Ten on Tuesday

1. Silly girls photo fun with Grandma.  Glad we do these random pictures together.  Sometimes it takes awhile to get M warmed up and they almost always seem to happen when I have no makeup on, but so it goes. 

2.  Here are Grandma and Lil' E who had great times together, I'm told.  They are starting to spend the beginning of most Sundays together as mom stays over and they both tend to get up earlier than the rest of us. (This is a huge present to Brent and I also as we are chronically short on sleep). 

3.  We made B's class valentine's in true Pinterest fashion. B was so patient and fun with this project.  He helped with every step and did all the writing himself.  It was great to work on it together and have them turn out so well. (PS - this is his current fake smile ...)

4.  We also made his Valentine's box for school.  Part of me desperately wanted to "control" the design.  Happily, I was able to let all that go and let it be his own creation.  I supplied any craft supply he could imagine from our stash and assisted where requested, but he was completely in charge.  I was a bit worried that maybe he'd get to school and find more pintrest like boxes, but happily, when queried, his box was by far his favorite and he found it so blah that one of his colleagues just had a box with like six hearts and the word love on it....hmmmm.... Hooray for freedom and creativity.

5.  Lil' E is, as usual, awesome.  He went to the Dr. on Monday to have his ear's checked (two-week follow-up from the last infection).  Believe it or not -- no ear infection!  (This is very rare with our kids).  He is (knock on wood) sleeping better.  He is worming his way around the house and getting into mischief.  Today, he is quite a bit more fussy than usual. I have no idea why, but hopefully just overtired as we hear he didn't nap well today at childcare.  He currently adores being held up by fingers to stand or holding onto a window sill or elsewhere to keep his standing balance. We're switching out all of his clothes this weekend for the next size up as his little tum tum is showing quite a bit these days. I thought he looked quite different when I returned form DC.  I think part of it was his quickly growing hair.  As it grows, his face gets reframed a bit and starts to look like it is a different shape.  Now that he prefers a 6:15am wake-up time we're getting some one-on-one time in the mornings.  He has a big bottle, changes clothes, and then we do some floor playtime until Brent joins us for breakfast.  As much as I miss sleeping in, it is nice for some quiet play time with the little one while he's at his happiest.  (Ps, yes, that is a pink flamingo purse in the background - a gift from Uncle Able to M--- I really should move things like this before taking pictures. 

6.  M is actually wearing clothes that match this week.  I have no idea what happened, but she is strangely more coordinated than usual and allowing me to put bows in her hair again.  All a bit odd, but we'll take it.  She loved playing in the snow today and putting on a show for E and I inside.  Her ladybug umbrella is absolutely the envy of her school and with her matching boots she is tres chic.  Speaking of which, I have been working with her just a bit on French phrases this week, which is tons of fun.  Her class valentines are much less clever and organized, but we didn't find any other ideas that we loved so we went with it.

7.  I am STILL coughing.  I have finished my steroids and another week has passed with my dual inhalers. I think I am marginally better, but only just.  I can basically only sleep at night if I take Nyquil, which means Brent is mostly on night duty (if any is required :) because if I'm up coughing we're both up all night anyway.  It is horrible.  I am trying to find another Dr. Apt. this week if I can. Oh, and all the "this is asthma" stuff may be slightly nonsense as Brent appears to have gotten sick since I returned home... 

8. Have you seen the article entitled The Shooter? It is about the man that killed Osama bin Laden.  The experience of that  mission and life before and ever after.  It is fascinating, disturbing, sad, and much more.   

9.  I made the Millers dinner again this week to help a tiny bit with the twins.  In looking for a cornbread recipe that was a bit more flavorful and moist I found this one.  I didn't have blue berries so we made it without.  In related news, I think I may be addicted to Raw Oklahoma Honey as we've almost used up an entire pint jar in 10 days or so.  (Granted, it does help more with my cough than most things).

10. Today we celebrated Mardi Gras with Pancakes, family game night featuring games made from our Kiwi Crate, and a mask by M.  Very festive.  I do wish Brent and I felt a bit better, but we soldiered on.  The games the kids made were great fun (Comet Toss and individual designed board games).  We had a little more time so we played some practice Creationary.  It was great fun, but I totally failed at trying to build a trebuchet from LEGO Bricks. 

It was a lovely snowy day today -- very pretty, but without the dangerous road conditions.  Here's hoping we are all well enough to enjoy warmer weather when it returns!


PS  forgot the "healthy choices" update - I did manage to lose weight and get three runs in during my travel week, which I consider a victory.  It was a bit less weight than I'd hoped, but OK given the circumstances.  I did get to run around campus and to the White House, while in DC, which was awesome.