He's just so funny...

You know, I've been married for 12 years and I still think my husband is hysterical.  I'm not sure if you think he's that funny or not but when you are with someone for that long, you know the in's and out's, the favorite shows and the lines that go with them.

We've had a stressful week no doubt.

But, we've had a ton of laughter as my dear Jim has tried to ease the tension that is on my shoulders.  And it works nearly every time.  I almost always laugh.  Almost. :)

Dinner is my least favorite part of the day.  Very rarely is my food met with compliments.  I'm not a mac n' cheese mom, I'm a salmon and potatoes with green salad, tacos, soup kind of mom.  My meals are usually met with groans and complaints.  I'm an either "eat it or don't" kind of mom, not a "oh dear sweet child what can I make for you instead so that you will eat tonight?" kind of mom.

This week I made (for the very first time) homemade chicken noodle soup and it was a hit all around.  I think what made it so yummy was the homemade stock.  Easy to do for sure and I plan to do it again.  Next time I will double the recipe so we can have leftovers.  Who knew they'd go crazy for that kind of meal?  Tonight was a meat in the crockpot dish and 2/3 of our chillin's liked it.  Good enough for me.  Plus, they said they liked it.  Even better.

Then we have Jim doing funny antics at the table like humming the tune to The Mom Song to get me to laugh.  Which I did.  I think that song is hysterical.  Take a listen for yourself and see what you think.

It's even funnier when the kids have no idea what he's doing but I do so then the two of us are laughing and the kids are sort of staring not quite sure what to do.  I love moments like this.  Matthew and Ella Jane will look at each other and giggle nervously and then we realize we've got 'em so we keep going.  Jim gets up and does his best Phil Dunphy impression of "we're all in this together" and before you know it, I'm ROLLING, and the kids are laughing because Jim and I are clearly having a moment.  We've been known to break out the old high school cheers which is fun for everyone and then we follow it up with something like, "Did you know that we knew each other before you were born?"

I suppose all of this is only funny to me because I live it.  Just like you have your moments that would probably leave me wondering.

But my point is, my husband is a star and has a made a tough week bearable and quite memorable to boot!

Thank you dear.

Just some random funny stuff...

So very excited for a three day weekend and having the day off of school tomorrow.  It just makes the day seem easier to me to have them all home.  Not that that is always peaceful.  We certainly have our share of tears and tantrums in a day but I do like being on my own schedule and seeing where the day will take us.

We've had a lot of snow melt over the last week.  Still no grass in our yard though.  It never gets much sun so we are pretty much the last to see the green stuff in our neighborhood.  As a result Jim takes to shoveling the excess snow into the driveway to help the melting process along.  It always cracks me up to look out and see our driveway covered in chunks of snow when everyone elses' is clean and dry.

Ella Jane is the coloring queen.  She LOVES art, LOVES to color, and draw.  In fact when we read stories she will often comment on the illustrations asking questions like "how did they draw that?" and I know she really is curious.  She really does want to know.  This dedication to art is a rather new development for her.  She's loved coloring for a long time but not like lately.  It's a lot of fun to see her be so interested in something.  It's also a lot of fun to see her drawings change as she gets older.

Reading is to Matthew as Art is to Ella Jane. 

I love that I can see these two distinct differences in them.

This morning all three kids went on some kind of hunt with flashlights upstairs.  They close all the doors so it's really dark in the hallway and go from there.  What they did this morning was new to me; they got out the little plastic animals we have (mostly bugs) and lined them up, or placed them throughout the hallway.  Then with their flashlights they'd spot them, scream, and run downstairs telling me they'd found a frog or a snake.  So funny, but even funnier to see Sara get in on that action.  She's still little but doing such big kid stuff.  Jim and I laugh so much at her right now.  Really fun stage.

I think the ice from today might be gone by tomorrow so I suggested we go outside to muck around in the mud.  They were all over that.  It sounds like fun to me (although I don't think I want to get my boots all muddy, but it'll be better than getting my tennis shoes all muddy)!

