The Armstrongs come to visit!!
- We had such a magical weekend with some of our best friends coming for a sleepover...we tried to get a picture of all the kids right before they (our friends) went on their way, but it was freezing and windy outside and the cute, smiling, side-by-side portrait we were going for was pretty much a fail...lol...such is life...
- Potluck last night at our house...such a good time...
- Bacon and perfectly fried eggs (thanks Autumn!) for breakfast, yum...
- Kids wanted to go to church with Me-Ma this morning, which has given me a little time to catch up on stuff...
- Making progress on plans for Luke and Zoey's birthdays...
Happy Sunday!
XO
Full moon
A new(ish) friend of mine and I have been talking about how a full moon is a time to think about what you want to bring into your life and set plans in motion to make that happen. Last week's full moon, I woke up early morning to about 15 more minutes of it before it set behind the building across from us. It was so beautiful, I just sat on my couch with my cup of coffee and watched until it disappeared...
Sparkle trees, sounds and lights, + natural remedies are the best!
- We left these trees out from Christmas to add sparkle to the long winter nights...shortly before sunset the sunlight hits them and they throw circles of light all over the room...it's so pretty...
- Kids have a robot book that on the front says it has lights and sounds inside but it actually doesn't...so they took turns on each page as I was reading, one of them making sounds, the other manning the light switch to do their own lights...
- Was feeling a cold coming on at the beginning of the week and immediately whipped out all my natural remedies to boost my immune system...and no cold, yay!
- Complimentary coffee at the downtown Conoco when I took my car in for an oil change...
- House picked up and organized...feels good...
Happy Wednesday!
XO
Impromptu cupcakes, a beautiful painting + 20/50
- Cupcakes after school today, just because...
- Luke: "See this tooth right here? It's not loose yet, but it's getting ready to get loose!"
- Zoey watercoloring me the prettiest picture...
- Another couple hours on the mountain yesterday...snow was phenomenal...
- And walk with the dog today in the sunshine...the warmth felt so good...
XO
19/50, lunch with some of my favorite people + ready for back to school
- Skiing with the kids, tons of powder which Zo especially loves...cold though...and hot chocolates after which is always a fun treat...
- Lunch with my brother and Jaimie and Bodie and Bailee...always wonderful to see all of them...
- Swim lessons for kids...
- Navigated the grocery store with two 5-year-olds with no issues...
- All prepped for school starting again...lunches made, snow stuff washed and packed, water bottles in backpacks, kids bathed, etc. And I'm going to sneak away for some riding first thing after I drop them off tomorrow...won't be fresh powder but should still be pretty great...
Happy Sunday!
Day in the life, February 2018
6:30 AM Wake up, drink coffee, plan the day in my planner
7 AM Kids (Luke, Zo and their friend Enya, here for a sleepover) up and playing, Jeff calls and we talk
8 AM Laundry and cleaning, playing with the kids who are making blanket forts upstairs
9 AM Breakfast of paleo mug cakes (kids are each mixing their ingredients in the pic above) and hard boiled eggs for Luke and Enya, fried eggs for Zo and me. "This is a delicious breakfast!" Zo said to me, which is huge...all I ever really get are complaints about food...
10 AM Cooking curry and sloppy joes for dinners the next few days, kids playing and Zo helps me cook and an old Madonna song "Jump" comes up on shuffle and all of us have a little dance party
11 AM Kids help finish house pickup (and Luke says, complaining, "This is the reason why when I say I'm not having a good day!"), everyone gets dressed, kids play with MagnaTiles and racetracks
12 PM Cold cheese sandwiches, carrots, milk for kids' lunch, TV hour with Elena and Blaze, I work
1 PM I work and do laundry and mediate kid disagreements (generally over one of the three feeling left out), kids play
2 PM Kids bundle up and go outside to sled...it's the first time this year our snow piles from plowing are big enough for some fun. I supervise through the window and take care of some household tasks, bills etc...
3 PM Hot chocolate, yum...
4 PM Enya goes home, Zo has her half-hour of Mama-to-herself-time and we make paper airplanes and decorate them, make notes for people, read a book about the digestive system. Luke's half-hour is finishing said book, snuggling, building with MagnaTiles. Daddy also calls...
5:30 PM Noodles and pancakes and red peppers and apple slices for kids' dinner...finishing up leftovers...also laundry and misc. paperwork for me and kids visit Me-Ma downstairs...
6:30 PM Kids get jammies on and play with yarn, dishes and laundry for me. Luke's got a new way to get my attention that is really cute. "Mama!" he says, and then spells each letter out: "M-A-M-A!"
