our local zoo

Well, it's not really a zoo. It's the real deal. We were parked on the road, watching the cows when we saw the farmer, a friend of ours now, come out of the barn. And he invited us in to see the babies and mama's. Ivar loved it and Elsie screamed bloody murder the whole time. When the calves saw the farmer they thought he was bringing their bottles, so it got very noisy. And the louder the calves cried, the louder Elsie cried.

a wonderland

It's 1:15 and Ivar just walked into the kitchen, shuffling his feet, looking at the floor and said, "It's been a long day."

Oh baby has it ever. It has been quite the long week, too.

I've had almost a full week of isolation here at the grovestead. Rory was in San Diego the first part of the week while we stayed put because of Ivar's pink eye, and now the weather has cancelled everything the second half of the week. Yesterday when I found out my morning Bible study was cancelled (my first social outing all week!) I had to come up with a Plan B fast. So I drove myself to Menards, got a gallon of paint and nail putty and decided to paint the livingroom. A good project that is keeping me sane.

The snow is beautiful. The wind has blown the field so that it looks like white caps rolling on the hills. And that is Rory walking out to his office. Not to go and work there, but to get the step ladder for my sudden livingroom painting project. He's a good man. At one point while wading through the snow he yelled back, "It's up to my belly button!" And it was. The drifts back there are amazing.

And now we're trying to make something of this day. I called my dad mid morning and he said, "I'm sitting  here under the palm trees talking to your cousin Karen." So I got to talk to Karen for a long time, which was awesome. Then she handed the phone back to dad and he said, "did you call for something?" And I replied, "Just basic human interaction."

But we're gonna make it. And we're gonna have a really nice living room at the end of all this!

Elsie Bah!

+Elsie has started playing with a dolly. She calls her, "Baby!" And today I played with Elsie and Baby and we had the sweetest time. I fed Baby some pretend food we just got at Ikea. Elsie watched me amazed and laughed at Baby eating watermelon. And then she'd look at me sideways and slowly fed Baby some watermelon too. I could see the dots connecting inside her head as we kept playing pretend. What joy.

+Elsie begins every sentence with a determined, "No." I'll ask, "Elsie, would you like some apple?" And she'll respond, "No." But seconds later in a panic she'll cry out, "Apple!" And it goes on like this for all waking hours of the day.

+She speaks in lots of sounds. Rory commented that she only really says B words. Bah Bah for bottle, Ba for ball, Baa for bath, Bu for book. But she also says Dadoo for Cat and Chicken. I am fluent in Elsie Bah.

+Elsie is extreme. Her joy is so joyful. Her happy is delightful. Her frustrated is furious. Her anger is hot. Her nose always has a booger and her chin is always wet. But her sweetness is tender. Her determination is powerful. Her love is palpable. And her laugh will slay you. She is the best.

forts in the living room

Lately we've been big into forts. And to be totally honest, fort construction is one of my best gifts. I honed this craft over the course of my entire childhood, creating fortresses on the clothesline with my best friend Jennifer. Now I have kids to build them for, and let's just say they lucked out with getting me as their skilled fort-building mama. 

This round I discovered a new trick up my sleeve: use bottom bed sheets for the walls of your fort. The elastic holds secure around the chairs and can be tucked under the feet of the chair. It's so handy. If that doesn't make any sense to you, go build yourself a fort in your living room (go, do it) and come back and tell me how awesome those bottom sheets are. Also helpful: pony tail holders work wonders for keeping the roof attached to the chairs. 

I used to love playing in forts once they were built. But now I find a good magazine inside a fort is the perfect combination.

high on vitamin d

The weather these past two days was cause for celebration. Ivar has pink eye and so we're home bound. But with weather like today and yesterday, we were able to get outside and it was awesome. We did lots of stuff...

...like shovel snow from one pile into another.

And Elsie gave stroller rides to a very willing Velma, the cat.

Each kid spent a whole lot of time in the baby swing, dragging their feet on the snow.

And then we had a picnic lunch with ham, cheese and apples. It was Ivar's idea and I was thrilled. Picnics are my favorite and now I know they are Ivar's too.

And finally, when it was time to come back inside after two hours of play and a picnic, Elsie had a canary. She was livid. She did not want to come in, even though her hands were red and raw. She kept shoving her boots into my belly yelling, "Boo! Boo!" Which meant, put these back on you fun killer. I actually had thought while we were outside that parenting outdoors feels like cheating. The kids were so busy doing their own things, I was so happy to be out in the sun. But when we came back in and Elsie was so furious and Ivar was crying because his socks got wet, then I knew I wasn't cheating. I was still the mom, working hard.

And now I will leave you with a video I like to call "The one where Ivar asks the cats if he can play."


winter cats from Becca Groves on Vimeo.