Abstract art...

Through the artistic process of melting, refreezing, and being snowed upon (again and again and again), our backyard friends have gone from this:

(Artists at work.)


To this:
A little spooky, aren't they?

Special day...

Oh my...the girl has left behind the single digits forever. Sob, sniff... She wanted to come out feet first, and she is still exerting her will each and every day. In a good way, of course. Mostly. No but seriously, she is such a curious, fun, creative, smart girl...it's so exciting to see her growing up, even if it is also heart wrenching! She still likes to play with her brother, for which I am always grateful. She loves cats (clearly), and she is quite the artist! (I need to post some of her drawings.) We are going out tonight for a birthday dinner, but tomorrow night is the swimming/slumber party. Woot! Happy birthday, sweet girl...despite my and your father's foibles and parenting in-expertise, I think you are turning out OK.

New class...

First yoga class at the new studio today...and it was a snow storm/late start. Sigh...I did have one person show up, and she does tai chi so after class she showed me some. I am really attracted to it; I love the continuous flowing movement and preciseness of it. Anyway, if you want to see pictures of the new place, you can click on that Studio Z Facebook box to the left...it will take you to the public FB page which has some photos. Yay!

Straight from the horse's mouth...

M4 direct quote: "We scarcely have any food in this house!"

And a writing exercise he did at school: "If I had 100 dollars I would buy new cat becuse I love to snugll with them."

More fun with paint!

How M4's room used to look:

In progress:

New color! M4 picked it out himself.

Nothin' like a little paint to brighten things up (and brighten up a dreary winter). Ahhh...change is good.

School girl...

I finally bit the bullet and enrolled in a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher 200-hour training program. I equate it to a bachelor's degree of yoga. Right now, I have what could be considered an associate's degree or "an equivalent combination of education, training and experience." So while I'm sure we will cover many things I already know, I'm excited to go back to basics again. I'm excited to go back to school! I'm especially geeking out about all the anatomy we will study. Whee!! And it will be nice to have that little stamp that says I'm legit no matter where I go.

So for a weekend a month for the next nine months, I'll be heading here. The lovely thing is that it's only in Iowa City, an hour away, so I'll be able to commute and come home to kiss the kiddles before they go to sleep. Yippee!!

Another project...

Most of the walls in this house are white. So 2010 is about adding some color, starting with a fun project in the basement:



A US map on wall! It should come in handy for geography quizzes... Now I'm wondering what other things we could put on the walls? Other countries? Continents? Whee!!