I'm Back!

I snapped this shot sometime in December... all three of my guys cuddling on the couch and reading books

Obviously it's been a while since I downloaded photos.  Here are the boys decorating our Christmas cookies. They were not shy with the sprinkles

The kids play with snow - indoors. This is the best cold day activity!

I wasn't actually gone anywhere, but I have woefully neglected my blog, as Sheri-Lynne pointed out to me this morning. I can't disappoint my myriad fans! Wish I had a ton of exciting stuff to report, but we've just been dong the usual! We have been getting some balmy weather lately, so that has been a real treat. It's actually in the upper 50's today! It also made it into the low 50's on Sunday, so we took advantage and went to the zoo. The only tough part about warm weather in February is that you can't do that much outside because all the sidewalks and lawns are still covered in snow... but the zoo is perfect because you get to be outside, but the walkways are cleared. We are supposed to get some rain tonight though, so I'm hopeful that you'll soon be able to see our grass again. Of course, it's cold again this weekend, so I'm sure we'll get more snow before too long. 

Parker had this nasty cough starting at the end of last week. It wasn't too bad during the day, but it was waking him up at night. We finally wised up and bought a humidifier, and that seemed to really help. I kind of made him take it easy on Saturday while Chad took Brandon out for the day so that he could have a chance to recover. It seemed to work because he was good to go by Saturday afternoon when we attended a friend's birthday party. The party was fun - most of our friends were there, and I totally pigged out on pizza and cake. And a beer because sometimes I really like to cut loose. Anyway, I had LOTS of energy for my spin class on Sunday morning after all that food!!

Yesterday was a great day... Chad was working from home, so I got to sleep in. Then, during the boy's quiet time, I went for a swim. Great not to have to fight the crowds at the pool at 5:30am and great to not have to feel a huge rush to get home. I was able to get in 120 laps without feeling like I was keeping anyone waiting. The boys and I went to a storytime at the library, too, complete with craft project, so it was a fun day. 

Parker's been really into babies lately. And that's saying something because everyone who knows Parker knows that he is a boy who LOVES babies!! He's gotten really good at being gentle with them, too. Anyway, his new thing is that whenever he sees a baby animal in a picture (and we see alot because Brandon picks about 5 different animal books at the library every week, which is cool with me - I'd rather be learning about different animals and their eating habits and predators than I would about construction trucks), Parker always says, "Look at the baby! He's so cute!" Every time, he says that exact same thing. Lately, he's been caring for his stuffed animals like babies. And to top it off, yeseterday I received in the mail a newborn diaper sample, which Parker's baby pig is now sporting. Pretty cute. Of course that does raise another issue... why was I receiving a newborn diaper sample in the mail? Pampers has either gotten some bum information or they are WAY behind on their mailing lists. But, let me tell ya, I would have been psyched to have received that diaper in the mail approximately 5 years ago!

One other thing the kids have been into lately is jigsaw puzzles. We have a ton of them around the house right now. Parker does the ones that are around 30 pieces - his favorite is this huge firetruck puzzle, and Brandon does the 100 piece ones. I'm so glad that they are enjoying puzzles the way I do. I hope that they'll want to work on them with me when they are older the way my Mom and I used to do them together when I was a kid. Ah, memories. I guess that in order for this to happen, I'll have to get over my whole thing where I like to conquer a new puzzle on my own before doing it again with anyone else. 

I'll try to update more frequently this week! I blame the new author I discovered last week - Jennifer Haigh. I picked up one of her books at the library and then felt compelled to get her other two a couple days later. I highly recommend "Mrs. Kimble". Also, like "Baker Towers". Her newest one was my least favorite, although still decent, "The Condition".  So, I did nothing but read last week and over the weekend.

P.S. Don't ask me why the font is all screwy for the first paragraph; I've tried to fix it