rover!

A was pretty excited to get the snap circuits wireless RC rover for his birthday. So of course today we had to build it!


The boys took turns snapping each element onto the grid (A is an awesome big brother, always including G in EVERYTHING), carefully reading and re-checking the instructions/schematics as they went. They did a final schematic check and decided they were ready.


The cool thing is that not only did they assemble a remote control vehicle - but one that has a headlamp and forward/reverse lighting. Oh, and a beeper.


They immediately went to the dark of the hallway and bathroom to get the full effect. They took turns - one driving while the other filmed with their video camera, and then switched.


They also read all about how the wireless remote works, the internal motors, gears and ratios, and electrical circuits. There are 19 more projects with this kit...so I know there is much more to come. Lots of fun!

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eight!

EIGHT!!!!




Words cannot really describe him. He is one of a kind, bigger than life, and we love him with all our hearts. I cannot imagine life without him.


Happy Birthday, sweet boy.



"Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. "
~Jean Paul Richter

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something borrowed.

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planting towards spring.

Oh March. I both love and dread seed starting. 10-12 weeks of hope and soil and light and care. I love the thought of what is to come, the life that springs up from tiny seeds, the smell of it all. I dread...I am not sure. The thought I might fail (no matter how many years I've been doing this). That they need care just as I want to run shrieking outside not to return until summer peaks with humidity and mosquitoes. But it isn't so much to ask when we get so much in return.


There is something about doing it yourself. There is that feeling you got when you were flipping pages in that pile of seed catalogs while a blizzard raged outside that makes you NEED to do it. To fulfill that dream and promise glimpsed when scribbling furiously into that notebook in January. And it is so much more satisfying on some primal level to pick a tomato from a plant grown from seed compared to something bought at the market in May. I don't know why, but it just is.


So, it starts. I have a hard time pacing myself. When I sit down in March with snow on the ground and I have a big stack of trays, a box of seeds and a huge bag of soil I want to PLANT IT ALL NOW! But seed starting requires continuous, um, control. I must start the right plants each week from now until June. It is wonderful to see it all grow. And it is so obvious in its progress - it is like a calendar of life building to spring and beyond. You may not see signs of spring outside, but you are banking on it coming, and soon.


I have my seed packets organized by start date in my little box. I have each packet marked with what week to start, and when to plant out. I have my lights hanging and I have my notebooks full of crazy ideas. I have two little boys who could care less about the yield or varieties but sure love to dig and water and poke the soil and help and watch it all grow.



When we started our first trays this week G said to me "Mom, it is like we are making spring come by planting inside when it is still winter!" I think he is right.

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that kind of busy.

Happy March! Yay! I've been waiting to say that for like 28 days!

I feel like I haven't been here in ages. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by February, and to blog about ambulance rides and ear ruptures and then to come back to say it happened...again? That A has a tooth abscess? Oy. I don't like being negative every time. Yet to come blog about the gardening planning or seed starting only seemed to be running from our day to day. So I've been quiet.



I am happy to say, though, that February is over! G is doing much better, A is clearing up an infection before some oral surgery stuff this spring. And somehow there are only 6 days until A turns 8. EIGHT!


And the sun has been shining. And my boys have been slowly getting louder and spunkier and back to their old selves (A quiet house makes me antsy and they were so quiet for awhile there).



Even with all the February that has been going on here we have been busy. The at home puttering quiet boy spending time together kind of busy. The boys learning everything they can about how democracy is "supposed to" work and the Constitution kind of busy. The board games and baking and listening to music kind of busy.



The reading and writing and drawing and building and researching and singing kind of busy. The pile up and snuggle on the couch when their limited energy from not being 100% well again runs out and read tons of books and tell lots of jokes kind of busy.


As the sun comes out and the snow slowly melts and re-freezes, our temperatures fluctuate wildly and the weather changes on a dime I can feel that spring is coming soon. I can smell it. I can hear it. I can taste it. Spring is for renewal and fresh starts and energy and growth. I think I'm about ready. Are you?


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