7:00 PM Episode of Blaze for kids, walking the dog for me, goodnight call from Daddy
7:30 PM Snuggles and stories, tonight a few chapters of Captain Underpants, and Rusty Robots
8:00 PM I stay with the kids until they are asleep, scratchies and songs (Man in the Moon for each)
8:15 PM Shot of whiskey over ice, home decorating book, bath bomb, hot bath
9:30 PM Started watching Halt and Catch Fire (so good already), texting with Jeff
11 PM Bed for me...
Blues Break 2018 (+ 18/50)
Kids have been out of school for Blues Break and it has been a whirlwind! We didn't do everything I planned because A) I always plan too much and B) it's been really, really cold and windy, precluding stuff like cross country skiing and some days on the mountain. But regardless we have had a blast. Some highlights:
- I love how much fun kids and I can have doing errands. This is Luke at the post office not only not wearing a coat but running back and forth through the water droplets from melting snow.
- Luke and I went night skiing Sunday, first time ever for both of us and it was so much fun. The mountain looks so different after dark, such a cool contrast the bright white lit-up snow against the black sky. We saw the tail end of the sunset and all the lights of the town sparkling below...such an adventure!
- Birthday dinner for Me-Ma with Gary at Rex's...we had fun planning some little surprises for her...
- We met Donna, a friend of mine from college, and her dad and son in Hot Sulphur Springs one afternoon. Lovely to soak in the hot pools and catch up. Kids had a blast together...now they have someone to show them San Francisco! :) We saw deer dancing and jumping and running and playing on the hillside above the hot springs, which was magical, and a huge vulture driving there and a fox sprinting across Rabbit Ears on the way back...
- We've been reading "The Truth About Poop," which we got from the library. "Oh, this one's a page turner," the librarian said at check-out. "A real favorite among the Kindergarten crowd."
- On our drive over to Hot Sulphur Springs kids and I planned their birthday party. The theme is "Dragons Love Tacos and Chocolate." And they don't know it yet but Daddy is going to fly home and surprise them...soooooooo excited to see him and to see the kids' delight.
- Sledding with Caden and Eli and Enya
- Leaving the kids with Charlotte for an hour and having a beer fireside with Jaimie. Such luxury to have a little adult time!
Happy Saturday!
XO
In which Luke and Zo get to be the bosses, 18/50 + thank goodness for the phone and FaceTime
- So the kids said to me the other day, "Mommy you are always bossing us around! We want a day to boss you around!" With fear in my heart, I said Zo could be the boss Saturday and Luke today. And you know, it's gone pretty well. There have been a few more treats and more TV than I normally would allow, but Zo's day was pancakes and the toy store so they could spend their allowance on toys and a movie with Ms. Pac Man and pizza afterwards and lots of bedtime stories and snuggles. Luke's day has been McDonalds (that was guaranteed to happen) and early morning skiing with Zoey and me and church with Me-Ma and another movie (Me-Ma is taking them so I can get some work done and play tomorrow) and then Luke wants just he and I to go night skiing...something neither one of us has ever done. I'm excited! They have loved being in charge...I can see doing this again...
- Skiing was so fun this morning...we went on nice easy greens and I had Zo do lots of turns with me and she looked terrific...she's also developed a bit of a fear of the chairlift so it was good to ride a short one up over and over to give her some practice and get her back to a good place with riding the lift...
- Moved everything over to a new planner this morning...I'm following the Bullet Journal craze and it's been a great way for me to stay organized...although my planners are super bare-bones, not works of art like you see all over the internet...
- Talking with my husband every day...miss him lots and lots and lots and lots...but we're doing a good job at staying connected...
- Tomorrow the kids have their first swim lesson of the winter first thing, then they are going to teach me to X-country ski...they learned in gym class at school and have seasonal rentals and are really excited about being the teachers...kids have the whole week off school and each day we have a fun snow-related activity going on...it's going to be a great week
Happy Sunday!
XO
A lost tooth is the cutest thing, feeling organized + happy weekend!
- Ah, that cute little space where a tooth used to be...
- Got organized and on top of work and general tasks today...
- Talked with my mom and dad...always lovely...
- Planning our winter break...lots of fun in store (fit in around 14 work calls next week...not sure how I'm going to get anything done work-wise other than be on the phone...)
- So glad the weekend is here!!
XOXO
17/50 + phonics is fun + Blues Break plans
- Super deep powder day with my friend Meghan...sooooooo much fun...
- Volunteering at school this afternoon...we're playing this phonics game and the kids and I love it...it's pricy but we may need our own version at the house...
- Boiled shrimp for dinner...yum...
- Kids are playing nicely together upstairs, giving me a chance to play catch-up with my TO DO list...
- Kids are off school next week...we've got lots of fun plans...
Happy Thursday!
XO