Days off are exhausting

I know those Presidents were busy guys, but man, school is way less tiring than a day off...

Nothing to see here...

I don't know what would make you think Dada got Sunday morning donuts...

I'll take Disbelief for $500, Alex.

This is not a photo that I found taken in November, or even last March. This photo was snapped today. It's February 18th. 

The boys are burying each other in the oak leaves out front because not only is there no snow but it is also dry enough and warm enough out to play in last autumn's leaves. Carrie has been working on her lean-to all weekend. Dada and I dug all the supports out of the big garden out back and took down the Christmas lights that festooned the front porch and picked up sticks that I'd pruned off the apple trees. I thought I'd share the snapshot of the beautiful day today and be all smug about how fresh my whites are going to smell while everyone was busy outside and I had relative peace.

Soon it will be dinner time, but these kids are determined to squeeze out every drop of sunshine and fresh air while they can.

Why do I have a terrible, terrible feeling we are going to get hammered in March?

And speaking of love languages...

Church has begun a new series based off of Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages, which is truly fascinating information. Anyone who knows me well will know that I am a Quality Time kind of person over anything else, and that it totally psychs me out when I find the right gift for someone because I am NOT a Gift kind of person. Sweet Dada appreciates Acts of Service over Words of Affirmation, which is another one that comes naturally to me, so I need to work on showing love to him in the way that he best receives it instead of just doing what's easy for me. The kids are all different as well, but Quality Time for any kid makes a big difference. I'll put a link at the bottom so you can check out the info. I see a lot of potential in how it helps with relationships of all kinds. 

But Mr. Chapman neglected to mention my true love language: cookies.

That's right. I am, above and beyond, a Cookie Monster at heart. That's why this particular $2 find at Goodwill made me do a happy dance:

I love to eat cookies, to bake cookies, to ship cookies in the mail, to deliver cookies to others, and to eat still more cookies. Cookie Monster IS my spirit animal.

And now you're getting the general idea of why this time of year is so dangerous:

~the oven warms up the house and makes it smell pretty

~Girl Scouts are selling crack cookies 

~since I can't hibernate I might as well bake

~people need cookies to cheer them up in winter doldrums

~Valentine's Day means fun heart shaped chocolate cookies

~and fun sprinkles

~nobody's really sticking to their resolutions by now anyway

~I got a new cookie cookbook for Christmas and have to test out all those new recipes

~we have kids and kids request cookies

~#wehavekidsthereforewehavecookies

~bananas headed to the dark side need transformed into creations other than banana bread sometimes

~repeat

So, grab some cookies (and hug those precious Girl Scouts) and tune in to listen to the messages here about the love languages and how they help you better relate to those around you. And have some milk. And another cookie!

Movin' on up

Then there's Thing2, who had his middle school orientation last week. This kid can.not.wait. to get to the junior high. I keep telling him not to rush it, but it's definitely a case like Iago says in "Aladdin" about, "on a scale of one to ten, you are an eleven!" 

He even managed to find some of his sister's artwork in a display case during the open house. He delightedly strolled the halls, examining the lockers, checking out the bulletin boards, and would have investigated everything in the science rooms had I not dragged him out of there by his coat sleeves. Safe to say somebody is ExCiTeD!

He takes after his father

For those of you who were unaware and/or had forgotten, his father's handle is Cliffhanger...

#itsyouhetakesafter

New mug! And another excuse for my mother to fret about glass.

Check out my new, beautiful, handblown birthday mug from sweet Dada. He created it for me while out with the work folks he had to wine and dine during their week of training in town. One of the nights, my birthday actually, was a trip to a glass blowing boutique where he crafted my gift.

I used it with delight.

The I refilled it and heard an odd *SNAP*. Hmm. I looked at it carefully, and didn't see anything obviously wrong. Maybe I'd set it down on something crumby that crumbled. I lifted it up and heard an odd *CLINK* followed by a *SPLOOSH* which was accompanied with an *ACK!*

RIP mug. Again. 

Back to the drawing board...

A Big Chair, A Boy, and His Bucket. And karate graduation.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then the ones portrayed here are:

We now join the ranks of those who have gone before us, those who also have cleaner bathrooms thanks to the aftermath of the stomach bug...

*********************************************************************

Thankfully it seemed to be a one-time occurrence. I kept him home Friday because he felt a bit warm upon awakening, but by lunch time he was his normal self and asking for his regular favorite foods. 

We made it to karate graduation on Saturday where he was awarded the brown belt that he'd earned, wahoo! We now get to go to one class for all the kids and can get all of our classes accomplished in two or three days instead of three to four. Yippie! That clomping you hear would be me attempting an Irish jig.

I apologize for the cruddy pictures. The stage lights overpowered anything my phone could do...

That's Liam on the right, escaping from Elizabeth's bear hug from behind.

The white blob is Damon, mid kick. I have a video of the whole kata but can't figure out the tech difficulties of getting it from my phone to the blog. It lets me post pictures but not videos from my phone. What's up with that?

Carrie and the sticks from weapons class. Again, I have video of the combinations, but apparently it's just for me. *sigh*

Sunday we all made it to church for the first time in what seemed like forever as Dada had been in North Carolina for work during the two previous Sundays. I got to snuggle a sweet, sleeping baby girl and then enjoyed the sunshine while pruning our apple trees a little more. 

Everyone made it to school and work today, so I've been brushing and trimming Triskal and may or may not snip some more off the trees out back. 

Valentines for the boys' class parties tomorrow are already finished, the snacks have been sent in as well, and we mailed the ones we planned to mail. Have a terrific Valentine's week, everyone, and stay away from the germs!

Boy-0, Geode-1

I don't know how many of you looked past the Cocoa Puffs to the tiny bandaid that Damon is sporting, but he managed to slice his cheek open at brunch at a friend's house last Saturday morning. He was closely inspecting a large sparkly geode that is a focal piece in her living room. He joined us in the dining room, bleeding. Our best guess is that he had his face in it to see the light playing over the surfaces and caught his cheek on the edge as he pulled back...? At any rate, it was a nice clean cut and is healing well. Boys!

"There is a house, a napping house, where everyone is sleeping..."

If a picture is worth 1000 words, then this one is a whole boatload of zzz's. Carrie, AKA the lump on the couch, had returned from a sleepover with some girlfriends. Damon just loves naps and will climb into one of the big chairs whenever he can catch an opportune moment of downtime. Liam is fighting off some germs and would stay in pajamas and his robe for days on end if I let him. 

No room in the inn for me since I don't curl up as well in the big chair as the kids can, so I pulled the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and went to bed in my own bed! Perfect day for a long winter's nap.

And now it's almost bedtime- my favorite time of the day! ;)