Good morning all. Yesterday we had the pleasure of a lovely afternoon with friends of Shrek a little west of here. Part of the deliciousness of the day featured a stroll on their land in the crunchy snow. Land. trees. No properties for miles. This is the way much of the state is, although I often forget this, living in the “city”. I love that the boys are as at ease racing through the woods after a lumbering glove snatching golden retriever as they are taking in all the majesty of a gospel concert celebration for MLK day at the theater.

A few other sweet moments captured below include Sammy belting out  A Sick Day for Amos McGee to his brother before bed, and he and Shrek finding their groove during a little harmonica and guitar duet. The weekend also featured all sorts of craft things like sewing, looming, and drawing by the lot of us. One source of great pride for the two of us as co-parents (yes I did just write that) is our commitment to no television before 10:00am on the the weekend.  It’s not that we object to screen time–it has it’s place over here indeed. It’s that we both objected to the intrusion of the sound of it, on our combined living space early in the morning. Over time we have helped the boys learn all sorts of other things they can do–electronic free until then. Reading, drawing, and the ukelele are on the top of the list. Connect the dots, playing with the million figurines Marcel has amassed, looming, and cuddling are up their too. It seemed like an uphill battle at first, but come around here at 8:45 on a Sunday these days, and you’ll think you’re on the set of Little House on the Prairie or something.

The sounds of little feet coming towards me signal the end to this sweet little start to my week with the MamaC extended family. Thanks for sharing the morning with me, I feel you out there, and miss you when I don’t write. To being seen, reaching out to others, and believing in the best in all of us today. Bring it on Monday!