We are tearing up the house with house projects as of late.  Ever have something that's been broken or in need of repair/update for a really long time but there are more pressing things to take care of like raising kids and paying bills so the other stuff just takes a back seat for say 2-3yrs.?

Yea, us neither.  I was just sayin.

We've finally taken the plunge and replaced damaged/broken window shades in our sun room.  Along with that was the need to repaint trim that had water damage from long ago.  Next step is repainting the ceiling and perhaps a ceiling fan with a light.  It's one of those, one thing leads to another kind of projects.

The bathroom that I tackled all on my own (for the most part) is almost finished.  It's only taken me close to a year but I am very proud of what I have learned along the way and the work that I have put into it.  Next up for both Jim and I (so excited to have a partner on this one) is the kids' bathroom upstairs.  And then it's onto the master.  Note to homeowners out there; please do not put carpets in your bathrooms.  Just not a good combination.  Ever.

Right now I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife.  I'd already seen the movie and a friend told me I had to read the book.  So here I am reading the book.  I've never read a book of a movie that I've already seen.  I'm liking the book okay but all I do is picture what I saw in the movie and I'd rather have my own imagination create the characters instead of having it done for me.  Anyway.  I recently read The Help and was amaze by it.  I love to read did you know?  In fact one of our weekend activities almost always includes some type of reading time with Matthew.  He and I both share this passion, Jim does too, and it's very fun to be in a room all together just reading.  It's even more fun to hear Matthew react to what he's reading.  He'll laugh, or gasp outloud and it floors me everytime.  Love it.

Well, it's late, I suppose it's time to wrap it up.  Enjoy your holiday tomorrow.

Outlines for the girls, stripes for the boys...

Happy Valentine's Day!

My eyes, my eyes!

Are you a FRIENDS fan?  Phoebe fan?  If so, you'll understand the above title perfectly.  It's what I like to say about this time of year when the sun begins to shine and actually bring warm temps. to the day.

Yesterday I was so giddy with excitement over the warm weather.  I think the rest of the town felt it too.  It's like we're little butterflies emerging from our cacoons, or bears waking up from a long hibernation.  We still have mounds of snow in our yard but around town we can see things like curbs, medians, and even little pockets of grass.  Weather in the 40's allows us to be outside without heavy snowgear and that is (sigh...) simply lovely.

We've said goodbye to our ice rink.  For now.  We'll be back next year. 

It won't be long now.  The snow will melt, the ground will dry up and the grass will come back to life and everything will be green.  We'll be doing more of these activities...

I can't wait! 

So not into mama's meatloaf...

A good day...

Yesterday was a good day.  We've all been sick with the cough and fever including both Jim and myself.  It's never a good thing when the parents are sick right along with the kids.  Laundry piles up, dishes pile up, dirty tissues pile up, the thermometer floats from room to room, makeshift beds get made in the living room etc. 

So, since I was finally feeling better yesterday, we went skating.  I have dubbed this the equivilant of my desire to run.  I grew up playing all team sports; soccer especially.  Love it, love it.  But there is something about the solace in running alone, skating alone that I love too.

So when the kids got tired of skating and wanted to play in the snow instead, I helped them back into their boots and kept on skating myself.  I think it must've been a good 45min. of just me going round and round.  It was such a perfect morning.  The sun even came out and what a delight that was.

(With all the snow around here it was simply beautiful to be skating under the sunshine for a bit)

It was Ella Jane's first time on the ice.  Her skates are many years old (about 15!) and were in need of a good sharpen so she didn't really skate per se but was able to master the art of getting up by herself after sitting on the ice. 

Taking both kids was a much different experience than going with only Matthew.  He and I can skate in silence and enjoy ourselves immensely.  We sometimes chat from time to time or show each other a new move or something.  It's fun to see us be braver in what we are learning.  With the two of them together there was playing and arguing.  But I was impressed that they wanted to play this game where they pass the hockey puck back and forth.  It was cute to watch. 

And just the day we all very desparately needed.  What a welcome surprise this ice rink has been to us.  Thank you to my neighbors who maintain it and make us feel welcome.