DIY Toy House

Hayes loves Disney Cars.  His Uncle Jimmie has always been fascinated with Cars-it was his first movie theatre experience.  Cars 2 was Hayes' first movie experience....and it was with his Uncle Jimmie... so, there are all kinds of cross referencing associations made with the Cars.  Hayes has several of these die cast cars.... it is almost all he plays with.  Recently, Scott decided to build a house for the cars.  He had a variety of tapes and because we are borderline hoarders, he has plenty of cardboard.  He began cutting and folding and taping.  When he was finished, Hayes had a contemporary designed home to drive his cars into and on.... and then, Scott wasn't really finished...and he added the ramp off the side... and later(after I took the following photos) another ramp was added.  If we had a bigger house, he would probably keep going... the cardboard and tape remained in the living room just in case he felt the urge to make additions....until company was due to visit and we moved the cardboard bits to the garage... but not the tape...that is still hanging around--handy as can be just in case we need to reinforce any ramps or actually tape something.

Back in early March...yep, that isn't even close to giving an impression of how behind the ball I am when it comes to keeping track of life... I can capture it--but can I share it?  That is the question.  I guess I figure as long as I can take the picture...at least I have it.  Years later, I may or may not know what date it is from...but I can't worry too much about that now.  Speaking of... my Dad always made it a practice to write the date and name of subjects on backs of prints.... I was never too great at that... and now...it is like: "what prints?"  So sad... I wouldn't have room to move in my home if I printed photographs and kept them.  It would be like swimming through falsely emulsified paper and getting jabbed and scraped by the corners.. and the smell of ink... hmm.. okay, clearly I was visualizing how horrible life would be with printed photographs...basically to stop myself from crying over the fact that I rarely print photographs.... thanks for going on that little journey with me there..... sheesh.
So... back in March... the beginning of March.  Hayes was playing around his house and I took the opportunity to photograph him with his house that his Daddy built.

 So, when Scott makes something, he really makes it.  He hasn't sculpted much since school--but that doesn't mean he doesn't apply his knowledge and experience to everything he does.  Every project he takes on gets extra thought and consideration to arrive at the solution.  He can do anything, pretty much.

Mama's Little Helper

Last week, Hayes was on Fall Break on Thursday and Friday.  I had to take off of work to be with him--which, of course, is fine by me.... even though I had that nagging feeling that I should be somewhere else during those short morning hours.  Nonetheless, we did what we had to do.  I heard that one of the designers made a bouquet for an Indianapolis Monthly magazine shoot.  The bouquet came back on Thursday.  I took the opportunity to run up to the shop, toddler in tow, to conduct my own little shoot.  Hayes was very good, as usual... yet, I know the air was a bit thicker--filled with short breaths and sighs of relief when the tall arrangement remained standing after some close calls..... What can I do?  Roll with it, I suppose.  I did manage to get some good shots-but below are examples of the reality of the situation.  Every time I would frame up.... if I took too long to press the shutter button, enter frame left, right and center: bumbling red sweatered child closing in on the subject arms open hopeful to hug the crystal clear tapered pole... the coolest firefighter pole to date.... or hurrying to the window to see a garbage truck go by.  Here is what I snagged from those fractions of moments.

We both had a good time in the flower shop.  I am pretty sure the breaths were drawn in a little easier after we left.  Inventory in tact.  Fwew!

The images I went to the flower shop intending to capture: here.

Time for School, Hayes!

A lot of things are changing around this household.  I am going to work-starting Monday.  Hayes started school on Tuesday, October 4th-ten four, good buddy.  He is going to a Montessori school... I am thrilled.  He is, too.  We had been talking a lot about school lately... not because we knew that he would be going this week, but because we wanted to see how he feels about the subject....knowing that eventually, he would be going.  We have been reading books like Time for School, Mouse! and Grover Goes to School which have aided in starting the conversation.  (I love Grover Goes to School because it deals with the unease that comes along with meeting new people--and in the midst of that-being yourself.)  

There are so many layers to this story of evolution-I think I need to keep it simple for now.  I am so excited about my new job for many, many reasons.  For now, though, let me focus on Hayes.

We awoke bright and early on Tuesday morning to make the 8:30am school start time.  We had all we needed together and ready to go in his backpack.  

