He's Nine and a HALF

Remembering:

Nine

8 and a HALF

EightSeven and a half
SEven
Here's 6 1/2
Six
5 and a HALF
Age five.
Here's 4 1/2
Here's 4.
Here's 3 1/2.

Here's 3.

Here's 2 1/2,  
Here he was at 2.
Here he was at 18 months.
(And before that, I wasn't a blogger).

Adrian, you are now Nine and a HALF.  What a joy you are!  I once read that there's nothing like a nine year old boy, I agree.  You are responsible, taking care of all of your things and your room. I can count on you to do chores and look after things I ask. You are independent, but love your mama fiercely.  (And your dad too, but right now, the world still revolves around mama).

You love tractors, still.  You play tractors, read about tractors, draw tractors and lately you have been designing the "ATL" tractor brand out of legos. You still almost always have something tractor related you are wearing. This hasn't changed one bit. Your favorite hobby is still cutting tractors out of magazines.

You remember everything.  You collect books, enjoy reading them and love to be read to.  You enjoy 'working' around the farm. You eat everything and anything, in big quantities. You finish it all and say you are still hungry.  You enjoy shoveling, swimming, biking and nature walks.  Your favorite pets are our dog (Holly) and Zoom the cat (who often sleeps with you).  You love routine and order and predictability.  You find our family too busy and you'd like to stay home more. 

You bring such a stable presence to our family.  We can't imagine where we would be without you to keep us on track. It seems I will never have to figure out life without you, for you claim you plan to live with me forever.I love you, my dear boy.

Love, Mama

Sleeping

I just love this pic of Anna-Kate sleeping and snuggling the zebra my neighbor knitted. Sometimes she sleeps. Sometimes she does not.Last night she was up three times between bedtime and 4:30am. While I'm certainly not a fan of getting up all hours of the night, I'm thankful she knows who to call when she needs something and I'm thankful I am able to fix whatever nighttime woes she has. May she always feel confident coming to me for whatever she needs.

LLBean

LLBean, keeping my three Mainers, my three Maniacs in style for our homeschool co-op for five years. On this frosty morning, they are sporting LL Bean Fleece lined hoodies x3 and LL Bean original backpacks x3.

Melting

 It's hard to believe these shots were just last week. I was just out there dumping the guinea pig cage droppings this morning and the snow is cleared, the sun is bright, the birds are chirping. I'm dreaming of that growing shady maple (that I have been fertilizing and encouraging for the last 7 years) in full bloom, the forsythia to the right, the lilacs behind it, the vegetables to the left and the orchard to the far left. So thankful to live where there are seasons.

Thrifted

More for our tinware collection!  I think with these, we can officially feed our entire 4-H club and have no need for extra paper plates or bowls with my enamelware collection.  I think I need a few more mugs to make it there for drinks. I'll be keeping my eyes open.

Each was $1 a piece, so $20 for the set. It's pottery barn.  I am seeing that if I sold it on Ebay, I would definitely make a mighty profit!  That I won't do, but it's fun to see how much of a score the set was!

Vote.

I said we were voting today, the tiniest one said "Oh good, I love boating." Boats were not involved, much to her disappointment. Conversations of how many couldn't vote not very many years ago did happen, to which my kids were appalled and asserted that it's only right if everyone can vote. I'm thankful for those before me, for those who fought for my right to cast that ballot today.

Also, I am really bad at selfies, but there are four "I voted" stickers.

What Guinea Pigs Dream...

Do you think Guinea Pigs dream of having a 7 year old with an old fashioned apron with pockets just the right size for them to snuggle in?  If so, guinea pig dreams do come true.