It has been cold in the Midwest, no surprises there.  Here we are freezing our tuchuses off at the park. I was wearing my glasses with my gaiter and they're frosting up! We went home to Iowa in January for Christmas.  My sister's family was sick and their Covid tests didn't come back in time for them to come.  They ended up being negative but we all decided to err on the side of caution while we waited for results.  Marek is the only one not vaccinated yet because he is still too young.

It was an incomplete Christmas but it was good to see my parents and my brother's family.  Last year we briefly gathered together outside at a park to see each other and exchange gifts.  Prior to that, we hadn't been physically together since the summer.  I'm thankful that now we have home tests and can quickly use them when in doubt.  The vaccine for kids 5 and under can't come soon enough.

I love this picture of my dad with my boy!  They don't get to see each other very often but they are buddies when they do.  Dad always has office supplies and stamps and notebooks and other fun things for little boys.

Late January my two best friends crossed the border to stay for a Ladies Aide weekend!  I don't think we'd seen each other for almost 2 years!  We all Covid tested before we got together and crafted with reckless abandon!  Here we are in Joann Fabrics.  M stayed home with Dave and I'd saved N95's for us to use while we shopped.  We even went to Ikea and it had been over a year since I'd been there with my sister.

Melissa and Serenity introduced me to UV resin!  Where has this been all my life?  I'd used resin for various photo projects.  You mix the two components and it stinks and takes forever to dry, etc.  This stuff you put in a mold, stick it under a UV light and it cures in minutes!  Whaaaaat?!?  I'm hooked!  I was teasing them that it looked like they'd set up a meth lab in our basement! M and I need to head south of the border soon to stay with them. 

My border jokes come from my Grandpa. He'd come down to Iowa for a Sunday meal and when he'd leave, he'd always say he had to go, "before they close the gate." I miss him and wish my son could have known him.

Dave converted The Boy's crib into a toddler bed so he is now installed in his Big Boy Room which used to be the play room. He was really upset that first night and cried and cried which surprised both of us.  I suppose it was a change and he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to be.  It is all normal again now.

I hung up a curtain rod and made some Daniel Tiger curtains for the window in that room.  That embroidery picture was stitched by my maternal grandma and hung in my room when I was Marek's age.  It is a bedtime prayer that we say together every night and in the car on the way to daycare/school.

Did someone say school?!  My boy is going to pre-school now!  I just can't believe how the time flies.  We had him screened for early start pre-school and he will get his different therapies while he is there.

He rides the bus to and from.  I am such an anxious person and I hope he doesn't inherit that from me because I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  He was excited to board the bus and when the helper was buckling him in, I took the opportunity to slink away.  I was afraid he'd get upset once he realized I was gone.  I was tearful but didn't cry.  It was harder on me than him I think.  His teacher is so good and texted us pictures of him busy and happy in the classroom within the hour.  He can't get on that bus fast enough now!

I'm so pleased to report our Covid numbers are waaaaaaaay down so our mask mandate has been lifted.  I still wanted him to wear them in school but I can't get him to keep it on.  I made some Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street masks out of fabric scraps and still he won't leave them on.  We'll see how it goes.  That is one of my new favorite toys:  My Dymo label maker!  I got some cassettes of iron on labels for all his school stuff.  Anything that doesn't move is going to get a label!

This boy is 4!  Every year we reminisce, "At this time 4 years ago we were getting an epidural, pushing, going to the OR, etc." reliving his birth.  Where has the time gone?  We spent the evening with Dave's parents for a low key celebration.  We had a pizza party and I baked a funfetti cake decorated to look like the trucks have excavated the number 4.  He loved it and the trucks.

I'd been collecting gifts over the last few months to wrap and give him and I knit him a red Mr. Rogers/Daniel Tiger sweater.  

Mr. Rogers of course always changed into a zip up sweater on his show and on Daniel Tiger, they have a segment of a kid going out into the community to do some activity.  The kid is always wearing a red zip up sweater with a trolley patch on it.

I used super wash worsted yarn from knit picks and got that patch on ebay.  I'd been looking for one forever but they were always out of stock and seemingly no longer produced.  I was very happy with the one I found but it cost $15 and $5 to ship!  I think I spent more on that stupid patch than I did on the yarn!  Oh well, money was no object because I've been wanting to make this for so long!  I can always cut the patch off and use it again.

I had never knit a sweater with a zipper before.  This pattern was great (and free!) and I watched a couple videos to help me attach and customize the zipper.  It never occurred to me that you could use a zipper longer than your finished garment and trim it to size so this was quite a learning project for me.  I chose to use the sewing machine even though I didn't have a perfect selvedge edge to hide the stitching.  The thread matched almost perfectly and it felt more secure with 2 rows of machine stitches versus hand stitching.  I have a pattern for an adult sized Mr. Rogers sweater complete with cables and a collar that zips up and now I have the courage to tackle it for Dave...some day.

This photo was taken in early February and all this snow is gone.  The red sweater pictures were taken 2 days ago and we have brown grass everywhere.  There have been a few lovely warm days which makes us very impatient with today's cold and wind.  Spring is around the corner.  I've been running my Aerogarden for over a month now getting ready to start seedlings and will try to share pictures of those and other projects soon instead of waiting 5 months between posts.

Covid is looking better but now the world is actually at war.  I can't believe what I'm seeing on the news.  Our neighbor is Ukrainian and whose parents and family are still over there.  My sister's neighbors are Ukrainian with lots of family there still.  Thankfully their parents were here visiting when war broke out but her dad wants to go back and help fight.  He is 60 years old but says he can fix tanks and machinery and what not.  Seeing people flee with their children and pets is breaking my heart.  I remember learning in London about the Blitz and how hundreds of thousands of pets were put down during the first week because they didn't want them to suffer and feared they couldn't feed them knowing what was to come.  And just like WWII London, they're sheltering in subway tunnels.  How is history repeating itself like this?  Having a young son makes this hit so much closer to home.  I can't imagine what those poor mothers are going through,

Listening to Putin and his propaganda (including that idiot who called him a genius) reminds us how close we danced to authoritarian government. This should be a cautionary tale for every American because we take our freedoms and democracy for granted. Those Ukrainians have only had it 30 some years and they are fighting desperately to keep it. We need to be savvy consumers of news and information. We need to pay attention and we need to VOTE.  I can't help but think of all the Covidiots who have cried oppression and tyranny at having to wear a mask and get a vaccine.  They should feel quite sheepish now because we are seeing real oppression and tyranny unfold.  What they experienced was in fact inconvenience.

Once again we are reminded to be happy with what we have and share with those in need. Help your neighbors and hold your loved ones close. God bless Ukraine. We will be planting lots of sunflowers soon.