Burl's First Chop

Winter (combined with my pregnancy) has kept us indoors more than we're used to, so we are doing ALL THE THINGS we can in our house. Recently, I let Burl play with knives...

Ok, playing with knives is a much looser way of describing what I really did. I let Burl chop with my chef's knife during dinner prep a few nights ago. When time and energy allows, I love to involve the kids in cooking, and chopping was a big step for us. He was so careful and I was so proud. It was very exciting to see how well he did with this-it felt like such a milestone, up there with first steps or first smiles. I guess I could call it his first chop. 

And just for good measure, I looked up one of my all time favorite pictures of cooking with baby Burl:

Airplane

I've been a long time member of the airplane club. Since my babysitting days and into my mom days, I've always loved flying children (and even some friends and my mom). When Burl and Fern started to give it a go the other night before bed, I was elated. I was laughing so hard that I had tears. I quickly grabbed my camera and got a few pictures. They're almost there...

Burl Takes The Camera

I've trusted Burl with my camera a few times and I always love seeing things from his view. 

On a recent trip downtown, I let the kids have the camera on the bus and they started taking pictures of people, which I stopped. I didn't want to make them feel awkward, but this lady was so nice to tell me that it was ok by her. In her words, "You never know-I might end up on National Geographic." It's always great to run into friendly people!

Valentine's Day, 2015

I've seen some articles about "keeping Valentine's Day for couples" or some weird way of thinking like that. That's just strange. It's a holiday that celebrates love, so I say celebrate it with whoever you can! Kids, spouses, pets, friends, or even yourself. I love a good celebratory occasion as much as the next fanatic, so I don't like any restrictions. Here are the little ways we celebrated with our children:

First off was Burl's school party. We signed up to bring drinks and I bought a bunch of those sugary, poisonous, capri suns. Burl was so proud of his drink contribution. Next up were the valentines. I asked Burl what kind he wanted to get and he said, "we don't need to buy any, I can just make my own." My heart skipped a beat and John said he was his mother's son-I can not tell you how much I felt like I was doing all the right things in my parenting gig right there. 

I offered stickers, glitter, and polka dots, but Burl went simplistic. White card. Red heart. Scraps glued on. HIs name written in the heart. It didn't say anything about Happy Valentine's Day, but he was set on his design and I say more power to him. 

There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can compete with the love and excitement of a school Valentine party. My husband has done sweet things for me every year, but 20 or so kids exchanging sweet cards and having a party-it just can't be topped. From here on out, I plan to re-live those parties through my kids and go completely overboard as a classroom mom. For now, I'll do what I can at home. 

On Saturday, I had a few surprises for the kids at lunch. I made them stay in Burl's room while I made lunch and set up a few surprises. The first things they said were, "Wow! Candies and Capri Suns!" Sweet children didn't even notice their gifts. 

They told me thank you and sat down with full smiles, then we pointed out the gifts. I spent $8 at an army navy store and bought a few carabiners and bungee cords. They're toddlers who like to invent things or whatever, so they can figure out something semi-safe to do with them.  

Lunch was a mixture of eating and hooking things together. My presents were a hit. 

John and I actually went out on Valentine's Day to Panera and the mall...which is NOT our ideal date in the least, but we were both excited about it and had so much fun. In the famous words of Walt Whtiman, "We were together, I forget the rest."  

On that note, I'm going to end and say that I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

{Valentine's Day 2014, the year we killed the fish}

Fun Weekend Recap

I've been missing Old Meg, the one that's not in her third trimester, the one who can play with her kids, the one that has leaps and bounds of energy, and the one that, you know, can do things. Our weekends for a while have been quiet and boring. I've needed the downtime, but to be honest, it's hard on me. Luckily, last weekend we had a fuller weekend and it wasn't too strenuous. 

A friend had two extra tickets to Monster Jam, and I couldn't accept them fast enough. That was an experience. The people watching. The $15 icee. The people watching. The trucks. The people watching. Burl enjoyed it all.

Saturday, were able to fit in a little hike. It was unseasonably warm, which made the hike even better. 

The hike was simple, so Burl & Fern had no problem hiking and running on their own. We were able to take our time and let the kids explore parts of the trail. 

Fern had a little fall, scraped her knees, and milked it for what she could. John and I traded turns milking it for the sweet snuggles. 

Burl got to skip his weekend nap and go to a birthday party for a school friend. He is always looking for opportunities to make cards for people, so he was excited to make a card for his friend. "I like to find out their favorite color and use that for the their card." Melt my DIY, letter writing heart, I've found a kindred spirit in my own son!

That night we hit the town with a game of bowling. It was the first time for my children. Burl told me that he already knew how because he's seen it on Curious George. Before we left he was doing push-ups "to make his muscles strong for bowling." 

Fern told us before we got their that she just wanted to watch, but as soon as we got there she was all in! Both kids celebrated each pin they knocked down, and they about lost their minds when they got strikes. (We had free passes, but oh my word, that would have been expensive!!) The kids had a blast and now they talk about it every time we pass the bowling alley. 

The next day Burl got to skip another weekend nap and go with his dad and uncle to the climbing gym. He was very excited and talked constantly about his "guy time." 

The whole weekend was so good for me. This pregnancy has been completely different than my first two, presenting more emotional challenges, but now that I'm just three months away from the due date, I can't believe it's almost here! I've had baby fever more these past few months than I ever have in my life-which if you know me and my baby obsession, then you know it's saying a lot. We are all very excited to meet our little boy!

Daddy Pile

When John gets home, it's like the whole house relaxes and exhales. He says he likes coming home from work and feeling needed, and who wouldn't love snuggles like that? 

First Things First Amaryllis

We planted a couple of easy amaryllis bulbs about a month ago. These are the kids' first "plant it and watch it grow" flowers in the house-and probably the only thing I could handle. Burl and Fern have occasionally noted their progress, and we've finally seen their glory. 

They are killing it in the bloom department!