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 K is a very involved, hands-on dad, and the kids just adore him. I thought it was a pretty good sign when, after E1 was born, he changed almost every single diaper while we were in the hospital. I was thrilled when E4 was born in the water that he was the one who caught her.

He usually gets home at around noon, give or take, and the kids listen for the key in the lock. As soon as it starts turning, they all drop whatever they are doing to run and tackle him to give him a hug. E1’s usual response in the morning if I ask her to do something that is going to take some time is, “But Dad will be here soon, and I don’t want to miss him coming in the door!”

Today was my attempt at product photography without a light box. I wanted to get the “floating” effect, so I tried to bounce as much light around as possible. It turned out okay, but still too many shadows. I could have fixed them in post-processing, but that wasn’t what I was trying for, so I didn’t.

Anyway, these are a couple of new diaper covers that I got for E4 from Wiggle Worm Bottoms. They are an example of one of the many reasons I chose to use cloth diapers instead of disposible; namely, they take a job that has to be done several times a day and make it fun. I got to choose exactly how I wanted them to look. I chose a Pikachu fabric since both E1 and E2 are really into Pokemon right now, and a pink camo fabric. I’m not sure why I liked that particular fabric so much, maybe because it’s leaning towards the absurd- there’s no way pink camoflauge would ever be functional.

If you haven’t looked into cloth diapers for a while, you may be somewhat surprised at the choices available today. The flat and prefold diapers used in the past are still available, but many parents now use fitted, all-in-one, or pocket diapers that look and go on much like a disposible. I also prefer the diapers and covers, like these, that are made by a mom or dad as a work-at-home business. To learn more, a good place to start is Diaperpin.

I decided to honor E1’s request that the picture I took of the snowman should be my photo of the day. They had so much fun making it! I guess since much in our family revolves around babies, E2 decided that Snowy needed a baby sister too. Her name is Snowetta.

K1 said that there are many, many snowpeople in front yards between us and the office. There’s one a ways down the street from us in front of a machine shop that has to be 10 feet tall, and whoever made it dressed it up by coloring a vest on the snow with something black. He thought it was probably the employees there staying busy on a slow day.

What an exciting day! We got four inches or so of snow today, which is relatively uncommon here, although not rare. The kids thought we hadn’t had any snow last winter (I haven’t gone through my pictures to check), and this was really the first time that E3 remembers getting to play in it. They had a blast making snow angels and having snowball fights, which for the most part was kids vs. Dad. They also built a pretty good sized snowman. E1 wants that to be tomorrow’s picture.

After they were thoroughly soaked, they came back inside and I made good old fashioned hot cocoa, the kind made with cocoa powder and sugar on the stove and then made frothy with the hand mixer. I hadn’t made that in years, and I thought it tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I like experimenting with light and shadow, and so this day’s picture is the obligatory flame photo. I was really excited to catch the reflection in the bottom of the lens.

I’m having a lot of fun coming up with pictures to take every day, my concern is having one from everyday to share. I took thirty pictures in this session, and only two or three of those thirty were even half way decent, although I did think this one was pretty good. Wyowoman reminded me that the photography books, guides, etc. all say the key to quality is quantity. I’m very thankful for digital photography- this hobby would be incredibly expensive if I had to traditionally develop all the pictures I take. 🙂

It was a day amateur genealogists like me dream of. My father-in-law’s family sent him a couple of tubes filled with documents and notes about both sides of his family. Most of this was information I had been unable to find in my searches in the known databases. So I had a blast reading through it all, and taking my first document photographs. I was sure glad I had my husband’s 6 megapixel Fuji, since even though my camera takes very nice pictures, I would not be able to see the details with its 2.1 megapixels.

This particular document is the marriage certificate of my FIL’s paternal grandparents, over 100 years old. There were baptismal and confirmation certificates, notes people had written down over the years, a death certificate, and a family tree chart started by my FIL’s mother.

One of the neatest sheets, though, is a story of how his great-grandparents came to America from Eastern Europe with his grandmother, then 8 years old, after their other 6 children had died of cholera. It tells of how they traveled across Europe, earning money as they went, then bought passage to America for several hundred dollars. They landed in Baltimore with 25 cents. The story continues with how they lived, moving across the country, then settling in Michigan. They had five more children, many of whose descendents still live within fifty miles of the original home.

Well, we’re continuing with the cooking theme. 🙂

I forget sometimes how old E1 is. I mean, I can tell you the number of years of her life, but the concept of just how old that is often escapes me. To me, it was just yesterday she was helping me in the kitchen like E3 is now, but the reality is today she is taking over and doing many things herself. So we had a talk today. She will be responsible for the planning and preparation of one meal a week, her choice. She is so excited! I have a feeling the first few meals will be pancakes.

I love quotes and sayings of all kinds. I think it’s because I wish I could be clever and come up with smart things to say myself. A new favorite is one I just heard: “Do not meddle in the affairs of knitters, for they carry pointy things and know how to use them.”

Blue Moon Fiber Arts is a small company that came up with a great business idea- sell club type kits that people pay for a year at a time. Their (now former) bank decided that there was no way that many people could really be interested in sock yarn and they had to be running a scam, so they reversed all of the transactions to return the money to the customers. The whole story is at Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s blog, probably the most well known knitting blog on the internet.

I think it is just too funny that the bank held a meeting to decide if people were really ordering sock yarn. I know that banks have to be really careful to watch out for fraud, etc., but it doesn’t appear that they researched this very well at all. This was not a new company, nor was this the first year they offered the Rockin’ Socks Club. I’m sure this has been a huge nightmare for BMFA, but I think they will end up coming out ahead. Every knitting blog I know of now has the story, and almost everyone talking about it has declared their intention to order yarn from them. I love their yarn, so I sure don’t mind having an excuse to buy more! 🙂

Three is such a fun age. I love the wonder and how everything is new. The imagination. Being independent, yet still needing me right there. Helping Mom is still fun.

A few weeks ago the three oldest kids visited with their grandparents for the afternoon, and while they were there E3 helped my FIL make homemade noodles. I haven’t been able to do hardly anything in the kitchen since without her help. Today she helped me make cornbread muffins to go with the navy bean and ham soup I made for lunch. (Yeah, it takes a bit longer and I have to fight my perfectionistic tendencies, but it is always worth it.) The best part was the running commentary: “First we wash our hands.” You just have to imagine it with the three-year-old lilting voice. “Make a hole in the center for the eggs.” “Stir, stir, stir.” “Scoop it in the holes.” I hope she doesn’t outgrow having fun while helping Mom for a long time.