The evening before, I chatted on the phone with my Sister about the plans for Hayes's first day of school... she asked if I was going to take a traditional first day photo(we had first day portraits every year)....and then laughed at herself for asking-because, of course I would take pictures, right?  Well, before she mentioned it, I hadn't even thought of it... I was so wrapped up in all of the other details... so, thank you, Laura, for reminding me to carry on the tradition!!!!

 The big boy with his backpack....

When we arrived, we went in, found his cubby for his belongings and proceed to an early morning care room(because we were early)... not long after that, we were moved to his classroom... we changed him out of his boots and into his slippers--because--they all wear slippers!  It was kind of funny to me to begin with--but I totally understand why... keep those floors clean!  He was a little clingy--wanting me to hold him, come with him.  Once he found something he liked and turned his attention toward it, I told him that I would be back to pick him up before lunchtime and I would have a sandwich ready for him, too.  I am not totally sure he heard all I said, but, I backed away and slowly walked out, tuning my ears-just in case, I would be able to hear Hayes call out for me..... By the time I got to the door, I had heard no little Hayes voice calling out requesting rescue.  I knew he would be just fine.  He is a morning only student-so, I went home, managed to scan some imagery, do some organizing, make that sandwich and post one item in my etsy shop.  When I went to pick him up, I came through the door and  he asked in a demanding sort of tone, "Where are my sandwiches?!" I assured him they were in the car(and then reminded him that is not the way we talk).  He acted as if he did not want to leave.  The teacher handed me a half sheet of paper-a form. It was filled with notes.  It was a report on what Hayes had done that day!!! I was so pleased to get this.... so that his three hours away from home aren't a complete mystery to me... she explained what she had written.  Hayes ate none of his snack... the snack was pizza.  He talked about "Fireman Sam" with Jackson; he did animal yoga; he built with twig blocks (very focused while he built); talked about the sense of touch at circle time; feeling things with different textures; ring around the rosey; explored the playground.... in the toileting department: he chose not to go at 9am; was successful at 10 and 11.  As of today, even, (Thursday) he has not had any accidents.  I do believe he is completely potty trained!!!  Oh, and--there is a grouping of words on this form that the teacher can choose from to describe his mood of the day.... "Cheerful, cooperative, sociable, testing limits, tired, tearful, quiet, vocal, frustrated"  So far, each morning, Hayes has been Sociable and Vocal.  That's my boy!!!  

That evening after Hayes's first day of school, we talked about snack time-asked him why he didn't eat. He told us, "it wasn't my food."  We tried to convince him that yes, it is his food.  Then he told us that there weren't any plates.  We weren't sure if there were any plates or not-so, there really wasn't much we could argue about that... but we did tell him that it was okay to ask for a plate.  We let it go-because it is likely that he wasn't hungry--and that it was sensory overload--too exciting to stop to eat.  (His second day of school, he didn't eat any of his snack, either.)  This morning at school, he ate ALL of his snack of soft pretzel with cream cheese and milk.  Moving right along, I'd say!  Tomorrow is a field trip to the pumpkin patch-I am required lucky to get to chaperone him... we are both excited about it.  Scott and I are so proud of our little guy.  

Can't Sleep. Let's talk about weird stuff.

What do I say after that title?  Something weird, I guess. 

