How Time Flies

I had a friend say she was going to check out my blog and I thought - Oh, not much on there lately, not much been going on...Well, I went to look at the pictures I've taken since the beginning of January to see if there was by any chance anything to make a blog post with and I was shocked when I started looking through them! Of course there is stuff to post! I get so caught up in our daily life that I sometimes forget all we actually are doing. Well, here is a recap...
Obviously, we just celebrated Valentine's Day. Not really a true holiday, but we still try and partake in it a bit. All holidays in this house tend to be more about the kids and since I am home and have more time to plan and do little fun things for them, it pretty much IS all about the kids! :-) Mark and I got John a train and Mel a huge stuffed dog and left them out for them in the morning when they woke up. Of course, at school and Girl Scouts, Mel celebrated there as well and we have WAY to much cookies and candy in the house now. John made me the SWEETEST Valentine at preschool with his hand prints, it was too cute! We had a busy evening, so I made the kids a cute heart shaped pizza and heart shaped cookies. Mark and I exchanged little gifts, but kept things simple. We like to think we don't need a holiday to express our love for each other! Ahhhhh!

Of course, it's January and February and we have been home bound for months now and we are itching for Spring. We have had a pretty mild winter, so that has been nice. We have had some cold, but sunny days, and that has been beautiful! We did actually get some snow in mid-January, but it didn't amount to much. (Pictures below). John and I managed to get out to feed the ducks at the library one day. We get out in the 'hood and explore when we can. We even managed to get to the park last weekend. We are ready for some warmth and sun though and to get out in the yard and be outside more often. In the meantime, John has discovered his love of coloring, dinosaurs, whales and building train tracks in precarious situations and seeing if the train can actually make it across. And Mel has discovered her agility and love of skating - roller and ice! She is one BRAVE girl!

Mel at Skate World. That was a really fun afternoon. She had a great time and I had a great time watching her have so much fun. At the end there was a speed skate session and she wanted to do it SO bad, but decided against it when she realized it was in front of everyone and by age group. Well, after she realized that she was just as good, she got out there and she was awesome! My phone died or I would have recorded her!

We also signed her up for skate lessons. Of course, she is a natural at this too. I don't know where she gets her skillz, her mom and dad sure don't have any! :-) She really enjoys it and we are glad she has taken an interest in it, so we will see where it goes from here!

I am still trucking along with my creative flow. Still trying to make a bit of cash from doing things here and there. I am still doing tutus and I just started headbands and baby beanies. I still need to break out my sewing machine and try out my projects on there - but, I have yet to teach myself to sew - soooo, hopefully I can fit it in somewhere...

In between house cleaning and running kids around, I have gotten into baking. I've really been learning a lot and I love being able to cook and bake. I wish more people in my house had more of an adventurous palette, but. . .oh well, I still enjoy it. I have also started couponing! Oh yea!!! I am new and learning a lot, but I am hoping I will save more and more for my family over time.

John started 'pre-school' in mid-January. He isn't at pre-school age yet and he will be a year behind actual preschool because of his birthday being late, but I wanted to get him into an environment to gain some social skills and give him a feel for how it will be. It is also a program where I can leave, so I wanted to start building that trust with him. I was really, really nervous how he would do, but he has done awesome! AND, he really seems to enjoy it! He only goes once a week for two hours, but for him, its perfect. They are building table time, learning letters, circle time, gym and lots of crafts. Each week he lets me leave a bit earlier and its to the point where I hardly need to stay at all. It's HARD to leave, but its nice as well to have a bit of time to run an errand or even just sit and have a cup of coffee. Next week I plan on bringing my walking shoes and just walking around while I wait.

Like I said, John is super into coloring and has been so inquisitive. He asks A LOT of questions and talks non-stop! It's exhausting, but so cute and fun at the same time. He is a handful and I'm not used to just being "on" all the time with a toddler, but I am so thankful to be home right now and spending this time with him.

SNOW!!! We had a few days of snow off and on. It melted so quickly each time though. I don't even think the kids played in it cause it was gone that quick! Oh well. It was pretty to look at, but in this city, snow isn't really fun, so I was glad it went away fast!

Other than that, we are just living life. Mark is really, super busy with work and there has been lots of changes for him, but he is taking it in stride and accepting the challenges. Mel is in full force Girl Scout Cookie Selling Mode. She exceeded her goal in presales of 100 cookies by 35. And since then has sold a few more boxes. We start with booth sales in front of grocery stores this Saturday. She (I) is hoping that she exceeds 200 total. More camp credits that way - and she wants to go to a couple - sooo sell, sell, sell! :-)

Our poor dog Babe isn't doing very well. Her rear leg is kind of giving out on her and I think she is in a lot of pain and can barely get around. We have to carry her heavy bum upstairs each night and I can tell its a struggle for her just to get outside to go potty. And forget walks at this point. She is on pain meds and steroids and we've been playing with the dosages, but lately she seems to be getting worse...sad times...

We are just continuing to live our life. A lot is still up in the air, but we are just going with the flow. I feel very fortunate in not so fortunate times and I am just glad for each other and our little life that we have.