Someday, if you happen to be so lucky, you might inherit a pair of dragon/dinosaur/monster slippers from your cousin who's not quite a year older than you. And then, you just might spend the next day stomping around your house, because such cool slippers require more than simply walking.
Paige and Emma, thanks for the slippers!
Sophie loves her art class at school. She spent the last three weeks creating this snowplow and learned quite a bit in the process.
Topher has officially entered the Giving Up The Nap Even Though He Desperately Needs One stage. We still go through the naptime routine and he hangs out in his bed during the designated time, but he only napped three days last week. And on the days that he does nap he's been waking up in the middle of the following night, wanting to snuggle or drink water or, well no, it's basically those two things. But waking up in the night causes him to sleep in the next day, which makes him feel like he doesn't need a nap. That goes on for a few days until he's tired enough to sleep in the middle of the day. And then it begins again.
It's a vicious cycle.
All of this leads to a very tired boy who has been having all kinds of meltdowns. He's generally an even-tempered kid, so from his behavior it's obvious that he's exhausted. Today held lots of tantrums and demands and some mild lashing out with violence. He's still small enough to scoop him up and snuggle or carry somewhere else, so it's manageable, but it does make for long days.
It's good that I know this stage doesn't last forever.
When he's feeling extra sad he'll slump his shoulders forward, hang his head, and go lie face-down on the big red chair in the library. It's equal parts sad and adorable.
Sophie made her first diorama for school this week. She was asked to choose a habitat to represent in the project and she knew right away that she wanted to make the ocean. She gathered up the ocean animal toys we had and, after realizing we didn't have as many as we thought, I ordered some additional animals on Amazon.
I assisted by taping the lid of the Amazon box open so she had a deeper space for the diorama and by tying fishing line to her ocean animals. She did the rest, and I think she did it well.
You guys! It warmed all the way up to 52 degrees yesterday! As soon as I discovered that I called out to anyone who was listening that we were going on a walk and if they wanted to go they needed to put shoes on right away.
It was still chilly, especially with the wind, but it was so much better than it's been!
It snowed again. There is so much snow outside. I'm not complaining, I know the moisture is important and it is winter and all, and I don't have to be outside in it like I would in a normal year. I'm just amazed at how much there's been.
Tonight during dinner Topher leaned over to me, put his arm around my shoulders, and said, "I love you, so much!" And then he gave me a great big hug.
This is what I'll think about when he wakes up at 1 o'clock in the morning for a snuggle.
When we had our giant snowstorm a few weeks ago we all went out to play and found ourselves practically buried in too much snow. I told the kids I'd take them back out after the snow had melted a little and was more manageable. Two days later, with the snow looking just right to play in, I threw my back out and had to spend most of the next week flat on the couch, moving as little as possible. That meant no more snow play and some very disappointed kids.
Right about the time my back was calming down and I was moving more, Cooper's hives showed up. That took a lot of time and energy and focus to help him, so we still didn't go back outside to the snow. Plus the snow had turned hard and icy and was much less fun.
It snowed again last night and today. I'm tired from a late night of supervising Cooper while he worked to catchup on school, but I made it a priority to bundle us up and go outside. Then, when Topher and I were ready to come in, Bryan stayed out with the girls since Phoebe had just finished her schoolwork and desperately wanted to be out in the cold too. Seriously, she loves the cold.
Cooper was wrapping up his final assignments for the week and didn't join us. Don't worry though, we're supposed to get even more snow next week; he'll probably play then.
With all the craziness of last week, I didn't have much energy to put together Valentine's Day magic. Thankfully, Bryan and the girls did.
Bryan bought decorations on Amazon and I assisted the girls in putting them up on Saturday night before bed. Then I turned my attentions to ironing out the details for my YW Zoom lesson for the next day. Bryan stepped in and took it upon himself to create Valentine's goody bags for all of us. Cooper, Phoebe, and Sophie also made Valentines for us.
After a nap on Sunday afternoon I found some energy and made cupcakes and helped Bryan with dinner. The best part of cupcakes is getting to decorate them yourself, which is just what the kids did. While Sophie ate her treat I heard her say, "Hey Phoebe, without these cupcakes this would have been a Valentine's Day meeting, huh?"
Sophie loved the decorations. She has decided this is her favorite holiday.
