Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Busy Busy!

Things have been busy around here the last few weeks. Mike is taking a pottery class again on Monday nights, he is making lots of beautiful pots and is really improving his skills. His throwing technique is so much better this time around, though he is still working on the aesthetic side of things...he is definitely a function over form kind of guy. On Tues and Thurs he is taking an EMT class at Warren County Community College. He is hoping to volunteer in Blairstown when he finishes and ultimately wants to help SCA do medical trainings. Amara and I miss him while he's away but he is enjoying the challenge of being in school again. It is also Mike's favorite time of year...tax season. He has been collecting and inputting and running around like a giddy school girl. It's sad to think that he choose the wrong profession and his true calling was to be an accountant.

I have been a knitting fool. In the past two weeks I have made 6 hats and 3 pairs of mittens for charity, 1 hat for me and one for mom, as well as a felted guitar strap for Mike. I love keeping my hands busy while Amara rolls around on the floor and plays. I would really like to learn how to spin yarn as well. I have a fleece that was gifted to me buy a family friend so I need to clean it (it is covered in sheep's poo), card it (so I need to buy carders), and then see if I can find a used spinning wheel for a decent price. I am also going to a yoga class 2 days a week. I enjoy getting out of the house for a couple hours and just taking time for me. Amara and I went to a Holistic Mom's Network meeting the other day and will probably join the group and maybe start a baby play date group with a couple of folks we met.

Our friends Kim and Nate stopped by a few weeks ago on their way home from Greece. They brought us yummy olives, olive oil, feta cheese, coffee, and dolmas. Nate and Mike made another batch of mead. This one is five gallons and flavored with dried apricots. It is hard to imagine we won't be able to drink it for a year, patience is certainly not Mike's virtue and I think I will have trouble waiting this long as well. They also brewed a batch of beer, I think it was a Canadian Red Ale. Beer only takes about a month or so to finish brewing so maybe if we keep making beer the wait on the mead will be bearable.

The weather has continued to be bitter cold, snowy, and icy. We are going snowshoeing a few times a week and it is awesome. The trails around camp are mostly old roads so they are nice and wide and free of obstacles so we are comfortable strapping the baby to our bodies while we traipse through the forest, although we have both fallen over a few times. Luckily the storms have not taken out our power (which is pretty hard to believe with all the tree branches that sway above the power lines) but if they do we are prepared with the wood burning stove, two 5 gallon jugs of water, and at least 50 pounds of dried beans.

Amara is an awesome little lady. She can roll with her diaper and clothes on now so we can't leave her alone for a second. She is very accurate with her grabbing, taking hot drinks off the menu, and we are learning to keep things just out of her reach. This makes her frustrated as she reaches and she is not afraid to throw a little tantrum so you know it. We are starting to teach her baby sign, we are choosing to use ASL (American Sign Language), and she seems very interested in what we are doing with our hands. It is amazing how fast she is growing, the changes from week to week blow my mind. I am lucky to be able to hang out with her so much and really enjoy every moment we have together.

Pictures will follow soon.

1 comment:

Carrie said...

We are going to do baby sign with Nora as well! Let me know how Amara does with it!