My Sweet Ballerina

I think we might have ballet classes in our future, because Norah just looks so darn cute.
When I took her to Colorado last weekend (our last trip with a free child) Norah discovered her bathing suit in the luggage. She wore it the entire day (even though it was freezing cold) -- she looks like she's ready for a dance class!





Upon our return Toby and Norah spent some quality sibling time together. I think this was the first time they'd spent such a long time apart. Toby said, "Norah can sleep in my bed if she wants to." So Norah climbed in to snuggle up with Toby saying, "My bed." I'm not ready for her to make the transition to a toddler bed, though.

My Snowy Day Adventure

I've already told you how much I enjoy Thursdays. Today was an extra-fun Thursday. We spent all day yesterday cozied up by a fire waiting for 12 to 18 inches of snow that didn't come. But we did get 4 lovely inches that made for a beautiful and adventurous day today with the kids.
We broke in the sled we got last year, but after only a few trips down our little hill Toby was ready for a snowball fight. The war commenced with me smashing one on Toby, while Norah giggled like crazy. The snow was perfect for making snowballs, and I must say Toby put up a fair fight.
The last thing we did this morning was build a snowman. Which means that I lugged the snowballs through the snow and put the whole thing together, with Toby and Norah giving directions and karate chopping the poor thing to pieces. (I ripped my snow pants in the process--that made for a fun time! It's a good thing they were lined, and already pretty old.)
Here's a picture of the finished product, which was accessorized, photographed, and toppled all in less time than it took for me to build it. But, seriously, I'm not complaining because it was a great time with the kids!

My Goldilocks

I was going to bed one night last week when I found someone already in my bed!

My Winter Jogs

I got spoiled jogging on a treadmill over Christmas break. To come back to running at sea level--something I was stupidly excited about--has been ruined by bitter cold. I've gone out jogging with Norah the few times it's been 40 or higher, but the large portion of January was so frigid that I barely wanted to step out of the house, let alone go somewhere at a jog. But I did take a couple of runs this month in the cold, and I'm kind of proud of myself. One run was so biting cold that I compared breathing to swallowing scoops of ice cream. Another one was so windy that it seemingly took me twice as long to run a normal distance because I felt like I was jogging in place. These weren't fun runs, and I think my memory has blurred the misery I was feeling at the time. But I'm still happy that I got out and got moving, which is miles ahead of what I was doing this time last year.
I wouldn't call myself a hardened winter jogger by any stretch of the imagination. Last Friday, my friend and I were complaining about it being so cold that once you set foot outside you couldn't get warm for the rest of the day. That very same day I saw a group of runners at lunchtime, jogging down the street just like any other day. I noticed, from my warm car and in my down jacket (and still feeling cold), that it was 20 degrees outside. With the wind chill it was probably under 10 degrees on the point where we were. Now that's just plain stupid. :o)

My "Jesus Piece"

Toby discovered our chess pieces in a cupboard and has decided he'd like to learn how to play chess. [They were in the cupboard because BJ and I haven't played together since I beat him years ago. I figured I should quit while I was ahead.]
Toby already plays a mean game of checkers (challenge him to a game sometime). But he's not quite ready to handle all the pieces and rules of the chess game yet. Just the other day he came into the kitchen after setting up the board and said "Mommy, my Jesus piece just killed your horse." It took me a minute to determine that he was talking about his king, which has a cross at the top. This is what he remembers of what I've taught him so far about chess. We'll see how he improves in the game in the coming months--maybe it's time BJ and I start playing again so he can see how a game is "properly" played.

My Marshmallow Cutie

My kids love love love marshmallows. It's one of the best ways to keep them occupied on cold days--feeding them one marshmallow at a time, or making them do things to earn a marshmallow. It's better than cold hard cash to these kids! (And in this video, if you can't tell, Norah says "thank you" by making a kissing sound.)