Sunday, February 28, 2010

crayons


crayons, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

All three children love to sit at the table together and draw in the afternoons. I'm surprised by the amount of time Ruby spends sitting up there writing and drawing.


We are trying to pull ourselves up out of the February doldrums. Noses are still running, and Ruby has many more days of medicine, but the daylilies are coming up, and I saw four Eastern Bluebirds at the children's school last week.

john:: aerial map of columbus, nebraska

John's drawing and letters are coming along. He has a completely difference process than Ella did, and I'm enjoying letting him approach them at his own pace.

ella


ella, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

She is so tired of sharing her room with her little brother. I thought it would take longer, and there is really nothing we can do about it.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

signs of spring

Underneath the ten or so inches of melting snow there are four inch tall daffodils.

Friday, February 19, 2010

babushka, baby!


babushka, baby!, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Ruby calls the littlest doll inside the set of nesting dolls, "babushka baby".

This afternoon she played the harmonica to the jack in the box in an attempt to get him to pop out.

We are wallowing in some sickness around here. All I do is walk around behind John picking up tissues. Ella turned green after her bath tonight and sat in the bathroom with a glass of ice water.

We'll just have to work through it.

kiss kiss


kiss kiss, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

vintage snow


vintage snow, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

I went on a Valentine's day hike with this guy, the big one on the right. We climbed up two miles through deep albeit packed snow to see the frozen Cascade Falls. We left the children with friends and headed out into the blissfully quiet woods.


us


us, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Cascade Falls Hike


Cascade Falls Hike, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Friday, February 12, 2010

watching the birds


watching the birds, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

We've been feeding the birds outside the kitchen window, and Ruby set up the heart shaped stool so she'd have a place to sit when she comes to watch the birds. This afternoon we put lots of birdseed on the back deck as well and had many visits from the cardinals, nuthatches, titmice, and chickadees. This photo is my Valentine to all of you.

knit purl


knit purl, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

I love learning to make something new. I have to do it after the children go to bed, and I'm so afraid that I'm going to lose my place and not know how to get back.

painting


painting, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

dinosaur john


dinosaur john, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Here's daddy in the early seventies. I love the way he really hasn't changed much.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

ella and I made knitting needles


ella and I made knitting needles, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Now I'm ready to just sit on the couch and knit for a while.

snowella


snowella, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

yarngirl


yarngirl, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Ella and I did a friendship bracelet booth for a school fundraiser this weekend. Here's Ella wearing the yarn. She made the signs for the booth and very patiently taught a lot of kids how to make them. She has been knitting quite well lately with this very same cotton. A presentation on the Peace Corps on the school's service day really caught her attention, and now she counts her Peace Corps work as part of her school calendar. The second graders are folding origami cranes to make mobiles to sell to make money for their service project.

my small yogaman


my small yogaman, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Kokeshi Japanese dollmaking


Kokeshi Japanese dollmaking, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

snow::man


snow::man, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Friday, February 05, 2010

snowbound

So, we live in the land of snow on Friday. Once again we could have a foot on top of last weeks remnants. The university is closed, so daddy is knocking around the house, i.e. trying to work from the kitchen table. I'm procratinating at bit, drinking yet another cup of coffee before I start cleaning. I spent the last few nights making some dolls for a school fundraiser, and Ella and I still have some crafting to do. We are going to make more knitting needles and put together kits for making friendship bracelets. I want to clean our playroom and am thinking about bringing the children's kitchen up to the living room.

I'm roasting a chicken with lemon and garlic, making veggie chili, baking some bread, and making a pie

Monday, February 01, 2010

sweet tiny one


sweet tiny ruby, originally uploaded by ellajohn.