I Was Runnin'

Here's how it looked when I left my front door this morning:

We decided to run anyway--Crazy!

The Winter Games

Tonight Katelyn asked if I would buy her a "Russian" four-man bobsled for her birthday. Later, she asked if I would buy her skis. We were really enjoying watching the Olympics, but I decided to put her to bed before she could ask me for a pair of speed skates!

Congrats to all the athletes!

M-I-C-K-E-Y

Why do pancakes taste better when they are Mickey-shaped? My mom used to make these by pouring two little circles for ears and a big circle for the face. We found a fancy pancake stencil at the World of Disney store. They turn out perfect every time! Yum!

Park Day

I So Dearly Love to Laugh!

Last month at girls night, I realized I was the second oldest in the whole group. I'm used to being the youngest. It felt weird.

Last night I read a facebook post. In college, I had been the girl's piano teacher until I moved away. Her post read "I am 18 today." So why did it make ME feel old?

Tonight I looked in the mirror. I noticed fine lines forming under my eyes (*gasp).

I didn't freak out. I came to terms.

Why? Because they are the kind of wrinkles you get from smiling and laughing a lot. I see no shame in that, so I will consider these the "good kind" and try my best to wear them well.

Age equals experience. Experience is good.

Dear Sister Abbott

Kate made this valentine for her Primary teacher while we were getting ready for church last Sunday. She told me it says "Dear Sister Abbott, I love you." Adorable!

Richard Nixon Library

Happy President's Day!

We spent the holiday at the Richard Nixon Library, meeting dead presidents. I thought Abe Lincoln was spot on, but George Washington...not so much. Katelyn's 8-yr-old friend was with us. (She had all my favorite quotes of the day.) I told her "Look, it's George Washington!" She said, "No it's not. He's too fat. That must be Ben Franklin!"

George

Outside in the courtyard was this reflection pool. Kate's friend wanted to know why they would have this "swimming pool" in the courtyard. She figured it out on her own: "Oh! I know why this is here! Ben Franklin LOVED to swim. He would swim anywhere! Lakes...rivers...streams. This was HIS pool!" I laughed as I tried to picture "fat" Ben Franklin swimming laps in a one foot reflection pool.

To the left of the pool you can see kumquat trees and white orbs covering the lightbulbs along the walkway. Just as the girls began picking kumquats off the trees, Zach discovered that he could punch the orbs off their posts and they would go bouncing along the walkway. I decided that the kumquats were the lesser of two evils, so I went chasing after Zach. As soon as I got one orb back on it's post, he was already on to the next and it would go bouncing along the path. People were gasping, thinking the bulbs would shatter. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Nixon was born in this small house and lived there until he was 10. We even saw the bed where he was born in 1913. Kate's friend was awed to learn that a president could be born in a home like this. She thought they came from castles.

O, how I love America!

Here is Kate waiting to talk with Honest Abe.
Usually she's too scared, but she thought he would give her a penny.
He didn't...but he had a lot of good stories to tell.

Team Mates

*wiping a kiss off Adam's face

Dear Adam,

One day we'll have a house with a yard and a tree. The tree will be "ours" and in it's bark I will carve a heart that says:

Dana + Adam

FOREVER

That way we will never forget!

Thanks for being my Valentine!

I love you!

Dana

I Wish I Could Live in This Book:

I love reading books, but I am NOT a re-reader. As soon as I finish a book my mind wanders off in search of the next one. I rarely re-visit a book--even my very favorites.

Recently I read In My Hands: The Story of a Holocaust Rescuer. Depressing? Yes. Inspirational? Yes. Recommended? Definitely! Re-read? No way!

So my mind started to wander...NEXT?

I read The Giver. That was a rare re-read from junior high. I read it again because I had planned on going to book club, where they would be discussing it. I didn't go. Too tired that night.

NEXT?

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. The title sounded promising, but titles can be deceiving. I was bored to tears up until the last 20 pages, and even then I was not all that into it.

My mind was desperate! NEXT!

That's when my friend lent me The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. (Thank you!) The title seemed strange, but titles can be deceiving, right? I enjoyed it more and more as I read. As soon as I finished, all I could think about was reading it again! Coming from me, that's saying something! It was a fun, cute little tale about unlikely friendships during the German Occupation. Set in the Channel Islands, it is a mix between Pocahontas, Pride and Prejudice, and In My Hands. I am in love with the book's main character, Juliet, her quietly charming Dawsey, and all her other quirky friends from the island of Guernsey. I highly recommend it!

I think my mind will be stuck on this one for a while.

The Theater

This morning Katelyn informed me that she and Zachary would be putting on a play for me. I was very excited! I felt like Mrs. Davies in "Finding Neverland", except not so sick. I decided that I wanted to look my best for the theater, so as the kids prepared their play, I had fun getting dressed up. Out of my pajamas and into some clothes I never wear. I even put on my red lipstick, which I wear only at home for my kids. It makes things like cleaning the house and wiping dirty bottoms feel a little more glamorous. Plus, they like it a lot. Zachary stares at my lips, smiling, and Katelyn tells me I look beautiful. Then I give them funny-looking kisses. What a treat!

Here is the play in photographs.

(I got the feeling that Scene 3 was mostly improvised.
That must be why it was the most entertaining.)

Sleeping Beauty

starring Katelyn as S.B.
and Zachary as Prince Phillip

Scene 1
...in which Sleeping Beauty gives a book to the King and Queen.



Scene 2
...in which Sleeping Beauty reads library books to the children.



Scene 3
...in which Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip fight over the same book,
and everyone gets their feelings hurt.
(I'm not gonna lie, this was a pretty emotional scene.)



Scene 3 ended with said library book going on time out.

Nobody in the kingdom was happy.

Oops!

Zachary had his first taste of gum today.

Silver paper and all!

Does it really take a YEAR for gum to pass through your system,
or is that just something grown-ups tell kids to scare them?

What about silver paper?

P.S. Valentine's giveaway here!

Thumb Suckers Anonymous

Zachary has two bad habits.

(Or maybe more, but why dwell on it?)

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

The Diaper-Digging is easy enough to control. Feety pajamas are always an easy deterrent. Also, using a onesie as the foundation for EVERY outfit has worked pretty well. And on days when even that won't stop him, we put a pair of tights UNDER the onesie and that keeps him out fo' sho'!

Now let's address the Thumb-Sucking.

Today, after being told by Zach's grandpa that Zach is officially becoming Buck-Toothed, I decided it was finally time to begin discouraging the habit.

But how do you keep him from putting his thumb in his mouth?

Hot sauce?

Maybe.

Gloves?

He'd pull them off in a flash!

Those bad-tasting medicines you paint on?

Are those even okay for a 20-month-old?

So...

I find myself faced with a dilemma:

How do you get an addict to stop sucking his thumb?

Suggestions are welcome.

*me, circa 1982

P.S. He gets it from me...(or maybe Grandpa P?)

I stopped sucking (that phrase has double meaning. lol.) after my parents bribed me with a CareBear, but I don't think Zach will be so easy to reason with.