The outlet in the “master” bedroom appears to be sweating.

This is not condensation;

this is due to the fact that the ice which formed over night is melting in the morning sun.

Note the water stains around the outlet.

The sun has not yet hit the outside wall so hard in Iris’ room, where this outlet is.

You can see little icicles forming at the bottom of the outlet cover.

This is the thickest formation of ice, on the southwest corner behind Iris’ curtain.

You can see a tiny bit of green where the curtain froze to the ice overnight.

During the day, the ice melts and forms puddles on the windowsill.

I try to appreciate the stained-glass effect of ice.

Dan came to visit.

Even though he is done getting bigger and bigger—

and along the way got very big indeed—

he still speaks the language of Child.

Much to her delight, he played with Iris for hours—

on the floor—

where something can be special simply because it’s shiny—

and one thing easily becomes another.

Thank you, Dan.

We love you very much.

I have been working on another doll. With two inches of sewing left to go before the remainder of the doll was to be hand-sewing, the flywheel on my machine seized. Panic! I called Mom, who said it’s come to the point where I obviously need more than one sewing machine around the house. She also said that if it was her, she would just find something to take apart. So I took her advice about taking the machine apart and was able to narrow the issue down to a very small area.

Iris said, “Mommy, why you taked the fryweeoo off?” and threw a tantrum because I would not let her clean my machine which told me (1) she needed a nap and (2) I must spend an awful lot of time sewing lately if my two-year-old is concerned about the flywheel.

Before nap we needed to eat. Unfortunately, I could not for the life of me understand what she was asking for. The word was not coming out right, so she was crying and covering her mouth, which made the whole understanding-bit even more difficult. Eventually we went to the fridge, but no, it was not in there. In the freezer. I opened it. Oh, aspic! She’d been saying aspic! But it was frozen. She had a little, then she had some leftover quiche and I had a burger and some green beans (followed by gobs of peanut butter and dark chocolate, but please pretend I did not mention the “followed by” part.)

Iris is nice and conversational while eating. At dinner, for example, she generally prefers that any conversation between Martin and I be conducted through her. It actually isn’t bad, as she is quite responsive to conversation, nodding and agreeing continually to show she is listening. She took some of my beans. “You put gorgonzola in there?” she asked. She had not seen me put the cheese in, but as a budding cheese-connoisseur, she’s come to enjoy it. I said that yes I did. “And hard cheese,” she added. Which, yes, I had. It was neither parmesan nor reggiano, but rather something more obscure whose hyphenated name even I have trouble pronouncing.

She went back to eating her quiche. “You going to fix your sewing machine?” she asked.

And I said, “Maybe.”

And she said, “—and maybe not.”

…then she continued her temper tantrum because I would not let her clean my machine before she took a nap.

I needed to get outside, so I asked Heather to go for a walk with me. I pulled the cargo sled with Iris & Joshua; Heather carried Leigha. We went through the field into the woods over the bridges then down to the river. Then we went along the river. And we went along and we went along, and we went along and we went along. Eventually we came up at the grocery store and went home by the road.

Iris & Joshua explore an ice bridge.

Heather had a doctor’s appointment, so Joshua & Leigha came to play for a couple hours.

It was really fun, up until the end, when we were all ready to be done with each other.

But I want to repeat that it was really fun and, in general, the kids got along great.

In general, we all get along great.

In specific, we all generally have some issues.

Joshua demonstrating the sheep & the pig “getting along great” with each other.

In the kitchen.

Leigha!

Tic-Tac-Tour Bus:

Iris gets the reds, Joshua gets the blues.

Tic-Tac-Tourbus:

It is not Leigha’s turn yet.

This is an old gingerbread house game by Hasbro.

It was the hit of the party.

I cannot find reference to it anywhere on line.

Everyone plays the game.

Leigha finds something more suitable to chew on than small game pieces.

Iris & Joshua play the game and jump on the bed

at the same time.

Martin and Iris went for a walk on Sunday.

After a while, I went out to look for them.

I didn’t find them, but it was beautiful out, so I went out again today.

Iris is good at telling which way to go.

Due to failure to comply with all 108 federal regulations for remote woodland suspension bridges,

the LaPlatte River’s suspicious suspension bridge has been removed.

It has been replaced with a footbridge for small animals.