Exactly one week ago

I was off from work and took a very rare day to myself to go to the mall and treat myself to lunch. I even actually read the newspaper! Beyond words, really. I was sure to come home bearing treats and found the boys in heaven parked n front of the window watching the tree trimmers in the front yard. Today, a week later, I am back to work and dealing with crabby boys who have both been a bit sick and who seem to be on a sleeping strike. Yuck.

Baby Gift

Our newest niece was born back on February 1st, but due to so much sickness running through this house it was nearly three weeks before I finally got to meet her and love her up. Back in January I had made these little blankies for her and was so excited to finally be able to give them to her. That orange flannel blanket with giant ric rac just may be my favorite sewing project to date.

Into the box

I'm packing away this year's Valentines into everyone's memory boxes and had to smile at just how sweet something as cute as kids' thumbprints can be. Beck's little smudgy one is just so perfectly him.

inspiration via Pinterest, of course

Love this

Beck is nearly 2 and I have never dressed him and Anderson alike, mainly because I have just never thought to. But Gabe and the boys surprised me at work on Valentine's Day and they were twinsies. So cute. That afternoon we went on a walk and they stopped at the end of the street for a rest and to just be goofy. A low quality phone picture, but one of my most recent favorites.

Giving up

As of Wednesday I have given up sweets for Lent and I have been craving them every hour day since. I think I'm having ice cream withdrawals. Seriously. From every night to none? Surely I should have begun the process of weening a week ago. I'm not so secretly  counting the days until I can have a piece of birthday cake (29!) to celebrate Anderson turning 4 (because I make my own rules and I say everyone in the family eats cake!). Now that I write that, it seems like a really far way off. Hmm.

And if that weren't sacrifice enough, I have also put myself back on the same TV diet from last year and added a new sacrifice into the mix which I'm referring to as the "social media diet". Using the phone or computer in front of the boys to quickly check updates on Instagram or Facbook has become a bad habit that needs to stop. So the phone gets put away when they are awake, only to be used for making or responding to calls or answering text messages (not in their presence). So far it's been totally painless, despite the numerous missed calls and texts from Gabe. I guess if my phone is not going to be near me I should probably at least turn on the ringer.

Part of the purpose for making such sacrifices is to challenge yourself to break bad habits and improve your quality of life in the process. Last year's TV diet resulted in a new found love for reading and I've read every single night since, finishing more books in the last year than in probably all of my twenties. And while I know that I will never give up sweets (that's just ridiculous, really), I do hope that I learn to not be so mindless in my use of technology in front of the kids. It's too easy, really, to become enslaved to such unimportant nonsense. A student told me the other day that it takes 30 days to break a habit, I am hoping he is right.

Out-takes

Enjoying the out-takes from our little make-shift Valentine's photo session. Beck is not one for cooperating these days. I also realized I forgot to post the address labels from the finished product. They might just be my favorites yet (even if the colors here look off).

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love this day. And I love these two. So very, very much. Their Daddy isn't half bad, either.

p.s. It's crazy to me how much Beck has grown since last year's card!

Dino-mite Valentines

I'm not at all opposed to store-bought Valentines, but I am pretty sure I only have about a year or two before Anderson wants to ditch the homemade variety in favor of those with his favorite characters and catchy phrases. So until then I am all too happy to make them myself. With only 12 kids in his class it was easy to make not only little Valentines to pass out, but treat bags stuffed with pink heart-shaped rice krispie treats and chocolate chip cookies as well. What kid doesn't want a treat with their Valentine?

Because this is his first year in school, it was the first time he got to not only choose his design (as if there were any question it would be dinosaurs) and sign the back of each one (well, more like scribble, but it was very thoughtful, to be sure). I love that he was excited to participate. And I love that he came home with a bag full of little cards that we sat down and went through together. That was always the best feeling growing up- so much love!

Sneak peek

We can't wait to meet our newest cousin/niece! I may have even made her a little something.

