We have been trying to have a quiet time every afternoon. Just before we left for Virginia, Ezra asked if he could play with India during quiet time (often she has been at camp while we nap). I said no, but he was so sad and asked so nicely that I decided it was ok… if they remained quiet.
A little over an hour later I came downstairs and this is what I found. A couple of super heros! being nice and quiet.
India had made a Spiderman mask along with gloves and web-shooters (the paper bags around his wrists).
She called herself “Future Girl” and dressed up in her purple Mexican dress and eye mask.
I am glad they decided to be creative rather than argue or wrestle. Ezra is becoming a good playmate for India as he matures.
This is the next addition of the Arapahoe Acres interiors. This home was the last to be completed in AA. It has 5 bedrooms and 2 baths, and a great room on the lower level; all which were not photographed. I had no idea the home was this large! Yvonne, you were holding out on me. The upper level combines living, dining and kitchen; which is what I photographed.
This home was photographed weeks before having Zedekiah and it was just printed in the AA neighborhood newsletter. Since I did not write the article, I am not publishing it in its entirety here. This is a great home. A couple of months after photographing it one of our friends asked if it was for sale (there was a designer’s sign placed on the grass). “That is such a beautiful home. We’d love to buy it!” But alas, I think Yvonne and Phil will remain our neighbors for a long time to come. It is a beauty and very well preserved and loved.
We wanted to host India’s party away from home this year. With an infant in the house, we felt this would be easier for everyone. Zach was afraid I would try to make too many things if we had it at home. He knows me too well.
After listing a few places India decided Mini Golf would be the most fun. Instead of making things for the house, India and I made the invites. She drew a picture and I carved it in a block, then we used tempura paint to print them. I haven’t done that before, I have always used Speedball ink. The paint gave more texture to the prints… it was a bit more difficult to get the image readable. I did most of the inking and printing to keep the brush strokes to a minimum.
We didn’t use the back print since someone might not be able to read the info, oh and we changed the time.
India had decided she wanted Crunch Bar ice cream Popsicles for the party. Things couldn’t get much easier! But Zach’s mom convinced us that we needed some sort of cake for the birthday girl. I guess you’ve got to blow out candles at your party, right. So with her help I made some cupcakes. With the leftover batter I made golf balls for the tops with the tiny muffin pan I bought years ago and have NEVER used. It finally came in handy!
It was so windy that day we couldn’t light the candles. I tried for about a second and realized it wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully India was willing to pretend to blow out the candles. Ha! There was singing too, of course. We didn’t have to throw out all the traditions. She was actually sung to twice. Once by her party guests and a second time by all the Lacrosse players at the park that day. The park was filled with them! I have never seen that park so crowded. Some of the teenage girls thought it was so cute that India was having a party there and they decided to sing to her.
Ezra wanted a pink ball, not the white one. HA! I think it was because he knew I covered it with pink sugar.
A few cupcakes were devoured, but most were hardly eaten. They were good, I promise. I even made the butter cream frosting. The kids were ready to get golfing already. No photos of that, though. I had to nurse baby Zed so I passed the camera to Zach and only 2 or 3 images were taken the rest of the day.
The kids all had a blast and I’m glad India was able to have a party this year. Phew.
Since Zedekiah was almost 2 weeks early, it seemed like forever before my mom came to help. It was great having her around. The number of adults equaled the number of kids for a week… now we’re outnumbered but we’re getting used to it.
After my mom’s visit we had another couple of weeks before Zach’s parents came out. I’m a total lamer and didn’t take any pictures of the with Zed. So there isn’t any photographic evidence of their visit. But there is still proof that they came!
We had scheduled Zed’s father’s blessing for his parents’ visit and I had been knitting a vest for the babe to wear. When Zach’s mom saw it she quickly decided that he needed a pair of pants. She knitted these up in a day and a half. Unbelievable.
I took these photos a few days after they left. Don’t you just love Zedekiah’s quiet smile? He really began smiling the day of his blessing (the 17th). After the blessing we had our neighbors and friends come and visit. Kind of a welcome party for Zedekiah, but very low key with folks in and out throughout the afternoon. It was very nice.
Eyes open and content to be. Gotta love it.
This is the blanket I knitted for him. I actually knitted it twice. The first go it was super wide and skinny. I would have rolled him up in it and it still wouldn’t have covered his toes. I think I had 180 stitches across and gave up trying to make it square, so bound it off and ended up with a shawl. But I wanted a blanket. That’s what I get for not using a pattern.
I began again, casting on about 80 stitches the second go ’round. I knitted the even rows and purled the odd until about 70 rows. Now it’s the perfect size and oh so soft.
