

Chloe wanted to sew like mamma, it came out as a blob of yarn but she was mighty proud of it.

Our neighbor called us over last Spring to see the baby robins in her yard.  The mother has come back to the same nest year after year, adding to it and making it larger.  This year after the snowstorm the nest fell.  I found it laying at the bottom of the pine tree. 

There is no such thing as delayed gratification with stickers and children.  It is almost impossible for them to put thought into where the stickers should go.   As soon as they are handed a sheet of stickers they peel them off and stick them to whatever is the closest to them.  Chloe spent half the day with these particular stickers on her hand.  When I took a picture of her, she really really wanted to show her stickers.

Okay I should try to explain what is on her head--I say "try" because you may still wonder even after my attempt.  Steve was home on Saturday and we had green cling wrap left over from Christmas, an empty paper towel tube, and some rubber bands.  So Steve and Coco made glasses, I am not sure if Coco could see with them on because they were pointing in opposite directions, but it was fun for them.

Wait, let me guess...which one is the Old Maid card?  Hold on, I think I can get it....

The boys are in the stage of making  marble mazes , they use paper and cardboard and anything else they can find.

I love the hobby because it all feels deliciously old fashioned to me.

Steve taught Eti how to shoot marbles and I have tried to teach them how to play jacks but the marble maze is what is really holding their attention.

Our little love.  Jeff calls her "Sweet and Sour" which is so perfect--she is half very, very sweet and the other half is very naughty.

Jeff's middle name is Doug, he was named after Steve's good friend who is in the picture above.

Doug married and moved to Texas when Jeff was one and we have not seen him since.

When he first moved to Texas he gave us a huge python snake that we had for about six years. I wish it was still alive, it was an easy and interesting pet to have.

Every year Doug mails the boys Hot Wheels.  It is cool how he picked a theme and has stuck with it, now the boys have a very impressive collection of cars all from "Uncle Doug".

Doug became a police officer in a suburb of Dallas.  When he was here this past week, our house was filled with many, many adventurous police stories.  You can just imagine what a hero he is to the boys now!  

So it was a very busy past week but it was so so good and familiar having him here!

I sewed a little bandana for Eowyn and wanted to get a picture for you.  I took her outside but she would NOT sit still, she could sense that we were going for a walk and was "flipping out".   I had to hold her in order to get the shot, but it did not turn out as well- you cannot see how cute she is, I am hoping to try again.  Eowyn is the type of dog that "needs" a bandana, as soon as we put it on we all started laughing because it was so much cuteness all wrapped up in seven pounds.