Feb. 11-17

P3 likes to sit on the counter while I make breakfast.

P3 reading and/or destroying books: 

We enjoyed a much overdue play date with our dear friends. When we became friends, we each only had 1 child. Now there are so many, with more on the way! We enjoyed decorating and eating heart sugar cookies. 

Poor little P3 fell down a whole flight of stairs while we were there. He does well with stairs at grandma's house, so I thought he would be fine. But then we heard the terrible sound of a child crashing down the stairs. Poor kiddo had at least 3 goose eggs, and he was pretty inconsolable.  After an hour or so, he finally started playing again.

P2 wanting to share her artwork with the world:

P1 and P2 were really excited about Valentine's Day! We printed off Pokemon Valentine's cards for P1 and Princess ones for P2. We attached fruit snacks to them. They both had a fun day at school.

The kids enjoyed getting cards and treats from grandparents. We gave them each a toy. A red-eyed tree frog plush for P1, a Jasmine lego set for P2, and a Transformer for P3. I even made heart pancakes for breakfast, heart PB&J sandwiches for lunch. I even cut up a few cucumbers into hearts. For dinner, we had our traditional Stouffer's lasagna.

P3 and I went to P2's preschool party. The kids sang some cute songs for us, and then we had lots of activities to do. P3 loves coming to these!

 

The next day, P1 woke up sick. I'm glad that it was after Valentine's day, or he would have been so sad to miss school. Poor kid was pretty miserable, even with medicine. His head hurt a lot, and he had a pretty good fever. Well, I came down with it too, and it was awful! I barely slept Friday night because my head hurt so much. And it continued all day Saturday. I have never had such a bad headache before. My brain felt like it was going to explode. 

We had Cream of Wheat for breakfast, and P3 loved it. But I am sure the 3/4 of it went on his pajamas. And then he started to just eat it with his hands. So messy!!!

I'm glad P2 didn't get sick, because she was invited to a birthday party on Saturday. She has been very excited about it, because it was for a friend we haven't seen in a while. P2 was brave, and stayed at the party without mom or dad. She had so much fun and was telling us all about the rest of the day.

Kids playing games together on Sunday:

SeaQuest

On Saturday, we went to SeaQuest with our friends. It is an interactive aquarium at Layton Hills Mall. It was fairly crowded, and the line to get into the aquarium moved at a snails pace. But once we got in, the kids had fun. P3 went crazy with excitement when we saw all the fish. He just keep squealing!

 

I liked the caiman (dwarf alligator). 

We feed lettuce to the iguanas. All of the kids even touched one!

The tide pool was P3's favorite! He loved sticking his hand in the water. He couldn't reach anything without my help, but he sure loved playing in the water. The rest of the time we were there, he kept trying to go back to the tide pool.

Petting the giant tortoise. P2 said she only likes touching animals that are asleep.

 

P2 wanted me to take pictures of specific fish she liked:

Feeding the stingrays:

 

Experiencing the doctor fish. They eat the dead skin off of your hands, and it was quite the sensation! Dad got a lot on his hand, and then he transferred them to P1's hand.

P2 got to meet a mermaid! And she got a pretty seashell from her.

 

We saw their little bird show, and afterwards they let people hold one of the parrots. None of the kids were willing, so Dad did it.

Last feeding of the day: a group of hungry children waiting to be fed.

Feb. 4-10

P1 is our holiday decorator. He loves all holidays, and is very enthusiastic about each of them. We put up 100 hearts on our sliding doors, for Valentine's Day and for his 100th day of school. He said they had a "big" party for the 100th day, and it was the best day of school even though they didn't have recess or centers.

 We had 3 little friends over one morning while their mom had an appointment. P3 had fun with his new buddy.

P2 rocking mom's sunglasses while dropping of P1 at kindergarten.

We had another snowstorm, and we thought we would finally build a snowman! But alas, the snow was too powdery and would not a snowman make. P3 loves going outside and walking up and down the sidewalk. You have to watch him closely though, because he does try to walk in the road now and then.

Sunday snuggles:

PE and I watched "Incredibles 2" this week, and we both decided that P3 is Jack-Jack (minus the super powers, of course). Take away the cookie, and out comes monster baby!

Jan. 28 - Feb 3

P3 got "stuck" in our coffee table this week. I pulled him out, and he immediately went back in. Not the best survival instinct...

We love to see the sun! A little walk outside turned into playing at the park. P3 crawled up to the biggest slide and went down on his tummy, no hesitation! This kid has no fear! He went down a second time and managed to do it sitting position.

He also fully enjoyed the little slides.

Later in the week, P3 came down with a fever. Poor kid. We had a few snuggle naps.

We went and got some croissants for National Croissant Day, and also stopped at the video store next door. We rented a bunch of Disney movies to prep our kids for Disneyland.

P3 got away with anything while he was sick. Here he is, elbow deep in goldfish crackers.

On Sunday, we had a visit from grandparents who were in town. P3 enjoyed walking in his aunt's shoes.

At dinner one night, the older kids were pretending to be Bulbasaur (a Pokemon) and were saying "bulba...bulba". They asked me to say it too, and before I could, P3 very clearly said "bulba...bulba". So he was our little Bulbasaur the rest of the day. He really can talk, he just chooses not to.

PE and I enjoyed our first double date in who knows how long! We've been trying for months to go out with our newly married friends. We ate lunch at the Bohemian Brewery. They serve Bavarian food, and it was delicious! I had the pierogies and bratswurst. PE tried the schnitzel. It was nice to get out and enjoy time with our friends.

I had a work training meeting this week. They wanted to train me to help out with a new project. I had no idea what I was walking into. It's a big project, with a ton of data that is all over the place. They want me to organize the data so that they can analyze it better. I guess they think I am a miracle worker? Which is good, I think? So I have no shortage of work, but now I just need to figure out where to find the time...

I have never really sought out work, but I have been blessed with many opportunities through out the years. I don't NEED to work, so I have been more than happy with my few hours a month. I can even go months without working at all (I have the best employer!). I have had the occasional request that requires more time. I worked 30+ hours over Thanksgiving week last year. But that is definitely not sustainable long term. I do after all, have a full time gig of being mother to 3 children. And laundry and dishes can't be neglected forever....can they? It's all about finding that right balance I guess. So, if you find it, let me know!