Thomas's birthday

Thomas turned 31 on January 22nd. We had a fun evening with presents, pot roast, and carrot cake, and the next night we had friends over to continue the celebration! It was a great birthday!

He had LOTS of help opening his gifts!

 

 

 

snow day

We had a snow day on January 20th - even UT closed, which is pretty unusual. We made the most of it by playing in the snow, watching The Princess Bride, eating popcorn, drinking hot chocolate, and playing Sorry and Uno. The next day the snow was a little meltier and much better for packing. Thomas was back at school, but the boys and I went out and made a small snowman and lots of snowballs. Jamie also made a tiny fort. By the end of that day, the snow was basically gone. That's the best thing about winter in Tennesee: if it actually does snow, you know it won't be around for long!

Pictures from the first day; I didn't take the camera out the next day.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Jacob's first haircut

Jacob had his first haircut on January 11th (21.5 months old). It was a tragic day. He had started to seem bothered by having his hair in his face, so it felt like it was time. I will forever miss his beautiful golden curls.

Before:

 

Jamie was feeling a little left out since I was taking an absurd number of pictures of Jacob, so he jumped in for a few shots as well.

 

 

During:

The ONLY thing keeping him in that chair and allowing this to happen was that lollipop. And he got another when the first was gone. Even now, a month later, if you talk about haircuts he'll say "wowwipop!"

 
 
 

After:

 

 

2015 books

Books I read in 2015:

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
The Rosie Effect by  Graeme Simsion
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke
The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedmen
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Martian by Andy Weir
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Station Eleven by Emily St.  John Mandel
Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Deenie by Judy Blume
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Requiem by Lauren Oliver
The Beatles Anthology by the Beatles
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson
After the War is Over by Jennifer Robson
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation by Philip Norman
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

It was a year of surprisingly few re-reads (I love re-reading books. My favorite Oscar Wilde quote: "If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.").

My favorites, not including ones I'd read before, in no particular order:
All the Light We Cannot See
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Big Little Lies
The Night Circus
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
American Gods
Station Eleven
The Road

also, chapter books I read with Jamie in 2015:

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

December

Pictures from December that didn't make it on to any other posts...

helping make holiday treats

snuggling his favorites friends

Seriously, I cannot keep this boy on the ground. Leave him alone for 30 seconds and he's climbing on something. Another 30 seconds and I guarantee he would have been IN the sink.

yep, that's my toothbrush. Thanks for that, Jacob. (Can you tell Jamie LOVES having a partner for all his mischief-making?)

We got a book about WWI from the library book sale. Jamie and I read it together for at least an hour, and then he made up an elaborate game where he was a soldier in the war and fighting from the trenches. 

Jamie was playing Grinch, so he found his dog Max and he took some red thread and he tied a big horn on the top of his head.

another day, another sink...

lots of arts projects going on, always

We made salt dough ornaments as some of our gifts this year. Jamie in particular had a great time making them. Jacob got to help paint a few, until he tried to eat them.

Here's the "before," but unfortunately I didn't get an "after" picture! He was such. a. mess!

 

Fridge cleaning with weasels.

I think this may have been his first ever beater-licking experience.

A few pictures from the zoo...

 
 

Randomly found this. Jamie had been copying out portions of one of Thomas's books.

Made some more felt ornaments for Christmas gifts this year. these were for my brother Nathaniel's family

brother snuggles!

waiting to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens!! We saw it opening night and loved it, even Mr. It-Can-Never-Live-Up-To-My-Expanded-Universe-Expectations!

This may have happened a few times before Jacob finally got a haircut. Poor boy, ha ha!

Jamie requested "sewing lessons." He stitched this ornament together.

Another sewing lesson. This is the pillow he made for Peter Rabbit's Christmas present.

Both my boys have been OBSESSED with playing with dried beans around this age! Jacob seriously asks to do this every single day. I often say no because there are a lot of days I just can't handle the mess it makes, but boy does he love it!!

playing at the park the day after Christmas... with no jackets. It was like 70 degrees!!

Jamie and his buddy Teague.

We went down to Atlanta for our niece Savannah's blessing on December 27th. We forgot the memory card and have literally zero pictures from the trip, so I borrowed this from Sarah's blog. Savannah is such a darling baby!

New Year's Eve! We had an early fake midnight for Jamie and then stayed up playing games and eating snacks to welcome in 2016!