Imaginative creation...

The boys got out the bucket of little plastic ninjas and pirates.
Then Tam had the bright idea to get out the big lego blocks too...


Moments later I walked in to see this...





What is it?




Tamlin explained that it is a "Ninja Training School."

And there are all the little ninjas lined up to take their turns jumping, kicking, climbing, crossing the rope bridge, and general "hi-ya"-ing.

You go, son!

Latest artwork

A few of my boys latest drawings.  We get a gazzilion pieces of paper home with each boy each day, it is hard to choose which ones to save and display on the fridge.  I love that they are able to be creative and use their artistic inheritance.

Tamlin has become much better at coloring within the lines and exploring his color combinations.

Jude's classroom has a ton of stamps and stencils to play with, and Jude's favorite is the spider stamp.

He's been playing a Lego car game on the iPad, which has sparked drawings of cars with feet (like in the game).

And magnetic blocks are still favorites, along with their gears; The boys both build elaborate trucks, cars, trains, horse carriers, etc.  Jude has incorporated the gears into his drawings of cars, too.

These two show that our boys love Brian and me :-)

Jude wants to be a chef when he grows up and Tamlin drew me and him together.

Wooden animals

On Saturday, the little and I ventured out to a local craft / antique fair.  It was a miserably cold, drizzly day, but we had several inherited umbrellas to play with and twirl.  Our cousins have a booth there, and we wanted to check out and admire their craftiness.  We were supposed to be on a hunt for Christmas gifts, but instead found several little trinkets for ourselves (including a stool from the cousins).

The major win came from a wood carvers booth.  They had a box of simply cut wooden animals, 3 pieces for $1.   I let the boys have a romp through them to each pick out their three favorites.
Tamlin settled for a butterfly, a bird and a "dove" (though I thought it looked more like a duck).
also found a bird, a fish, and a horse.

After becoming slightly damp, we went home with our purchases... and got out the paints.
I let the boys have at painting their new toys. 

And now we have a menagerie of interestingly painted animals.

Pinerest WIN

We had several birthdays to celebrate at the start of the month and Jude wanted cookies with eyes.
Sparked by photos floating around on the internet of these spider cookies...I thought I could whip up a batch of these to please everyone.

 Yummy peanut-butter cookies with butterfinger spiders with frosting legs.
Jude loved them.
My collegues loved to eat them.
And they are pretty cute.
Win!

Halloween Decorations are up!

 Since the next couple of weekends are a bit busy for us, I decided to get out the Halloween decorations a smidge early.  As usual, the boys had a blast digging through the buckets of creepy paraphernalia.
I think decorating for Halloween is my second favorite holiday time (Christmas being the first :-)

At least this year, both boys weren't scared of any of the creepiness...including the haunted talking skull or the jumping snake.

And for dressing up?
Tamlin wants to be a ninja this year...a black ninja... with red trim.
Jude wants to be a spider...an orange and black spider.
Hmmm...pretty doable, if I can find black shirts/pants for the boys as the base. (and some googly eyes for the spider).

Vampire teeth almost fit.

Spoooooooky!

Farewell to Jim Thomas

It has been a couple of weeks, but I think I can write a note to say goodbye without too many tears.
Goodbye, Jim.
You were a good man with a very kind heart and you will be missed by all of us.
I am happy to have known you, and I can see many of your traits in Brian.
You were always welcoming and always will to help others.
I'm so glad you were able to come out our way in May and visit and talk to Brian and hold your grandsons.
We had no idea that there was cancer eating away at you from the inside; we only saw that you were hurting but wouldn't except our help.  You lived how you wished.
I am so sorry that you were called away so quickly...too quickly.
Too quickly.
We all loved you and will remember you and speak well of you to our little ones.

We are in the process of dealing with the aftermath of our loss...

We are remembereing.
We are shutting down finances his old life, bills, utilities, etc.
And this has moved Brian and I to make sure our affairs are in order just in case anything should happen to us.
 There is and will be much cleaning of the house and unearthing of some forgotten treasures.
We have brought things home to Tam and Jude, letting them play with things that were important to Brian as a child, or were his Aunt Carol's.  The ton of marbles have been a blast.  The boys have found many ways to incorporate them into their play.  The games have been fun too...stadium checkers, junior monopoly, Chinese checkers, and dominoes have all been played.

And the art supplies.  Jim, you were an artist.  Your markers and pens are being put to good use by our own little artists, especially Jude.