February, here and gone in a flash, even with that extra day! Here's what we were busy doing:
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| Hank's "feast" |
Celebrating birthdays! Hank turned 6 and I turned 38. Both mind blowing events "WTF!?" events. Not sure how we got here but...here we are. Since I've already covered Hank's 6th birthday celebration in excruciating detail, let's talk about mine here. Normally, I don't take much notice of my birthday and don't really care to do much to celebrate it. A nice dinner out with Matt is good enough for me (which is, by the way, what we did). This year, for whatever reason though, it kind of hit me. It's not so much that I was upset to be turning 38, that doesn't really bother me, but rather that I was upset to be turning 38 without having the thriving and fulfilling career that I had imagined, and more disturbing, without a plan to achieve that goal. Turns out, taking care of 4 kids, while building a house and renovating another at the same leaves little time for soul searching, career coaching, "finding yourself" kind of stuff. Shouldn't really be a surprise and yet, it was. So after a good cry, I assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that a) I am in no way ready or able to take on a "real" job at this point in time so I need to stop feeling guilty about that. In the next year or so, when Gus is in school full time and these houses are done, I can focus in on that. And b) I need to make time to do some planning/research so that when I am ready, I have an idea of what I actually want to do. And I'll throw in a c) here - bonus points if I can find a place to volunteer/contribute a few hours a week so that I have something other than my own kids and home going on in my world. I'm not normally one to indulge in sharing my innermost thoughts on a blog, but I feel like I just needed to put that out in the universe as a way of helping make it happen. Moving right along...
I was hard at work trying to get our cabin completed in time for us to use it over President's Day weekend. Alas, it wasn't quite ready in time so we decide to take the opportunity to visit Matt's mother in Florida that weekend. The boys came along and we had a nice visit with Mary. She was happy to see the kids and we were happy to see her looking well. We even managed to fit in a few hours at the beach and pool.
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| Matt showing Granny MAK some pics of the girls |
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| Sigh, the boys. |
Hank is following the primary races VERY closely and it is the funniest thing in the world to see them through his eyes. He ran into our bedroom on March 1st like it was Christmas morning shouting "it's Super Tuesday! it's Super Tuesday!" He runs around the house singing "Donald Trump is a liar liar pants on fire," loves to call him Donald Trump-et and has his whole class at school chatting about their candidates of choice. He and Gus watch George Stephanopolus on Sundays with Matt and have about million questions about all of the different people in the race. They know the candidates better than I do at this point.
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| "Doneld Trump is in Ferest Plasa" Translation, Donald Trump is in First Place |
Hank was also in his first school play,
How the Elephant Got Its Trunk, playing the infamous role of Lion #2. It was very cute and all the kids did a great job of delivering their lines, seemingly without any stage fright.
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| The Kindergarten Class |
Gus has been enjoying having his very first best friend, a young man by the name of Walter. Gus and Walter have been running in the same circles for some time now, having attended the same playgroup when they were just babies. They are in the same class at school now and have really hit it off. Walter comes to our house every week for playdates (his mother just had twin boys so she has her hands full at the moment) and has become a bit of a fixture around here.
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| Gus and Walter having fun at school |
The girls continue to be the biggest babies ever. They are 14 months old and wearing 18-24 month clothes, sometime 2T. And yet, they take after their mother and have tiny tiny feet. This may explain the delayed walking. Their poor little feet can't handle their gargantuan bodies! Dylan took her first steps earlier this month and was very pleased with herself. She now takes about 5 before tumbling forward. June still isn't there on the walking front, but not to be outdone, she has taught herself how to climb up on the coffee table and couch, making is so that we can't leave them alone in a room for even 2 minutes. Most exciting of all, their hair is starting to come in! It is the most gorgeous red color you ever saw and there is now enough of it to have one little curl at the nape of their necks. Deliciousness!
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| June |
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| Raiding the pantry |
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| Dylan |
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| Bath time fun |
And it was with much excitement that we welcomed a new little cousin into the fold this month when Chanel, Grant, Hayes and Greyson welcomed a little girl, Henley James. Her gender was a surprise and we were all thrilled that she is a she. Gus and I are heading to LA to meet her this weekend and we cannot wait!
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| Henley |
Last but not least, recipes for February included:
- Pumpkin Enchiladas, from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. A nice twist on the classic and great way to use up any extra canned pumpkin you have lying around.
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| Pumpkin Enchiladas |
- One Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice from
Recipe Tin Eats. This is a winner people. Can't recommend highly enough.
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| Mexican Chicken and Rice |
- Chicken Chasseur from Jacques Pepin. This was a little too Pepin for even my tastes...super old school 1950's French, not in a good way.
- Skillet Lasagna from Keepers. Great way to enjoy all the things you love about lasagna without all the things you hate (the mess, the lengthy prep time, etc).
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| Skillet Lasagna |
- Vegetarian Black Bean Chili with Ancho and Orange from
Food and Wine. Very tasty veggie/vegan meal. Would be nice over rice or a baked potato.
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| Black Bean Chili |
