Surprise!

Pearl loves to be "surprised" or "ambushed." I put that in quotes because in all reality she is fully expecting and wanting us to grab her as she walks by and often walks up giggling (as we pretend not to notice her) and waits patiently for us to grab her. Here are a few illustrations:

-Nat

The Explosion

We had a little explosion last month. It happened in our kiln during one of it's maiden voyages. We were attempting to home-make some of our Christmas gifts, but this little incident cut down the "home-made" by about three quarters. We basically got the kiln too hot too fast and the moisture couldn't escape the clay fast enough. Who would have thought that wet clay could be so volitile? Luckily the kiln remains untarnished, but we document the pot carnage.

The few that actually made it through the explosiong or that were fired at a different time, were able to be "glaze fired," the final step in making pottery. I always love how they go in the kiln looking kind of pale and homely, but come out looking all shiny and brilliant. It's basically a magical process.

Before

After

Do you know what this means though? This means that we are now a self-sufficient pottery studio! Woo hooo!

-Nat

Stockings

We spent the holidays at home this year for the first time. It was very, very nice and very quiet. In honor of our first Christmas alone as a family I decided to make us our very own stockings. If you know me very well, you will know that I have an inability to do anything simple, however insignificant. I decided to do a ridiculously complicated pattern that I made up myself and these little stockings ended up taking way too much time during the holiday season- and afterwards. I finally finished them... wait for it... today! Seeing as I dedicated so much blood (literally- getting needle pricked), sweat and tears to them, I can't resist showing them off.

Here is a back view. I think I like the back better than the front, unfortunately.

Here is the front view. I used pieces of fabric that I had lying around the house for the patchwork.

-Nat

No.

Pearl has learned the word "no." She first said it after she whacked me with a large lotion bottle in the nose and I said to her, "OW! NO!" She then said, "no, no, no, no." Now she loves to walk around the house chanting it every now and then. She has taken to saying it most often when she is in the bathroom and starts to walk behind to toilet to access the plunger and toilet cleaner. She says, "no, no, no" as she walks closer and closer (I have told her "no" for doing that a few times...).
-Nat

Pearl can walk!!

It happened yesterday. She was quietly playing on the floor while I was reading the paper. She picked up a drum mallet in each hand and then took 4-5 steps over to me with a little smile on her face. I was dumbfounded! She walked again (although she was not happy about it) for the camera (below) but hasn't wanted to walk since. Strange.

-Nat