Ahoy! Pirate Ship!!!

So, out of the super-creative mind of my beloved husband comes this pirate ship.

Note the crow's nest on top of the mast.

Four pirates and three cargo barrels

A hidden compartment that can also be a plank

And most importantly, wheels for smooth sailing across the water.



This is going up for auction on our hyena cart website on Friday - wish us luck!

Baby-Wearing-Baby

Maryam surprised me by wearing her baby (monkey). She found a bib, and stuck the monkey inside. This was done entirely on her own! She was quite proud of herself, and continued to cook in her kitchen while wearing monkey, much as I had done with her when she was tiny.

Favorite Words

"Mine" is used with everything. Not in a mean or selfish way, more of a question or a statement. Even things like a spool of thread. "MINE?"

"Three" is used for her doll's name, her age (although she's only two), and for her name sometimes, although she still calls herself "Ga Goo"

"Baby" is any other child who is not significantly bigger than she is.

And kissy sounds are used all the time, even for a dog across the street.

Trick or Treat!

Our city celebrated what we call "Beggar's Night" tonight, the 30th. They didn't want kids out on the weekend (?).

This was Maryam's first time trick or treating where she could really participate. She did so by crying and hiding and being scared for the most part. She was dressed up as a butterfly, with wings and everything. But she was so terrified she hid her head either between my legs or in my shoulder for the most part.

Aidan and Wayne were scary. Maryam was actually afraid of them with their masks on. Aidan was a guy with a gas mask and a chainsaw. Wayne was a skeleton in an army jacket with a tu-tu (yes, a tu-tu). Wayne went around with us, but Aidan sat on the porch with the bowl of candy next to him. He was perfectly still, until some unsuspecting child came up to take a piece. Then he'd scare the daylights out of them by yelling and moving the chainsaw.

Introducing the newest member of our family!

Her name is Three, although this afternoon Maryam said her name was "One". She represents hours and hours (and hours) of love and work.

Cute, eh?

Maryam is 2!

(okay, so I'm a few days late- Maryam turned two)

For her birthday, she had lots of friends and relatives over, and I made her a monkey cake. Monkeys are her favorite animal.

And a sweeter child I couldn't ask for. Let me brag on my dear girl for a few moments here. She has a temper, but it is quick to go away. She'll get mad for, say, 30 seconds. Then she's fine playing. Now that we have no tv, she entertains herself really well, and will wander around the house finding things to play with.

Maryam's a pretty good listener, and mostly does what mommy or daddy ask, unless it relates to her shoes and socks. She insists that her shoes and socks be off in the house, no matter how cold it is! But where safety is concerned, she listens and obeys with a sweet attitude.

She says two or three words together: "Dada go work?" Or "Aidan Wayne go?" Right now she's playing hide and seek with Aidan, and calls "Aidan, Aidan go?"

She loves to wear clips in her hair, and likes to put them on the dog (she tried the cat but he tried to bite her). Luckily, Sera is a good, patient dog and puts up with most things from Maryam.

So all in all, I love this age! No major tantrums, no endless "nos". Just a sweet tempered, happy child. How did I get so lucky?

Apple Picking

Saturday we spent some time at an apple tree farm and picked 40 pounds of apples. They allow you to try the different types of apples and don't charge you for what you eat. Yummy! Needless to say, Maryam ate a ton. She kept trying to take bites out of the apples that we had picked to buy, though.




All these apples were turned into applesauce and dried apples for the coming months. Next year, my plan is to go to more U-Pick farms and can peaches and pears, and whatever else I can figure out how to can. I remember mom making homemade applesauce, and it's so good! I even made a batch with some of the strawberries we picked in June for Strawberry-Applesauce. Delicious!

At the store after the apple picking, I commented to the cashier that Maryam's belly was all full of apples. Maryam proceeded to pull up her shirt to show off her belly. She's really lost a lot of her baby fat on her belly - it's not nearly as round as it used to be. But she definitely like to show it off!

Trip to the Beach

Last week, we spent 7 glorious days on the beach in South Carolina. 7 days of swimming, shell finding, sand-castle building, and napping. Here are some pictures.

Mystery Shopper

Gotta love playsilks!

A new school year began on Tuesday

For Maryam, this means a big yellow bus comes and takes her beloved brothers away for 7 hours and she's stuck home with mommy. She was all giggles and smiles in the morning, as the neighbors all gathered to get the kids on the bus for the first day of class. But when the bus pulled away, she looked like she was about to cry, and ran down the sidewalk after it, pointing.

Today, Friday, she seems to have adjusted to our normal school year schedule. She loves it when her brothers come home, and will stop whatever she's doing when I say "let's go wait for the boys!".

In other news, Maryam has decided that she likes to sit in Wayne's chair at breakfast, with him in it! (She's also been snagging food off of his plate).

End of the summer tradition

I've been with the boys for four summers now. Four summers of pool passes, COSI visits, park trips, and zoo excursions. Four summers of exhausted days, whiny kids, and a cranky baby (only two summers of that).

Since that first summer, we've had a tradition of making summer t-shirts. At first I wanted the kids to draw what we did for the summer, and write their name and the year. Then it became just have fun and create a t-shirt, but put the year on it. It's pretty obvious whose shirt is whose. Aidan loves to draw, so his are very intricate. Wayne just has fun.













This was the first year I allowed Maryam to participate. She didn't quite get the hang of it, but did end up with quite a bit of fabric paint on her face, hands, and legs. The boys and I helped make her a nice purple one, and then we just had fun with her white shirt, with paint getting all over the place. Maybe next year she'll have a better idea of what to do.

First, I hear her scream....

She screamed like she was really hurt - a horrible, pain-filled scream. I ran to her, and this is the face I saw (yes, I took a picture. You'll see why in a second).






I looked to see what could cause such agony in my beautiful little girl.










Our cat, Frodo, was in Maryam's chair. Maryam looooooves her chair. She only lets her brothers sit in it, not some massive cat. Frodo is a good, sweet cat. But he's big, and he can have a temper. Maryam knows enough to not push him off the chair, so she'll usually scream for me.

Once I got him off, Maryam quickly claimed her rightful space.

And she sat in her chair, happy until he sat in her chair again, the next day.

Dancing with Daddy

Maryam loves to dance


as her daddy plays piano



until something catches her eye across the room...



so she dances there to see...



her purse!



Maryam loves to dance. She'll dance if you say "dance". She'll dance if you clap your hands. She even dances when a cell phone rings. So when daddy sits down to play the piano, Maryam dances, and dances, and gets her purse to dance some more (everyone knows a lady is never without her plastic purse).