How Do I Love Asher?

Let me count the ways...

1. Look at him!!! Sometimes I find myself staring at him- in amazement, in love, in frustration, in amusement. And it's not just the fluffy, nibble-worthy cheeks, the big, blue eyes and those full lips. It's also every look that comes across his sweet face- smiles, frowns, laughter and tears, concentration and consternation, confidence and frustration. Each one is precious to me and makes my heart feel a little squeeze.

2. He is grooming to be my Enforcer, my Muscle, my Assistant-to-the Mom. No longer do I have to trot out the tired pleas for people (read: husband and son) to push in their chairs, not sit on the table, put on their seat belt, etc., etc. Asher does it for me! For example, when the whole family is in the car, driving somewhere, no longer will you hear from me, "Dave, put your seat belt on. Please don't make our babies watch you fly through the windshield to your death." Now you hear, from the backseat, "David Allen Crane! Put your seat belt on!". I love it! He's always had that hint of the dictator about him. Time to put it to good use!


3. He's game for anything! Being my constant companion, he really has no choice but, I must say he adapts to whatever I throw his way quite nicely. He loves to go shopping, especially Target and Kroger (Target for the toys and Kroger for the firemen who also shop there.) He loves music; listening to and singing. He mostly sings Sunday school songs but sometimes, in between "Jesus Loves Me" and "Holy, Holy, Holy" you'll hear "Should I Stay or Should I Go". And he recognizes Mumford & Sons. As soon as he hears one of their songs start to play, he sticks his left arm up in the air and starts strumming away at his armpit with his right hand! :)
He sits next to me and draws while I sew, he loves to watch the Barefoot Contessa with me and he recognizes Mommy's need for coffee and Regis & Kelly in the morning.

I could go on and on. He really is fun and funny. We lock horns A LOT but we are also quick to kiss and make up. I love having him around and miss him when we are apart. I love teaching him and exposing him to new things. And I love learning from him. I've learned a lot from my Asher.

I am blessed.

Update-Madame Sidonia the Fortune Teller

She is finished! Madame Sidonia, fortune teller and entrepreneur, is ready to join the circus!


Next up: A brother and sister team of marionettes. Stay tuned...

Lent.... Gasp

This year, as Lent was approaching, I was thinking about possibly, maybe, I don't know- giving up something for Lent. I've never given up anything for Lent before. For some reason, this year, I'm feeling like observing Lent- as far as forty days with/without something important to me is concerned.

What brought it to mind yesterday was reading a post by someone who is giving up desserts for Lent. I found myself thinking, "That would be easy." And, it would. I don't rely on desserts to get me through the day so I could easily picture emptying the house of 'desserts' and taking a vacation from that part of the meal. Which led me to thinking that if I'm going to give up something for Lent, I need to dig a little deeper. And, what came to mind, causing me to gasp in horror?

Popcorn. (Those of you who know me just gasped, too. Didn't you?)

Pop Secret Homestyle Popcorn to be specific.

So I kept this crazy idea to myself until my husband came home. Then I did something regrettable. I told him that I was thinking of giving up popcorn for Lent. Gasp. He didn't gasp. He just told me that we don't observe Lent. My darling husband gave me an out. I told him that I wanted to do something and giving up popcorn felt terrifying/right to me. Gasp.

So, nothing more was said about Lent or popcorn until this morning, when I was driving the kids to school. Someone on the radio made a comment about not being addicted to Pac Man and Nathanael wanted to know what addicted meant. I told him that it was when you wanted or needed something desperately, as if your life depended on it. I said that when you are addicted to something you want it all the time. To which he replied, "You're giving up popcorn for Lent!"
(He spent Monday evening with his Dad. Apparently they discussed my giving up popcorn for Lent. Do you think they were placing bets? Were they betting on whether or not I'd last the whole forty days? Or, were they wondering how quickly I'd descend into madness?)

So there you have it. I'm giving up popcorn for Lent.

Nathanael, my sweet, sweet boy, said that he was going to give up candy for Lent. I was kind of surprised but I told him that was fine. I did warn him to really think about it. I explained to him a little about Lent and it's relationship to Easter and Jesus and told him that he had to make a serious commitment and that it should be something important, but not necessary, to him. He then said he'd give up toys. Gasp. Then he said he'd give up fruit snacks. (He likes fruit snacks like I like popcorn.) Gasp, gasp. I told him to think about it and I'd ask him in the morning what he decided. What a sweetie!!!

I've also decided that we will be giving up Sunday morning donuts as a family during this time. My popularity plummeted with this announcement but the character that is sure to developed will be thanks enough! :D

Will you be giving up (or adding) something for Lent?

What I Love About My Nathanael Is...

~ his many, mesmerizing freckles

~ his passion for Lego's means that I can continue being passionate about Lego's

~ he plays air guitar while I sing along to Mumford & Sons (in preparation for our debut as Crane & Sons)

~ his love of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Star Wars" means that I am surrounded by images of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Harrison Ford
~ his big, blue eyes

~ he thinks I'm pretty

~ instead of performing a ready-made play for his second grade class, he wrote and directed his own play

~ he loves detective/mystery shows (in preparation for Crane & Crane, Private Investigators)

~ his imagination and creativity never cease to surprise and delight me

~ he still likes to cuddle
I could go on and on. He really is an awesome, little boy and I love knowing him. And I find, with each year that passes, that I am excited to know Nathanael as a young man (although I'm not in any rush).

Thirty Three for Friday***

***I saw this list on another blog and had several good laughs over it. I thought you'd enjoy it, too.

The Washington Post's Mensa invitational once again asked readers to take
any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing
one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the 2009 winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject
financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and a jerk.

3. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you
realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright
ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign
of breaking down in the near future.

6. Deleted by me.

7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person
who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like,
a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido : All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they
come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've
accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your
bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the
fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its
yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings
for common words. And the winners are:


1. Coffee , n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted , adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has
gained.

3. Abdicate , v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade , v.. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly , adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent , adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a
nightgown.

7. Lymph , v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle , n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence , n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been
run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash , n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle , n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude , n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon , n.. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster , n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism , n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up
onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent , n. An opening in the front of jockey shorts worn by
Jewish men

Tee hee! What were your favorite's? I liked sarchasm, balderdash, reintarnation and lymph.

Update- The Circus

Next in line for my circus series is a gypsy/fortune teller. Below is a sketch and then the next picture shows her beginnings.


I'm having fun with her (I have fun with all of them). I always liked dressing up like a gypsy for Halloween. Or a hobo. Or Marie Osmond. But I digress...

Anyway, I haven't decided on a name for her yet. Or her back story. Those tend to develop while I am working on the actual portrait. It's kinda fun having a "conversation" with my creation-in-the-works. Like they're telling me a story while I sit and stitch.

Next, I think, I'll begin work on the marionette siblings. I'll tuck them away in the back of my brain somewhere and let them simmer. In the meantime, here is a little sketch I did to get me started...

Mornings with Asher

Asher: Points at my chest. "What are those elbows doin'?"

Me: "Those aren't elbows."
* I actually had hopes that the conversation would end with "those aren't elbows".

Asher: "What are they?"

Me: Sigh. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. "They're breasts."

Asher: "What are breass?"

Me: "Something that mommies have."

Asher: Lifts his shirt. "Buy me some breass."

Me: "Boys don't have breasts, honey."

Asher: "Where's Daddy's breass?"

Me: "Daddies don't have breasts either, honey."

Asher: "I want breass."

Me: Pause. Long pause in hopes that he'll just walk away. No luck. "Go play, Asher."