Michael-Mama Time

Mornings are slow around here. A month or two ago I spent mornings doing housework; but I've found that if I spend this time simply being with my boys, they are much more pleasant the rest of the day. And now that the twins are napping more regularly (YAY), we get at least a little bit of time every morning when it's just me and my big boy.

At first he didn't really get it. I would tell him I was putting the babies upstairs for a nap and he got all upset. But sometime last week I told him it was time for the babies to go to sleep, and then it would be "Michael-Mama time." He thought about this for a second. I watched as he processed it and then decided, "Huh ... I like that idea!"

Now when I come down from putting Gregory to bed, I'm greeted by a little voice waiting on the stairs saying, "It's Michael-Mama time!"

Usually he just wants me to build stuff with his blocks. Or watch him build stuff with his blocks. (He loves his blocks. They are what he plays with 50% of the time.) Other times we'll read or draw. Often I have to make him a "nest" out of pillows and blankets so he can be a Michael-bird.

And then some days we make popovers and eat them with lots of butter while this song plays on repeat, per Michael's request.

Often I'll take a shower during this time, or fold some laundry. But I never touch the computer. It really makes a huge difference if I stay away from it until Michael's nap. He knows my attention is all his. And we're both happier people because of it.

Michael loves the wallpaper in his room.

When in doubt ... hexipuff!

Still reading The Body of This by Andrew McNabb. The stories here are short and quite intense. I think I'm going to take this book slowly. (Although I imagine I'd devour it if I had a long stretch of time to devote it proper attention.)

So I am looking for another book to read at the same time. On my Kindle I have A Mother's Rule of Life and The Nesting Place; which should I read?

I ran out of yarn for my leaves from last week. I'm still in a somewhat scattered place and not ready to settle down to a real project. So instead I have turned to puffs. Now I am addicted again. And in no danger of running out of yarn anytime soon, as you can see from the above picture ... all fingering scraps go into the shoebox. And I have quite a few mini-skeins I traded for last year as well.  

These 14 are all from the past week or so. Last night I actually found myself knitting puffs in my sleep. :-P (Not literally, just in my head.) The one on the needles is #129. And if you are wondering what that many puffs looks like .... 

...the answer is surprisingly small. If I ever want this thing to cover an actual bed I have a looong ways to go. But I'm pretty sure I have enough yarn. Heh.

(I'm going to pretend that Sophie the giraffe is in this picture for size comparison and not because there are toys all over my living room floor. ;) )

Linking up with Ginny.

Blogging against the odds (yarn along)

Why is it that I can (generally) do the dishes, fold the laundry, scrub a toilet, and the kids are fine ... but when I try to take pictures for my blog the babies start screaming at me with desperate expressions and Michael starts crying to hold the yarn, the camera, the knitting needles, all that I am working with? Sigh.

Oh well. Hopefully this post will get finished eventually.

It feels like forever since I've done a yarn along. Knitting has been scarce around here. I've been itching the past week to pick up a real project but nothing in my queue seems imminent, for whatever reason. So I've been doing a few odds and ends here and there ... some hexipuffs, some leaves. 

The leaf pattern is from the Family Tree Afghan. I figured I would knit it over time out of scraps from projects knit for Michael. Then when he's grown and moves out he can have it. The blue is from his baby blanket, the orangish-brown from his Milo vest, the light and emerald greens from a sweater my mom knit him. But then I started knitting these dark green leaves from leftovers from a pair of fingerless gloves for Keith. So ... perhaps the plan is changing? We'll see. I'm not certain the dark green looks good with the other colors. 

I've also considered using the leftovers from the twins' Milos (the two balls in the picture, although the blue doesn't seem to fit in, does it?). And there is a yarn crawl next month. I think it would be kind of neat to buy a skein of yarn at each store and use it in this afghan. Then Michael can have it for his big boy bed.

I may not have been knitting, but I have certainly been reading! I finished Kristin Lavransdatter two days ago. What an experience, to finally emerge from the world you've been immersed in for more than 1000 pages. I would like to write about it here ... but the reality is I probably won't have the time. So I will just have to say here that it is excellent beyond my expectations. It is, obviously, quite a commitment to pick up and read; but it's time well spent. 

Linking up with Ginny and her yarn along.