Dark Side

Harper has continued her exploration of the Magnadoodle as an artistic medium. Her latest works follow. 

Harper as a Mermaid

1/20/2015

H. Booker

Losing Teeth

1/20/2015

H. Booker

They seem to be getting progressively disturbing, although that's to be expected, what with all the turmoil and tragedy in her young life. Just another brilliant, tortured artist.

Budding Artist

Harper has been in an artistic mood today. Birds have been her preferred subject. I missed the penguin but was able to get photos of her other two creations before they were gone forever. Here they are, followed by photos of their avian subjects:  

H. Booker

1/12/2015

Marabou Stork Study #1 (signed)

Magnadoodle

Marabou Stork

H. Booker

1/12/2015

Toucan Study #1 (unsigned)

Magnadoodle

Toucan

I think they're magnificent and wish I could frame them. If you're wondering about her inspiration, we spend A LOT of time at the zoo.

2014 Year Retrospective

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! We really celebrated around here, and as a result I have been embarrassingly remiss in my blogging duties. I truly apologize.

I have learned to live with the fact that a beautiful holiday card featuring a glossy photo of our family in matching Christmas sweaters is just not in the stars for the Bookers (did I mention that both the computer and camera decided to take an early winter vacation within four days of each other and two weeks before Christmas?). Please believe me when I say in all sincerity that we would absolutely have sent you a card if we could have ever gotten it together enough to have had them made. But we didn't.   

So this is intended to be what is now the second annual Booker End-of-the-Year Retrospective. A virtual holiday card, if you will. Please enjoy it in the spirit that it was intended. 

Will had a great year. He easily transitioned from walking to running and from pulling himself up to climbing on top of the dining room table. While parroting every single word he hears, moving furniture and dragging tree limbs around the yard continue to be favorite pastimes, he has recently added singing and playing whatever musical instrument he can get his fingers on to his repertoire. He also grew... 

... and grew... 

.... and GREW! 

In a terrifying change of events, Will developed a life-threatening allergy to cinnamon, which really put a damper on the holiday snacking (or CinnaFest, as I like to call this time of year). Finally, when not biting (when will those premolars come in, already?!?!?), he is very sweet and affectionate and friendly with just about everyone he meets. He just keeps getting more and more fun every day and we love every (lanky) inch of him!  

Harper continues to keep us on our toes and in our car transporting her from activity to activity. This year it was swimming, dance, music and Aquatots (a preschool science class through the Florida Aquarium). Although her first great love is and always has been dinosaurs, she had been cultivating a healthy obsession with all things ocean-related this year, as well. 

She loves spending time with her friends, making new friends, reading (a little), being read to, pestering the cat, drawing (mostly families of eels and sting rays), playing make-believe, begging us for a fish tank, being a big sister and requesting cinnamon on anything she doesn't want Will to touch. She is just about the funnest kid I know and we are so lucky to have her!

Our little aquaphile.

Brad had a good year. Little by little he's been working (slightly) fewer hours, which has been a huge help at home. He's also been reading more. Santa brought him a remote control helicopter for Christmas which ignited an interest he didn't know he had. We'll see where that goes. He is determined to take the whole family camping this year, and we are all really looking forward to spending more time together. He is a wonderful husband and a wonderful father to our kids. I cannot imagine a better, more patient partner with whom to spend this life. 

My year sped by. I'll be honest, I get a pretty nasty case of postpartum thyroiditis every time I have a baby. I have all sorts of symptoms that make me feel achy, rundown and just plain old. To further complicate things, Harper had a terrible case of the three-year-olds this year, so I was thrilled in October when we were able to kiss those goodbye forever (not that we ever loved her any less, but some days were easier than others to remember that). 

It takes a long time for my health to get back to normal post-baby, but I finally feel like I've turned a corner, and it's like a ray of sunshine. Now that the kids can be without me for a couple of hours on end I've decided to take on a few clients and I also bought a very expensive, brand new camera (!!!) for the photography class I intend to take. 

We are all looking forward to seeing what 2015 will bring! 

   

Happy New Year to you and your family from the Bookers!

Winter Dance Recital 2014

We just got back from Harper's Winter Dance Recital. She was a Snowflake Fairy, which was a relief because she was not happy with the Jack O' Lantern-themed ensemble she had to wear for the fall recital. 

Dress rehearsal (our costume wasn't quite completed, but close enough).

Posing for a class picture. 

