catching up

this month has been so full, with trips and friends, and things going on right here in our little house, things i want to record, to write about, things i keep lists of in my head, but there are too many, and i feel them slipping away, so just so i don't forget, and hoping that there will be time to write down more, and maybe add some visuals, and if there isn't time enough, well that's fine too, these are the things i've been meaning to say:

Isabelle has been drawing, painting, acting, singing and dancing as usual, but she has also been making movies (both cartoons and regular), teaching herself to knit, reinventing herself as Pippi Longstocking, discovering the art of face-painting, teaching herself to skate on single-blade skates, rediscovering her knowledge of the french language, singing the entire Magic Flute from memory, trying out the thin coloured pencils she got for her birthday, and quitting her dancing class. she has also been philosophizing, eating candy and playing scrabble.

Toini has become a pirate and then shortly afterwards a knight, with sword, harnass and all. Ridder Bommerkruit is his name (borrowed from Sjoerd Kuyper, i think). he charges through life, as always, but now with his sword up front. he has started speaking in amazingly complicated sentences, while continuing work on his agility skills (balancing on one foot on the arm of the couch: 'En NOE ga ik iets echt gevaarlijks doen!' (and NOW i am going to do something really dangerous!')). he has also been skating, cycling, doing yoga with me, watching movies, baking me, dancing around naked (it ben een naatdanser! (i am a naked dancer), sledding in the snow, drinking lots of hot chocolate, reading letters, playing hide-and-seek, singing, doing judo with papa, drawing, driving various vehicles, knitting, and acting in isabelle's movies, both on-screen and off.

they both wake up with smiles on their faces, every single day.

as for me, i have been baking, brewing broths, experimenting with a multitude of whey-based delicacies, playing music, writing, digging into the swamps at the bottom of my marriage, thinking of dogs (a lot), worrying about the finances of a single-income budget, dancing, reading (on unschooling, puppy training, and The Reader (the movie was amazing, the book even more so, there is a bit in there about unschooling...), knitting, not missing work, watching Seinfeld, seriously not missing work, pondering the meaning of life, pondering my alleged resemblence to Kramer, and spending time with friends.

i go to sleep with a smile on my face, (almost) every single day.

(looking at these photographs, Marc was reminded of this post, in which i bemoan the passing of time and the imminent loss of Isabelle's baklava hat. That was three years ago... now we have two such hats. and so it goes with life. never what you expect. always good.)