Two things I love about Molly right now: she's totally into dancing (Poker Face by Lady Gaga, of course, and Strike the Bell by Dan Zanes are her two current faves. Those aren't polar opposites or anything.) and she is my new resident meal planner. I like to cook but I hate thinking of what to actually make each night. She loves helping me come up with a menu for the week (including sides) and it really saves my sanity. I do get a lot of requests for spaghetti and meatballs but she is willing to branch out with a gentle reminder that it's nice not to have the same thing every single night (despite her insistence that nobody will mind. She most certainly believes that she is the voice of reason around here and will consistently speak for other people -- often when they have no idea that she is volunteering their opinion).
Oh, and an ancillary benefit to the dancing? The rather hilarious fashion statement that comes from a need to put on a too-small leotard so that her skivvies are on full display.
You know what I love about this one? He's just a ham (holding a ham, incidentally. Sorry Olivia) who is full of love.
We have been house- and neighborhood-bound for two days now, for a total of three this week because of snowstorm on Sunday. I've heard surprisingly few grumbles from both my crew and the parents in our area; people seem to be generally enjoying their unplanned days off. We've had it pretty good, to be fair -- we have power (sorry to Mary who lost it this morning), we have plenty of snow to keep us busy, and sledding opportunities abound on our street and nearby. I had planned an outing today just to give ourselves a change of scenery but the ice storm (now snow again) kept the Aquarium people at home and their doors closed. So, we hung out in jammies for a long time this morning, only changing to get our snow gear on, and rinsed and repeated our day from yesterday. And I'm fine with it... I really am. It's cozy, the small people are getting their wiggles out running up and down the hills, Molly joined up with the older girls on the street who graciously let her tag along with them this morning, and we finally adjourned to our respective rest times with snowflakes falling outside and our beds, baby dolls, and computers calling our names. It's nice being forced to slow down, as Kate reminded me this morning, even though I'm busy pulling mittens and snow boots on and off over and over. I didn't think it was possible for getting ourselves out the door to take even longer than it already does, but with no real deadline or place we have to be, it's not harried and stressful (although I feel like a sheep dog herding my littlest lamb to the door area and keeping him from wandering off... that kid would be prime predator material were we of the four legged, farm variety). Thus, while we have the creature comforts of a cozy house still available to us and the opportunity for playing outside only a drafty doorway away, I'm enjoying this unusual Puget Sound winter event. I like this little vacation precisely because I know that we'll be returning to our regularly scheduled programming soon enough -- and I like that too. I enjoy our busy lives and our hustle and bustle and meeting with friends and always squeezing something or other in. But for now, I like the quiet of sleeping babies (one real and at least five pretend) and soft singing upstairs while no cars break up the scene outside. This unexpected break is recharging -- and it's nice because no one really needed it. But to have this little bit of bonus time heaped upon us without asking, well, that's just a straight-up gift.
The littlest helper is very intent on his snow shoveling. Molly begged for a shovel in the store (and me, sensing an opportunity to impart some ever-popular life lessons, talked about getting her one because she could be my helper and contribute to our chores around the house). Jack didn't care but I knew that if I only got her one, there would be war. Molly used hers on the driveway on Tuesday, the only day there was no snow on the ground. Jack has used his for the past two days when there is actual shoveling that needs to be done. The life lesson got a big fat zero on the success scale...
Don't bug me, there is work to be done.
Sliding with no sled?? This proved popular for one small fry. I'm telling you, while we did go to the park and the high school to sled, our driveway was one of the best hills out there. Since there is little to no plowing of secondary streets in Seattle, nearly no cars have ventured down our street for two days and it has turned into a kids free-for-all zone. That also tells you how nice and steep our driveway is.
The hot chocolate never tasted better after a warm-up bath and, for some, jammies at 1:30 in the afternoon was the cherry on top.
Well, well, look what we have here. In this land of seemingly perpetual bare ground (for us, up to this point), we got a little reminder that it's not always green grass and temperate weather in this part of the world. The snowy white stuff came to visit us yesterday in swirls and with gusto and while it was not a nor'easter exactly, this snowfall has afforded us plenty of sledding (and oddly, Molly, who tends to be careful and fairly risk averse these days is not when it comes to sledding), snowball fights, snow angels, and snowmen building (well, man). Our street is very, very icy so we are celebrating MLK at home today, with more of the above, a few snow squalls and hot chocolate, settling in for another forecasted storm tomorrow. I never thought I would enjoy having snow outside my front door again (bare sidewalks = happy mama), but I have to admit that it's really beautiful and a fun change of pace.
We had a wonderful, wonderful holiday filled with much family, as many friends as we could squeeze in, and plenty of good cheer. We returned to the west coast with a few extra bags and boxes, a few extra pounds, one enthusiastic new year's resolution, and lots of great memories. I want to get to all things Christmas at some point, I really do, but first, I need to say that this guy:
has come out of nowhere to claim the spotlight. And so, today, I'll write about him. No longer content to be the tag-a-long, Jack has become Mr. Attention Getter. Sometimes, it's good attention he's after -- talking up a blue streak, laughing with his big belly laugh, dancing:
yes, he's standing on a chair at the beginning of this. Little monkey would climb all day long if he could.
Sometimes, it's the rather unfortunate kind of attention he's after -- a few swats to the lady's head, running and hiding, and, of course, the rather unfortunate (for me, anyway) and infamous fire alarm pulling incident (for which, for the record, I take full and terribly embarrassing responsibility. Many people in the restaurant second that motion based on comments overheard). Nonetheless, good, bad, or neutral attention-seeking aside, I'm really marveling at how my little baby Jack has turned into a big (literally) kid overnight. That proverbial switch got flipped sometime over the holidays and he became rather cunning and verbal in a previously unseen way. I think I'm enjoying it but given the amount of hits and hides I've seen in the last week, the jury is still out. My sweet, laid back guy is still there but there's a new edge to this boy wonder that makes life just that much more interesting and spicy. He has also decided that he has lots of questions and comments and certainly wishes and wants. He isn't so keen on redirection like he was before but that's fine -- his little monkey business lacks the drama that can otherwise be present so I'm at least taking consolation in that. I think others are still adjusting to this take-charge attitude so everyone is getting some more love and attention right now... or something like that. I'm interested to see how this all plays out, enjoying the funny and newly insightful comments and observations that are popping out of his mouth, trying to be diligent about turning away and hiding my laughter when the naughty-but-funny stuff crops up, and conveniently forgetting the really naughty stuff that he does at the end of the day. Thankfully, bedtime seems to have returned to (somewhat) normal since we've been back, which means my reset switch and rose-colored glasses have been returned at the end of the day. I usually need that time to recharge and assess what the heck happened all day. Who knows if this is a phase or if his true blue colors are coming out. Either way, I wanted to record the emergence of Jack "No More Always Mr. Nice Guy" Doyle so that in twenty years, I can look back and say that this was the moment when it all changed and his crackerjack ways will make a little more sense...
