March 1

I've always looked forward to March 1. It's not necessarily a special date, but one I am very glad to see when it comes around.

It's the time when Miss Spring decides that her house guest, Winter, has worn out his welcome and is getting on her nerves. The below freezing temperatures, sunless days and bleak landscape are more than she can take. It's the time when she decides that her subtle hints of packing suitcases and checking flight schedules aren't working. Her politeness is not getting through his frozen, stubborn mind. After all, you can't blame him. Winter is old and does not like change. It's time to shift tactics.

Soon, very soon Winter will get the picture that he is not wanted anymore. Even he can't ignore the eviction notice nailed to his door. He will protest with some frigid cold, blustery wind and driving snow. "You can't get rid of me!" he will shout with his fist raised in the air. But Miss Spring is strong. She knows his protests won't last long. And soon, very soon his howling will fade. And with his shoulders slumped in resignation and his face painted in a scowl he will pack up his ice, his snow, his cold, stomp out of the house and slam the door behind him. "Well," Miss Spring will say to herself, "I did try to be polite."

She will not be denied.

LegoLand & SeaWorld

A few weeks ago, we went to LegoLand and SeaWorld with Scott's business partner, wife and a few of their kids. The weather was gorgeous and we all got our fill of some much needed vitamin d.



"Hey kids! Stare directly into the sun while I take your picture!"


All made of Legos. Well, except for the boys of course. But with the amount of Legos that are strewn all over my house I wouldn't be surprised if they are part Lego.


Cortez was sure a nice dolphin.


The boys really enjoyed meeting him and watching him do tricks.


But let me tell you. He knows how to splash some water.

Simplicity, proof that Taylor knows more than me and a science project.

Chapter 1


Me: "Hey Taylor what do you want to do for your birthday? You didn't have a party last year, so if you want to have one this year we can do that."

"I'd rather just have some friends over for a late night and go skiing with Dad" he replies.

DONE!

Buy some balloons, Costco pizza, sodey-pop and they entertain themselves all evening on the Wii and in the playroom. Mom is happy and the boy is happy. What more can you ask for!

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Chapter 2

For the past little while every time I have clicked on iphoto I see these weird pictures of Taylor come up and then disappear. The other day I ask him about it and he tells me about this photo booth application on the Mac. I had no idea it was even on there.

This is what he has been doing on my computer. He learned about this at school.





He even gets his brother to join in on the fun!


Chapter 3

He, no "we" did a great job!

A Valentine Tradition

Do you know what we do every year for Valentines? We sneeze, cough, blow our noses and clean throw up from off the floors. Every year without fail someone is sick. This year it was Owen and my turn to continue the tradition. Me with a cough and sore throat that makes me sound like I have been smoking 3 packs a day for the past 20 years. I could be on one of those anti-smoking commercials letting people know if they smoke this is what they will sound like down the road. That or I could sing bass with all the men in the Mo-tab... if I knew how to sing at all. I think my voice has dropped 2 octaves.

Owen has been battling a cough and general lethargy. Yesterday he didn't leave the couch once and would only sip water and eat 1 1/2 Ritz crackers. I hope today the tides turn and he starts fighting back. So far this morning he has eaten 2 spoonfuls of oatmeal, so we are getting there! I predict by tomorrow he is going to be ravenous and will eat non-stop.

$166.00 dollars later

Last Thursday our dishwasher broke. By Friday afternoon both Scott and I had fiddled around with it and decided that it wasn't an easy brainless fix like the examples they give in the owner's manual. Yes, it is plugged in. Yes, I have closed the door. Yes, I pushed the start button. Who are they writing these manuals for anyways kindergartners? And as luck would have it we had entered the weekend and thought there was no way we were getting it fixed until next week.

All of a sudden I was faced with this realization that the dishes had to be washed by hand. You mean I have to wash all of them? Really? Isn't that up there with taking your clothes outside and using a washboard on them?

It is during these times when I forget how convenient a dishwasher is and how use to luxury living I have become. The thought of washing everything we touched seemed archaic.

After standing at the sink for an hour washing pots, plates, silverware and cups that had backed up for a day, I banned the use of any kitchen gadget that I didn't deem as absolutely necessary. We ate off paper plates and used paper cups for 2 days.

And this afternoon it was discovered that a tiny seed was the culprit of the massive shutdown. I am happily loading my dishwasher and will definitely be writing down in my gratitude journal how grateful I am for this wonderful appliance.

It Happened

Just one day shy of his eleventh birthday.

Taylor telling me on the way to school that on your birthday during lunch the entire cafeteria will sing to you.

Me thinking to myself that maybe I will check him out at lunch time and take him to lunch.

Me: "Taylor what time is your lunch?"

Taylor thinking I am going to come to the cafeteria: "No that's o.k. you don't have to come."

Me: "What?"

Taylor rather emphatically: "Not that's o.k. you don't have to come. That is embarrassing."


My son is embarrassed by my presence. :(

Monthly Menu

A year ago I took an organizing class where the presenter encouraged us to make weekly and monthly menus. I had been doing a decent job at weekly menus until the holidays came around and that faded into the background while we were decorating cookies and drinking eggnog.

Last month I decided to forgo the weekly and try a monthly calendar. Can I tell you that was the best decision I made last month? It took a total of 25 minutes to write the menu down and that included the 8 times I was interrupted.

Each day of the week has a type of dinner (beef, poultry, easy, Mexican, Italian etc.) which makes it easy to decide what meal goes on which day. I just pulled out my cook book turned to my recipe page that lists a lot my recipes by type (I organized this last year) and wrote them down on a day of the month.



Every morning the guesswork is gone and I don't go in circles trying to figure out what to make and what sounds good. It also makes grocery shopping a breeze. One quick look at my calendar and I know what I need to get for the week! This is a great idea.