Ten on Tuesday

1. M usually gets her fill of coloring and crafts most days with her beloved Ms. V, but after a week at home for spring break she needed a craft day, so craft we did.  The culmination of these projects was her very own art show in the hall.  Here she is ready to welcome everyone in.  You can see the two masterpieces that made the cut just inside the entry as well as the fancy "purple carpet."  It was a lovely event with an encore presentation when Grandma came to visit. 

2.  We have a lovely play kitchen that our big kids very rarely play with.  Mind you, they love playing with toy kitchens when we visit other people, just not at home (obviously).  E, however, is now quite interested in the play kitchen and making a delightful mess.  He is also feeling quite liberated that he is getting to play in the dining room now that he is mobile.  I had forgotten, for instance, how difficult, yet necessary, it is to constantly sweep the floor with a crawler around.  He is oh so very interested in getting whatever I'm sweeping up too.  E is, in general, struggling a bit this week.  He is still recovering from his ear and stomach bugs so food is a bit hit and miss.  Add to that my suspicion that he is not getting enough nap time during the day and well, he's a bit of a fuss pot as the older kids would say.  In happier news, he has started "talking" quite a bit more.  So now, we have a cacophony of voices most of the time, including his babbling along with the "bigs." This week, E was upgraded to 18 month PJS, which is somewhat humorous.  You see, his tum tum needs more room, but his short little legs are quite a bit too short. He is also quite insistent on being held and not left on the floor somewhere.  I'm focusing on loving that I'm able to carry him.  I hope I continue to be able to.  I am a bit concerned as after the trip back from STL I had a minor costochondritis bout, which may be do to the baby wearing or road tripping or who knows... In any case, I feel very lucky to have this time with our special littlest boy.

3. Oh, did I mention he likes Skylanders? I have this humorous notion that he spends much of his day plotting how to obtain just one to play with as he is so vigilant to the location of the Skylanders bin.  Should it ever wander into his reach he immediately is in there.  Now that he can pull up, B is having to be more creative about where he places the bin, and I secretly sometimes let him hold one for a little bit if he manages to snag it.  He loves this immensely and examines his find oh so carefully, turning it in all directions and feeling the little figure before, of course, trying it in his mouth. 

4.  This little lady hosted her own race in the backyard first thing Sunday morning.  Note her outfit - running tights and top, arm band for her "phone", running shoes, a bracelet, bow, bell (her finisher's medal), and if you look very closely you'll see her secret agent pen peeking out of the top of her shorts.  In the side of her shorts, she has her secret agent notebook, just in case she needs to do some invisible writing on the go. (Secret Agent tools were part of this month's Kiwi Crate).  I participated in the second race of the day and had great fun.  She is an excellent race organizer--- and possibly we talk about running a lot here of late?

5.  This week includes Fairy Tale day in Kindergarten.  B has elected to portray Captain Hook.  I am attempting to channel Chrissie and my mom and make a costume from bits we have around here.  So far, I'm not sure it is working.  Mostly, we don't have anything similar to the red coat Captain Hook has in the movies so we're improvising quite a bit.  But I did make him the neck ruffle, large cuffs, and hook today from various things we had laying around (Per my Chrissie inspiration some quick hand sewing and felt was involved). We don't have any pictures yet, but hopefully when the outfit comes together we'll get a few.

6.  School is very much back in session at OSSM.  Brent is busy reviewing applications with the staff, trying to finish up his first time teaching invertebrate zoology while still occasionally sleeping, and gracefully putting up with my many aches and paines.

7.  Today, at long last, the weather was finally almost like spring.  This resulted in the lawn people showing up and mowing/weed treating the yard.  As you might expect, the kids also really wanted to play outside, so here's hoping they didn't get poisoned in the process.  They did play wonderfully well together at games of their own invention for a long time this evening and helped me off and on with my attempts at reclaiming the garden after a summer of much neglect.  I did discover 8 or so carrots that look like they might still be edible and am quite concerned about how over run with crab grass this bed will be when it comes back to life.... hmmmm... Next up planting, but probably not until after the Easter fun.

8.  Easter is coming- the big kids will have hunts at school as well as at both their Grandparents (and who knows, maybe in the dark after Mass at Bison).  They are excited about participating in the creation story at Bison and I so wish they could make practice, but the timing doesn't work.  I'm sure I can help them through it though. I have made zero plans for what I'm contributing to the various Easter feasts and any suggestions are quite welcome.

9. You may recall last spring I said I was going to divide my iris and share them with various people.  I, of course, in a fit of no sleeping in the fall did not do that.  I am sure we are going to have very lovely flowers this spring, but also quickly losing control of my front flower beds to the Iris.  This may not be such a bad thing, but I really, really need to remember to separate them this fall.

10.  You may recall nearly a month or so ago I mentioned contemplating sparkle running skirts.  Chrissie surprised me with these - one for me and one for M-- I think we'll wear them for the upcoming Princess Run in April.  Such a sweet gift and much needed encouragement to keep running.  My attempt at a run with the jogging stroller in the cold and wind Monday was a debacle, ending with my IT band and ankles hurting, my slowest "running" ever, a fair bit of walking and a very short outing.  (Not to worry, M was tucked up in the stroller with a Huge blanket and cozy warm.  Logically, I know there are days like that and the next run will be better.  I do worry that my IT band is still hurting and hope tomorrow is a better run.  

In related news, I apparently just let me diet go for the week of spring break.  I'm back on the plan now, and was amazed how quickly I was able to completely let it go and how much worse my body felt when I was eating junk.  It is annoying to fall though as I suspect I have a couple pounds to reloose, but I will just keep trying again. 

Here's to renewal and a bright spring ahead!