First, I am very excited because, as I am sitting here at 2:14am, typing away, I hear blankets rustling, a little body turning in his crib, (oh, ya, I said crib-he is 32 months old and still snug behind the rungs of his crib) a little voice calls out, "I gotta go pee!"  I ran back there, scooped him up, started to walk out.... he says, "I want to hold my teddy to do it."  I turn around, grab teddy from his bed and we head for the potty.  Successful midnight pee in the potty.  Wow.  Many mornings he wakes up dry and he has the potty thing down during the day. ....still wearing the pull ups for safety...(Let's stop and talk about how I sort of feel like a hypocrite for keeping Hayes in pull ups for the stretch that we have.  I diapered Hayes in traditional pre-fold cloth diapers with vinyl pants from about six weeks to 15 months.... we never got our toilet sprayer to work properly and I suppose I just got tired of it.  I loved it-but as he grew older--he wasn't ready for full on training but I was ready for the cloth diapers to come to an end.  We saved a lot of money in that time.  Saved a lot of diapers from making it to the landfill... I feel good about that.  I do, however feel guilty about giving up and now, using the pull ups.  Maybe I am feeling guilty more at this very moment because he is doing so well and about to have the hang of big boy potty routines.  So, I shouldn't feel guilty because we are almost done with them and just bought new real cotton underwear for him to wear, right?  I am pretty sure we won't have to put him in another pull up for daytime after this week.)  It has been a slow process from start- insisting the pot is a hat at first and waiting until I go downstairs to change the laundry over to pee on the floor.... but it has not been agonizing.  It has been at his pace--and it has been great.  He has learned along the way and so have we.  Only when I heard of his peers successfully transitioning into big kid potty habits was I a bit antsy.... but I could talk myself out of it in a minute-because every child is different.  He has this.  It will not be long until we have completely crossed over.
Okay, so that was not exactly what I was thinking when I typed weird.  That is normal--that is the stuff I should be talking more about on this blog, really.
Onto the weird stuff:
I was prepping some image files for uploading this morn and when I was done with the lists, I browsed around some old folders to see if anything was worth bringing up.  I saw these.

 

 

 

 Weird?  These are scans of negatives of work that I shot and contact printed for an in progress critique my Senior year in art school (Five years ago).  The contact sheet didn't show near this detail.  Of course because the scanner sheds light on all of it.  I had poorly exposed the film... obviously.  I used my clunky Kiev medium format.... So, even though, I didn't get a horrible response to the imagery, I went back to the location and re-shot.  The images I came up with the second time around were correctly exposed, crisp and perhaps, stiff?  Well, I don't have the entire series of the second try scanned-so, I won't even bother to share them.... as I revisit the above imagery, I question why I ever went back to re-shoot.  Sure, these are mostly "bad" photographs.  But, as for the concept I was developing, it was perfect.  I won't get into all of that-I will allow you to draw your own conclusions about the piece.  It doesn't matter what I was trying to do then.  What matters is-there is a gritty, off kilter energy to these... and it is fun to share that.  Fun because now, they are not merely hidden in the shadows of the mountainous folders full of files on my external hard drive.  And, it is a nice reminder--I really shouldn't second guess my intuition as much as I do.

August 11 and 12

This summer, we have been eating a lot of fresh salsa.  We as in Scott and I.  Hayes says, "I can eat some of that when I get bigger."  He is right because it is a slight bit spicy for his young taste buds.  Even through the extreme heat and dryness we have been experiencing this summer, our garden had been doing ok.  Now, I am not so sure as I have discovered blossom end rot on one of our tomato plants.  Quite a common result for this type of weather.  It seems like it has been days since I have harvested a ripe tomato.  We water our garden, yes, but just not enough to fend off the ailments of the daily intense heat.  I am afraid that our days of fresh from the garden salsa may be coming to a premature end.  Below, I share a few images of what makes up my simple salsa.  Clearly, you can see my main ingredients.  If you are not familiar with peppers-that is a habanero.  Other ingredients I include are dashes of cumin, salt, pepper, white vinegar and olive oil. 

 

And here, I added sprigs of parsley, lemon balm, basil and mint.

 Easy and so satisfying.... and gone fast.

 

In the middle of making salsa, Hayes tried out his hand-me-down bike(that he is not ready for especially because he loves his trike and hasn't fully mastered it yet.)that was given to him by his friend, Alex.

 Also, from my kitchen window, I could see fireman sam sliding down the fire pole.  Hayes is way into firefighting.  His Grandpa was Fire Chief of WFD in the hometown.  Also, Hayes has discovered the series Fireman Sam on Netflix.  Well, I guess I discovered it... and he adores it.  So, he is fireman Sam.  I address him as Hayes and at times, he will correct me and say, "no, say, are you alright, fireman sam?" He is always wanting to use my clothesline as his fire pole.

 

Hooray for the brave fireman!

So, as mentioned above, I think the garden is suffering a bit but as of the 12th, it looked like this.

 The kale is still going strong.... and I believe it will into the winter months.  Kale has been a great substitute for spinach.  I have made kale chips--yum yum. I have also stuffed baby bella mushrooms with the kale and mixtures of cheeses... oh so good.