February's Highlights

I spent a little time this evening downloading pictures from my camera and organizing them on the computer. (One of these days, I'm going to actually order prints and put my pictures in albums!) Below are a few pictures from February that I thought you might enjoy.

We had our 2nd annual Valentine Walk on our street. At one o'clock on Valentine's Day, all the little kids on the street walked around delivering Valentines to each other. This year, T was old enough to grasp the concept of getting mail from his friends. The picture below doesn't show his excitement (it was freezing cold that day), but once we were inside and reading all of the cards, he kept shouting, "Momma, look! Look! Anuhder Balentine!"


After the Valentine Walk, but before we headed inside for some hot chocolate, we played in the backyard for a while. When the snow gets deep back there, Adrian shovels out trenches so the kids can swing and play in their toy house. (I haven't been back there in a few days—I've been stuck in the house since Sunday with a sick Oo—but I've been informed that there's an igloo back there, just waiting for Oo to climb inside.)


For Christmas, the kids were given a small drum set, a toy guitar, and a couple of microphones. Adrian has been working to teach them a song by The White Stripes. Here's a picture of them rockin' out with a friend.


One of my favorite ways to be pampered is to be left alone in the house... by myself... alone... with no one yammering away in my ear or pounding on the bathroom door. On a recent Sunday, Adrian took the kids to the zoo to give Mommy some alone time. When they returned, the kids were excited to show me their new stuffed animal friends that they got from the zoo's gift shop. Oo named her harbor seal "Harrison" (we have no idea how she came up with that name), and T named his shark "Speeka." It was the first time that T ever named a stuffed animal by himself.


Oo has taught herself to read. It happened very suddenly, and it's super exciting for us on many levels. One cool thing about her being able to read is that she can now read books to T. He loves it when she reads to him (he's very proud of her), and she's happy to be playing the role of the big sister. You would think that I'd take that time to slip away to do a load of laundry or sneak a piece of chocolate (depending on the kind of day I'm having), but I don't. I find it hard to pull myself away. I love hearing her read.