::t w o::

My little Charlotte is getting bigger.

She's turning into this independent little creature that surprises me daily with her new found abilities and tricks.
She's earned herself several nick names over her two years. "The house hippo", "Pickles","Lah-tee-Dah"....to name a few. And all with good reason, I assure you.

 

She's as stubborn as her Daddy, and has little fits and stomps her chubby little legs over silly little things, and I have to try my best not to laugh. 

 It's so hard to take a very cute, furious toddler seriously. Especially when she's wearing a crown, her big brother's rain boots, and a  tutu, with a tool belt strapped around her waist.

Two is an awkward age. I can tell her that we have to wait for morning to do the activity she wants to do. And she understands.

She knows her days of the week, her ABC's and can count to 10.

 But she simply cannot figure out why it's not OK to eat crayons. Or Put them in her nose....or put them in MY nose.

And why she can't, despite all her best efforts, wear a shirt as pants. Or why I can't wear her clothes, no matter how much she begs me to.

But she's full of love and affection, and has such a sweet and soft gentle side. (Even when sporting a tool belt.) She always has time for kisses and cuddles, and will sit on my lap and tell me tall tales about her day. 

She melts my heart. I am continuously reminded of how blessed we are to have her as a member of our family; She's brought us such joy and laughter.

Happy Second Birthday to Lotte, My little sugar pie!

{this moment}

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Reality Check

Joining Rachel again this week with a Reality check of our own...

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. 

Someone around here is getting to be quite the master of disaster with her great rolling abilities. She managed to flip herself right onto her little noggin, earning a decent sized goose egg, and a lot of kisses from sympathetic brothers.

Weekend of Play

This weekend we lucked out and got to spend some time at the National Museum of Play in Rochester NY.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I'd heard good things about it, and we needed a day trip to tend to the mid winter blahs. 

Let me just say, that this was definitely worth the two hour drive (even though Ms. La-Tee-Dah did manage scream for a good portion of the way home.)
The museum was set up for children of all ages, with hidden nooks and crannies galore, ensuring that no child would be lost to boredom.
I love the attention to detail that went into creating these spaces, and that everything was scaled to size, perfect for little people.

To my delight, there were also book stations everywhere-just in case one of the littles might want to sit down and rest a while in a comfy chair, and pick up one of the many captivating titles that surrounded each play area.

Some of our favorites from the day were :

The miniature "Wegmans" grocery store, where one could be a shopper, an employee, or both!

Superhero School, where you could climb tall buildings, experience super strength, and even design your own super costume. 

Old carnival style arcade games

Sailing through history on boats from the past

Attending "Wizard" school

A collection of really old dolls-some were a little...creepy....(yes, this one is hatching from an egg.)

Playing house, in a Victorian era kitchen

Finding a familiar book, and a namesake

Riding through Oz on the wicked witch's bicycle

Walking through a very crooked house where you just can't seem to ever stand up straight

and just hanging out on the steps a familiar building on a street we all know and love

What kid wouldn't want to rest a while on Oscar the Grouch's trash can and read a  good book?

With so much to do (this place is huge) i'm surprised that we got it all done in one day.

By the time we were leaving at 8 pm, there was a lot of eye rubbing going on, and even a few yawns.

What could be better to a child than playing to the point of exhaustion?

{Yarn Along}

Dad's poor scarf has been frogged, again. Let me explain...

First I was doing it in a garter stitch border and the rest in stockinette, but even with that gartered border, it was still curling horribly. It was also taking FOREVER.

did I mention that I'm a bit impatient?

So then I ripped it out, and began doing the entire thing in garter stitch, but it felt too mindless.

So I ripped it out one, self promised last time, doubled up the wool, and began a basket weave, which is working out fantastically. Not too boring, but not too tricky, and going much faster this time.

Lotte's little candy floss hat, finished up last week and it looks darling. I had to flip the edge up for it to fit her right now, but I figured I would. I made it large enough to fit a one year old because I wanted it to last a while.

Also, I think I've finally got the hang of double pointed needles, it's too early to say though if I prefer them to circular. It might just depend on which project I'm doing.
I've started on this, just as a little side project to keep working on with yarn scraps over time.

This is my first "hexipuff"-yup, I've got a loooong way to go.

I'm still not completely finished "Portrait of Van Gogh", but I'm near done.

I can't believe how much this poor artist went through to become what he did. He's often remembered as the artist who was "crazy" and the artist who "cut off his ear"...there's really so much more to his story than this.

He was eccentric, indeed.-However, he would tend to the homeless, weak, and the sick, giving them the clothes off of his own back, and it was more often than not, acts like these that earned him the reputation of being crazy.

Van Gogh was such a kind and generous person, living a chosen humble life, and looking out for his fellow man, which his paintings actually reflect.

Unlike other painters of his time who were painting the wealthy social scenes, Van Gogh was creating paintings like "the potato eaters" and scenes from low class pubs.

In the book are quotes from letters that he wrote to his brother, Theo, and this is one of my absolute favorites:

 "There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke coming through the chimney."

                                                                                                                    -Letter to Theo, 1880



For more weekly yarn along stories, visit Ginny at Small Things!

{Their World}

Every once in a while I'll leave my camera unattended, and later find the strangest, and sometimes most entertaining photos when I go to upload my memory card on to my computer.
Here are today's winners:

At Last, She Knits! {yarn along}



I've spent the last few glorious {albeit sleepless} weeks in a drunken romance with Lotte.
I can't get enough of her, I just soak up every second I can.
We spend a lot of time curled up together on the couch while she eats. {or should I say, "snacks"?}

This has led to a lot of Internet time...and while I can't type with both hands, I can watch netflix, and YouTube!
Late last night while Lotte was in one of those "I'm no longer hungry but can we still play?" moods, it dawned on me to check out YouTube for knitting instructions. I can knit flat/square things in basic stitches, but circular knitting has always left me puzzled and confused, and my poor needles always end up shoved back in a box for "later". A girl can only knit so many scarves!

 I'm a hands on & visual learner, but I don't know anyone personally who can knit, {that lives anywhere near here anyway}, no one in my family knits,  and unfortunately I had always attempted to learn from what I like to call "the book of poorly illustrated diagrams".

But with the help of a few videos I've finally figured out circular knitting. I messed around with working four needles, and magic looping.{What an incredible concept!}


I found an easy beginner pattern that I'm really excited about trying.

I don't think that I'll  try alternating colours just yet though...one step at a time!

p.s. I haven't been reading much lately other than a few magazines. I'll be working on finding something soon though. My hours are numbered, so whatever book I find has to be worth my time!