3 Years, 9 Months

Steve and I are homebodies by nature; sheltering-in-place would be no problem for us. But now we have these little mini-people who want to be entertained every waking hour. It's... a lot. 

So the theme of our lives now is... keep 'em busy.

Jack is wearing the perfect pajamas for egg dying (they say "Egg-Cited" and feature a dancing egg)...

... while Henry knows that a dinosaur tank top and purple skirt is a versatile outfit for any occasion. 

You're bored? Uh... let's do art!

Watercolors:

Project paint (demonstrating very different styles):

Costume design (Henry painted this at school but I didn't get a picture until now):

Drawing:

Henry called his picture "apple and two carrots." It was the first time he'd drawn anything that even remotely resembled what he said it was, which was pretty cool. Jack is still in a more abstract stage.

Music (Henry on piano, Jack on guitar):

The boys are at an age where they love to help. With anything and everything. Steve has been doing a fantastic job including them as much as possible.

Jack pours pancakes...

... and Henry flips.

Henry asked for some nail polish and I obliged, so now Steve and I get manicures and pedicures regularly. 

One of Steve's pedicures (Jack in blue, Henry in pink):

Final result:

Courtesy of one of the boys' teachers, we have a bowl of tadpoles living on our counter. The boys' primary interest is in feeding them (Henry left, Jack right):

Cooped up in the house, Henry continues to be very particular about what he wears and comes up with some great ensembles.

Fuzzy vest and water shoes:

Cat ears, fuzzy vest, purple skirt:

Henry can be extremely dramatic, but he's also funny and sweet. He bids me farewell when I head off to work with, "I hope I miss you!"

He balances out the sweetness when he does things like finish the following classic set-up.

Steve: "I think Mom's pretty."
Henry: "Pretty old!"

Rotten critter, I'm really not sure where he learned that.

Jack tends to entertain himself with more hazardous pursuits, like inventing Duplo train roller skates...

... and preparing for a heist by unlocking the bathroom door while being held upside-down. 

But, Mom, I can't help it that my favorite things to do also give you many small heart attacks. I just love danger!

But being cooped up together all the time, sometimes a busy kid just needs a break.

Bed tents (Jack left, Henry right):

Jack, cocooned in his blanket on the bathroom floor, surrounded by his favorite stuffed animals: 

Henry, having dragged his blanket and pillow into the laundry room/pantry for some quiet separation:

Henry, enjoying a quiet moment with his beloved Purple Owl (full name: Owl, the Grape Purple Penguin) showing said stuffed animal the lighthouse lamp and light-up alarm clock: 

Enough relaxation, back to work!

The boys help trim vines off the fence. I admit I didn't love this activity, but they seemed to enjoy it and no one has fallen... yet.

Now, on to what Steve and I really excel at: shop class!

Steve teaches Henry to patch holes with wood filler:

Steve and I thrive on projects. It's just what we like to do. So, we embarked on a big one last month: build a play loft in the boys' bedroom.

Jack, delighted to be helping carry in the plywood:

Jack can hardly contain his excitement: 

Helping prime the boards, Jack in orange, Henry in teal:

Construction begins while Henry looks on and Jack uses the studfinder on his bed:

The boys love ladders, Jack in this picture: 

Henry's turn on the ladder:

The boys test the loft platform (Jack left, Henry right):

Peering over the in-progress railing (Jack left, Henry right):

Henry's enthusiastic assessment of the railing, "It's very wall-y!"

Wider shot showing the final trim detail on the railing and some better perspective on the room:

The bottom of the loft is six feet off the ground, a height chosen so that Steve and I don't have to duck to go underneath to change sheets or tuck the boys in at night. The ceiling in the boys' room is sloped (our house is odd) with the highest point being a bit shy of ten feet.

Loft play area: 

Small rooms make it difficult to get a wide enough angle to take good pictures, but it's actually fairly roomy up there. The ceiling slopes, so the boys can only stand in the tallest part, which is fine, it's really designed to be a cozy space for sitting on the floor and playing or eventually reading. Steve and I can sit up there just fine. The windows allow lots of ventilation so it stays comfortable even on warm days. The boys selected which art in their room they liked best and picked where to hang it over the windows. Steve diligently cut carpet tiles to cover the plywood, which turned out really nice. 

Steve's still working on the ladder, and who knows when we'll get around to painting it, but the loft is finished enough for the boys to play up there if we help get them up and down. And they do want to play up there most days. With a modest 860 square feet to work with in our house, we'll take any extra space we can scavenge.