At the end of class the girls were told they had a special guest.

Harper was tickled when she saw who it was.

Santa Claus! 

Zoe's mom was unable to get off work tonight so I made the girls take some photos in costume before the performance. Harper was too excited to stand still for them.

The Snowflake Dance was wonderful (although I ask that you please excuse the first 15 seconds of filming; I was sprinting to the front of the auditorium to get a better vantage point). Harper starts out fourth from the right. As you can see, she was very enthusiastic and emotive. It was adorable.

After curtain call it was a zoo.

Each girl got a medal for their participation.

One more pose before the evening's end.

Happy Feet

So this has been going on for the past ten minutes. I guess Harper has enlisted Will in helping her warm up for tonight's Winter Dance Recital. 

You're welcome.

Talker

Will's been singing up a storm today. On repeat? Happy Birthday To You ("Bjayuk gleekaw TO YOU! Gyeruk nearsal TO YOU!").

Also on the Toddler Jukebox: "Na, na, na, na! Na, na, na, na! Hey, hey, hey! Good BYE!" (I believe this is a favorite as he can pronounce all the words in the chorus.)

And then there was his nearly 10 minute "phone conversation" this morning. It went something like this: 

Will (on his Fisher Price Jungle Animal I-Can-Talk Phone): "Daddy?... Daddy! I know, I know." (laughs heartily). 

Sixteen months is THE BEST. 

Hey Hey Hey Good Bye

Homeless Care Packages

I have a habit of listening to NPR in the car. It's the only truly adult, non-kid-related conversation I get exposed to most days. 

A couple of weeks ago one of the programs was doing a story about the homeless. When they started talking about the homeless having a particular problem with dental abscesses, Harper piped up and said, "Someone should get them a toothbrush."

"Yes," I answered offhandedly. 

"We should get them a toothbrush. And some toothpaste," she added. "Can we mommy? We should give them to the people who don't have a place to live for Christmas. Can we get them some toothbrushes and toothpaste?" She was dead set on it, too.

I was reminded me of the Homeless Care Packages I'd seen links to in my Facebook feed. I had to admit, they were a really good idea and seemed simple enough, and I'd been looking for a holiday service project for Harper to get involved in. So I said yes.

There are a lot of great ideas out there in cyberspace, so I started Googling. Some packages included home-baked goods (not for me, I'm no Martha Stewart), handwritten notes for inspiration (too touchy-feely), or gift cards for coffee (one word: impractical). I wanted to concentrate on practical items that would help chronically homeless people stay healthy on the streets. 

One of the packages I'd seen boasted a price tag as low as $6 a bag. After crunching some numbers I saw no possible way to make that happen. The goal was to start with 10 bags but, on a $100 budget, I needed help. I wound up reaching out to some friends whom I thought would want to see this project come to fruition. My new friend and kindred spirit, Sabrina, (who lets me recruit her for everything) and our dearest Tampa friends, the MacWherters, stepped up to the plate. Yay for awesome friends with big hearts!

In the end the bags were really fun to put together. Harper helped count out all the items as we shopped and helped put the bags together. Next week we are meeting with the Homeless Liaison from the local police force who will help us distribute them. Harper is too excited for words! 

Double checking the bags to make sure we didn't skip something.

The items in each bag are identical (more or less). The NPR program talked a lot about dental disease and diabetes are disproportionate problems the homeless face. This influenced our bags quite a bit. 

After much debate we settled on these final items: roll of toilet paper, jar of peanut butter (easy source of protein that doesn't have to be refrigerated), shampoo, deodorant (I don't know if we'll do deodorant again next year), small first aid kit, sunscreen, sanitary napkins, bar of soap, comb, antibiotic ointment, chapstick with SPF, socks, rain poncho, water-resistant tote (we bought them all second hand for less than a buck each), and, of course, toothbrush with cover and toothpaste. (Not pictured but will be added before distribution: toe nail clippers and wet wipes.)

Ready to go! These were so much fun to put together we'll definitely be doing them again next year. Maybe we'll try to do twenty.

Things we wanted to buy but ended up being cost-prohibitive included lice shampoo, chemical ice packs and other food items. I did purchase hand sanitizer but ended up returning it later upon learning that some people with alcohol-abuse issues have been known to drink it on occasion.   

Have any of you done these before? I'd be really interested to hear what you included and why. And if anyone out there would like help us out next year, no matter how, please let us know!