pics and bullets

Every day around here is so full of so many blog-worthy things that I can't keep track of them all. And when this kind of situation gets dire, it's time for bullets (but photos first: for some reason they'll only load here, at the beginning of the post!):

a pause in futon-jump action

my getting-bigger girl

where's waldo? | cookies! | cousins

snowy, cold days around here!

cup on the foot

we found some non-buried swings :)

the meal that inspired a grocery shop

mailing valentines

Steve, in Patras, at a cafe that we used to go to; like the view, the sun, the weather, the man!

• These days, giving my children a bath is like giving them a bath in a tub full of caffeinated Skittles and telling them to eat their way out; they come out of there on fire. ON FIRE. They run the full length of our apartment and then jump up and down on the futon and then do BIG jumps off of it THUMP onto the floor. They would jump on there for an hour, I'm sure, if I let them. And maybe I should? Except Alana wants to jump and jump off of there too, and I know that someone Alana would get hurt - especially because Hendrik does Rambo jumps off and on to the futon, and his little body is getting bigger; he can hurl himself through space at a pretty decent clip. I watch with eyes bugging out of my head. "IT'S TIME TO CALM DOWN" is all I can say, over and over and over again.
• I went for a run today and it felt so good to move, outside, on my own. It was freezing and I was as slow as mud, but the sun was shining and I was running... all good!
• Not so good, the sitchy-ation around here, last night. Nope, no no no, nothing dire; just the only social plans - a party! - I've had in, well, months, were foiled. Hendrik had a minor meltdown after dinner and then fell asleep in my arms whilst recovering - at the very moment that I'd planned to leave the house. Oh, and Alana didn't nap. At all. I put Hendrik to bed, then tried to diaper him 45 minutes later, and he woke up and was none too pleased about it. His sister was in full whine mode, and all I wanted to do was hide. So, I tried looking on the bright side (it wasn't easy - positivity had expired) and went to bed early, at 10:15. Alana woke up at 10:20 and didn't go back down until close to 11:30, and then was up multiple times in the night. And then when morning came, she was ready to go - 7:08! Happy and awake! Not me. I tried cartoons, but Alana wanted to sit on my head instead. Literally.
• My cousin Spencer, who I haven't seen in years and years and years called me on Wednesday with the "I'm in town!" so we got together the next day. I was inspired (by a play food meal) to buy bacon and lettuce and big tomatoes and make a killer sandwich, so that's what we did... made a good lunch, chilled with my chillies, and then made sugar cookies - heart shapes! And I used beet juice (concentrated) to dye the icing pink... no trace of beety taste whatsoever. This is a trick I'd like to keep up my sleeve - and not forget about.
• We have a small slew of Valentine's Day books and the kids are loving them. There is one in particular that they both like - Arthur's Valentine, and as a result of several reads a day, every time Alana hears the word valentine, she says, "arthur"... it is tres cute.
  
  
• Since our January return from Bowmanville, Hendrik has taken it upon himself to say grace every night before dinner, even though much of it is unintelligible; what you can make out - and you don't have to listen closely - is "two thousand and four-TEEN" (as in the year), and sometimes, if you listen very very closely, you can hear him say "bless this food". Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right Gramps? Alana has joined in with the hands-clasping thing, and has also started saying a 17-month old version of Amen. (I'll post a video tomorrow.....)
• Alana is into throwing her food, and we've had spills (at least one) at every meal. Hendrik likes to do jobs and pick up her food, but it might just encourage her more. And she puts her cup (or bowl or whatever) on her foot as much as she can. Cute, right?
• I made Reese's Peanut Butter squares to take to the party I was supposed to go to last night, and they are SO GOOD. But so dangereux... one look at the ingredients will explain all; why they are as tasty as can be and why I don't want them in my house. YUM!
• Steve is doing well, and we skype at least once a day, hurray. It's great for him, for the kids, for me... and speaking of Steve and of Greece, I want to go to Elofonisos (google it). We will look into flights in the next few weeks once we figure out how long we'll stay for and if we're hoping to have Hendrik back in preschool here before the school year ends.
• Hendrik had an eye appointment on Monday, and it wasn't much of a surprise when the doctor started talking about a third surgery. Alignment is getting better and better with each operation, but it's not where he thinks it should/could be. We were given the option of taking a bit of a breather (operation, time out!) and waiting a year or so, but it's not going to get any easier plus we're not too sure where we'll be at this time next year (or the year after or the year after that). So it looks like the date will come up in May or June, and we'll be ready for it. Hopefully this will be one of those third-time's-a-charm things...

That's a wrap!