I love this picture because that is the face Graham makes when he is experiencing absolute delight over something Nate has said or done. Graham went to a Super Bowl party this afternoon and it turned out to be a family-oriented affair, with the exception of a fierce game of beer pong. He was disappointed that he didn’t realize ahead of time that he could’ve brought Nate and I. That’s the kind of a father and husband Graham is…he’s the kind of guy who wants to bring his wife and toddler to a football party. When we picked him up he opened up the back door of the car so that he could give Nate a hug and a high-five. He said he missed us. Delight.

Today I went for a drive to Pickering to attend Seedy Saturday. Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday events are held all across Canada for gardeners interested in seed saving, sustainable gardening and growing heritage varieties of flowers and edibles. Representatives from all three of the volunteer horticultural organizations that I’m a member of were present (Durham Master Gardeners, Durham Organic Gardeners and Durham Integrated Growers). I talked with some lovely ladies who belong to the Bloomers & Britches club, and it’s their job to take care of the gardens on site at the Pickering Museum Village, ensuring everything they grow is historically accurate.

There was a seed swap at the Bloomers & Britches table, and I was glad I brought some packets of seeds from home because I traded for some heirloom beans, “rat tail” radishes (an aerial radish whose seed pod is edible rather than the root), dill and poppies.

I’m so happy it’s starting to look like gardening season again.

My grandmother made a school project that involved collecting the seeds of local weeds and displaying them, presumably for her classmates. She kept it her whole life, moving from and to many different homes, and it was among some of her things being stored at my dad’s house when she died late last year. He thought it was something I would like to see, so I now have it here among my things, now.

Gramma Holtby was always a gardener, as farm wives had to be, but more than growing food, she had a beautiful, traditional, farmhouse-style perennial borders that flanked each side of the property where she and Grampa lived near Greenbank, Ontario. In her back yard was the large vegetable garden, complete with a strawberry patch where my cousins and I spent summer visits picking ripe fruit.

Each jar in this small box is held in place with a small length of black thread. I love that her own careful hand steadily wrote the letters for each of the labels on these tiny jars, which keep their contents safe by way of a miniature cork. I like to think that she was saving this to give to me, even if she wasn’t.

Nate and Graham were running around the main floor of the house today when I remembered to grab the camera. As they raced through the living room, rounding the corner into the kitchen, I got myself ready for their re-entrance by way of the dining room, which is really just the far end of the kitchen. As they came around the corner, yelling “fly!” I got ready to take a shot. Nate came “flying” toward me just as I took this picture. I’m so happy I captured this image of him flying toward me, straight into my arms, because lately it feels as though he’s flying away…

Nate had a great time playing with a new toy today. He’s the proud new owner of the Fisher-Price Drillin’ Action Tool Set. I was so impressed with his ability to almost instantly figure out how to use the drill to turn the screws. I guess he’s seen his dad use the drill so often that he knew just what to do.

(I am a Fisher-Price Blogger and we received this toy from them today. All of the opinions stated on this blog are my own.)

Nate helped me brush the car off the snow this morning. I hope this means that he’s going to make a great husband someday.

(I made it through the first month without missing a day! This also means I’ve blogged every day this month, which is another feat in itself. The posts may not be long, but they are there, and I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am enjoying putting them together.)

This is what happens when you become over-eager about starting some seeds and then wait too long to get them under a light. You get leggy seedlings reaching toward the window three feet away. Graham mounted the light for me, and it’s not that he wasn’t more than willing to do it, it’s just that I jumped the gun planting those seeds. These are Renee’s Garden, Wine Country Mesclun seedlings. I don’t even really care that they are probably going to need to be scrapped, because at least they are something green and growing here in my little home office, and that goes a long way toward cheering an otherwise dreary January day.

This winter has been so strange, weather-wise. One day it’s mild enough to take an evening walk as a family and the next it’s cold enough to freeze your little toddler buns off. While Nate spends several days a week in the care of someone else who seems to have no shortage of fun and creative activities for the kids to do, there are still plenty of days and hours in the week when Nate and I are here alone together in the house, trying our darndest not to make each other crazy. I’m always keeping an ear to the ground in an effort to devise some new ways to entertain a very busy, determined and curious two-year-old. Here are a few of the ideas that I’ve come up with so far.

We…

…Cook or Bake! One of Nate’s favourite things is to push a dining room chair up to the kitchen counter so he can see what is going on up there. I’ve tried to curb his urge to do this throughout the day, so it’s become a sort of special treat for him to bring a chair over to help mommy. Last week I washed his hands up and showed him how to peel hard boiled eggs which were destined for the potato salad I was making. We make muffins a lot, too, and he likes to be the one to add the dried fruit or berries or chocolate chips to the batter before the go into the oven.

…Host a Play Date! We might be too wimpy to go out but if another mom I know is feeling too cooped up to stay home, our door is always open to a visit with friends.

…Have a Scribblefest! I hear that Nate loves to use magic markers, but we haven’t become brave enough to bring those into our house yet. Instead, we have chalk, crayons, pastels and watercolour paints that Nate enjoys experimenting with. We have a couple of large “floor pads” that we put down either on the kitchen table or the floor and he is getting really good at “colouring” on them.

…Make Potato Prints! Last week I cut various sized potatoes in half, and we dipped them into colourful finger paint and made prints on those large sheets of paper. Nate doesn’t really like to use finger paint, so adding potatoes to the mix was a better option for us.

…Sculpt! Playing together with play dough is something Nate and I have recently discovered. During our first sculpting session I especially rekindled my love of the stuff and made little bugs and worms for Nate. He loves the worms and insists that I put eyes on them before making them wiggle in his direction.

…Construct! Nate enjoys any kind of toy that allows him to exercise his mechanical abilities. He loves wooden blocks, plastic building blocks, magnetic building sets…anything that stacks is a winner in his eyes. I’m always on the lookout for toys that will allow him to express creativity through building or stacking.

Now, if we did all of these things in one day then I’d be out of luck the next. I’ve discovered that the trick with Nate is to rotate these activities, leaving one aside for awhile before I bring it out again. When this doesn’t work, another trick I use is to put a new spin on one of these activities, like bringing the building blocks up onto our bed for him to build a tower there instead of the usual location on the living room floor.

January has flown by, but there are still a couple of cold months to get through before it becomes warm on a regular basis around these parts. If you also struggle to find things to keep your kids busy through the winter months, you might find that the Fisher-Price Play and Learn Family Activity website is right up your alley. The site contains sections for children from birth to age 6 years, with age-appropriate songs, activities and games for you to try in your own home. It’s a great resource, and you might find it’s a better alternative to wearing a lamp shade on your head.

Disclosure: I am a Fisher-Price Mom and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

One of Nate’s favourite games these days is to say “hide!” and put his head under a blanket or pillow, especially in his bed. He is saying so many new words these days, and this development of his language is absolutely fascinating to watch and listen to!

Today we marked two small milestones. The first is that Graham put the legs on Nate’s bed, which means it’s really a big boy bed now! A big boy bed that Nate can hide his things under and hopefully never dream about there being scary things underneath. The second is that we gave away the rocking chair that we used to rock our sweet peanut baby boy to sleep as a newborn. It was time…we never used it anymore and it was taking up valuable real estate in my office. Seeing it sitting in the hallway awaiting the arrival of its new owners tugged at the strings of my heart as I recalled those days so long ago, rocking and nursing that new little baby through all hours of the night, telling myself “this will pass.” Little did I realize how quickly it would. I hope that whoever it belongs to now will get as much use out of it as we did.