could someone bring me my coffee?? i have some reading to do ...

image source, thanks jami for this!

first haircut at the mum salon

today was ...

• a 6:47 am wakeup, not of my own doing nor of my own desire
• -17 c outside and the fiercest winds I've ever encountered here yet, as we ran with gasping breaths in and out of our church building
• the start of the Ladies Bible Study I've joined (Esther, video series by Beth Moore) - childcare was provided and so the boys had a fun time of play, play, play with their buds
• leftovers for lunch
• one who napped and one who wouldn't
• so then one read his books and played with Mr Potato Head
• my second attempt at perfecting 4 decadent cups of Chocolate Creme Brulee, even though last time was pretty darn heavenly
• the boys watching their one and only TV show, Little Bear
• pancake fingers with applesauce, strawberries and whipping cream for supper
• Walter's "yummm" face made it's appearance quite a few times through this meal!
• our little friend Olivia over for an hour while her mom took her son skating
• an hour's worth of jumping together on Henry's bed
• a bubble bath for two and now the evening quiet for the other two

2 rules of the dessert party: no kids and no diets allowed

those red hearts again

We had 20 friends over last night for our 2nd Annual Dessert Party ... we certainly had lots of fun and lots of food, though of course it was also lots of work for us beforehand. Still, I love having everyone over - well, it was almost everyone - and having an excuse to bake up something sweet. And to eat something sweet ... a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I pulled out those big red paper hearts again to take a photo of each couple before they left and to put together this fun collage, as I did last year. Everyone loved seeing last year's photo framed on the buffet table and we were talking about having a full wall of photos as the years go by. Thanks for a great night, everyone, I am so thankful you are all our friends.

walking in circles

The past 10 days have felt strange. Hazy and muddled and overwhelming. I'm not sure why ... maybe the winter, stuck-inside blues. Maybe my sinus cold that started last weekend. Maybe the change in Sam's work schedule which leaves me alone with the boys for even longer days. Maybe it was the 5 Day Cleanse I started last Monday (which happened to coincide with my vicious sinus cold, great timing there) that left me with intense caffeine withdrawal headaches and the horrible, panicky feeling that I was starving, when I certainly was not.

Going to bed last night at 8 pm sure helped. And the feeling of triumph when I came to Friday evening and knew I didn't cheat at all on the eating regimen for the cleanse. (Amazing in itself!) Happy those 5 lbs are gone. Liking the discovery of a new afternoon snack: bananas and berries in a bit of soy milk, sprinkled with cinnamon and walnuts. A serious yum. And after cutting out a few dozen or a few hundred circles last week, it was exciting to quickly zip them together in the sewing machine today for a little bit of Valentine festivity for our dessert party next weekend. Yes, loving those paper garlands ... aren't they pretty?

But most of all, I'm loving watching my wee Walter boy toddle around more and more often as now he is walking!! He started by walking across Henry's room a few weeks ago but then pretty much left any more effort there. But the past 4 days or so we've been catching him walking here and there, more and more often. He is so cute. And we are so proud of him.

Hoping for a good party-planning-week ahead. Even though it is Monday tomorrow, Sam will be gone til late, and both the boys are sick. But, thank goodness, at least I'm back to drinking coffee!