Bits and Pieces: February

Why is it that the shortest month of the year always feels like the longest? I've been struggling this month - anxiety rearing its ugly head again. I am just so ready for winter to be over. It doesn't help that a stomach through is making its way through each of us. I am still hoping to avoid it, knock on all the wood, fingers crossed, etc.

Clare and Christopher have been making the most of winter, though. Ben took them sledding last weekend, and they loved it. They were out there for hours. I am glad Ben enjoys doing these things with them, so I don't have to. I did take Clare ice skating on Sunday, though, and it did feel good to get some fresh air. Maybe I need to try harder to enjoy winter activities.

Ben and I joke that Clare is going to be a lawyer when she grows up, because she insists on arguing, debating, or negotiating with us at all times. (A trait she likely inherited from either her grandfather, an actual lawyer, or her Aunt Katie, noted pusher of buttons. When she was a kid. Not so much now.) Clare is good at it, too. She will quickly find flaws in any argument, or throw words back in your face that show that you did in fact not give her the punishment you thought you did. It would be annoying if I wasn't so impressed with her skillz.

Clare has become interested in cooking this month. She checked a cookbook out from the library and has been busy in the kitchen making meringues and a strawberry yogurt concoction. I am hoping this new hobby will help curb her picky eating. We shall see. School is still going well. She is very attached to her best friends Rainie and Natalie. She is doing mostly second grade work, which is once again a great benefit to being in a mixed age classroom. She is reading at a much higher level than that.  She enjoys reading about 5 books at once, something I can never do. She is currently reading the second Harry Potter, "Charlotte's Web", an American Girl mystery, and a book about the main female characters in Star Wars. At school, she is working her way through the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I have never read those, but she likes them.

Christopher has been learning about outer space at preschool. I have never seen him so excited about a topic, or so excited to go to school. Every day we play aliens after school. He is named Rock Man, and I am the Queen. (Of what, I have not a clue.) Rock Man lives on Jupiter, Christopher's favorite planet. He also likes to tell me about gravity and how it works. I have been digging out all of our books on space, and will need to find more at the library.

Ben gave me a game emulator for Christmas, so we have a lot of the old-school Nintendo games. Clare and Christopher love it. Christopher is actually pretty good. He quite enjoys playing the games during his allotted screen time.

He is doing better at skating - there are no more tears and he actually puts forth a bit of effort. I can tell he is also ready for winter to be over, though. He keeps asking to go camping.

This month we went to the Winter Carnival, and also checked out Rock the Cradle at MIA. The Winter Carnival always seems like a good idea, and then is always kind of boring. This year there were lots of out of towners there since it was Super Bowl weekend. Rock the Cradle was fun, but Christopher was a bit cranky. (It turns out he was sick.) I was proud of him though, because at one point we got separated and he took the initiative to ask a staff person to help him find his mom. (We were in the same room, we just lost track of each other for a minute.)

Ben and I took advantage of the Y's Parent's Night Out program this month and had a date night. It was nice, although I was unimpressed with the restaurant we went to. I am going to try to plan a date night every month this year.

This coming weekend is quite busy, and then next weekend I am going on a much-needed weekend getaway with my friends. I can't wait!

The only celebrities we saw Super Bowl weekend.

Ice palace at the Winter Carnival.

Rocking out at Rock the Cradle.

Riding a horse at a preschool field trip to Choo Choo Bob's.

Ice skating at Groveland.