Sunday Afternoon

It was cold and overcast and we had absolutely no plans but to enjoy our day. For a while there was no one but us as we slid, ran, and moved from swing to swing. And oh my gosh, when did Anderson become such a big boy who can swing all by himself and even push his little brother?! It had been months since I thought about bringing my camera and I am so glad I did. These are my favorite days to remember.

At the end of a long day...

It was the roughest of afternoons, complete with tantrums, screaming, and tears from all of us. The kind of afternoon that leaves you questioning every parenting decision and doubting the impact of every word that passes your lips. The kind of afternoon where your almost 2 year-old pushes back in his chair at dinner despite your repeated warnings and flings himself backwards onto the ground and all you can think is oh my gosh, I am going to lose my freaking mind if I don't get just 30 seconds of peace in this house.

But now the boys are in bed and at least one of them is asleep and I am taking a moment to just breathe. Seems when you have a late afternoon meltdown because you are so tired and subsequently fall asleep while tantruming in your beanbag it takes a bit longer to fall asleep. I am flipping the monitor back and forth between their rooms and just letting my heart swell a little as I watch Beck sleep soundly and, although not even close to falling asleep, Anderson happily play with his dinosaurs and babble to himslef in his bed (last I checked he was counting to thirty?).

It's funny how these days always end the same, with me sitting and watching them, glued to the monitor with the happiest of hearts. It's almost as if these terrible, nearly unbearable hours moments are thrown in the mix for that very reason. Tomorrow is a new day and will, undoubtedly, bring a few challenges of its own but at least I know at the end of every not-so-hot day there is peace. Even if it does only come after they are behind closed doors for the night.

At peace

I never tire of watching them sleep.

Run

There are a few things that I really can't stand that I happily avoid with no issue- fried eggs, the sound of the saxophone in jazz music, and purple (I hate the color purple) come to mind. But then there are other things that I don't like that I really wish I enjoyed. Take mushrooms and olives. I can't stand either one, but I so wish I did. It seems I am missing out on two terribly amazing delicacies yet I just can't handle the taste and/or texture of either one. Eww. I have tried time and time again with both, but somehow I just can't seem to love either one (or, in the case of olives, I can't even seem to tolerate so much as a speck of one that slipped on to my side of the pizza). And running. I want to like running.  I want to find in it the release, the pleasure, the freedom that millions of others do, but I just hate it. I hate it. But I want to love it, I really do. I want to stop feeling envious of people when they tell me they love to run. I want to have the kind of legs that people who run do. I want to enjoy exercising.

Maybe its just my lack of endurance (I am fairly certain I've never run over 2 miles, ha!). Or maybe it's just hard and makes me feel like I am going to die before I even get to the end of the street. Who knows. People always say things like, "once you run for more than 30 minutes it's so easy!". I'm not so sure. And thirty minutes is a very long time in my book. But I am giving it one last try. The goal is a 10k run in just over 3 months. The original plan was a half marathon, but who am I kidding? That's 13 miles. That's for crazy people. Not people who fool themselves into believing that playing with the kids at the park is exercise. And so I started tonight using a training app and you know what? I didn't die. Sure I wanted to stop somewhere around minute 19 (it was a run/walk- I absolutely did not run for 19 minutes straight), but I didn't. I put in my 30 minutes and will do it again at least three more times this week. I am determined to do this. I will do this. I just don't know if I will enjoy it.

So very, very sick

A confirmed case of Norovirus for Gabe, pneumonia and an ear infection for Anderson, and a head cold for Baby Beck. It's like the plague over here. I wonder if it's a positive that it all happened at once? Who knows. All I know is that this week has been horrendous for all of us. Somehow I am still healthy (I have no idea how that is even possible), but the back-log of work I have is daunting. I am hoping this weekend brings relief, smiles, and good moods. Oh, and I am crossing my fingers to be able to sleep in my bed sometime in the near future. Sleeping on the couch stinks.