Ho Hum

Lazy! We have not done much this week at all. My piano students all cancelled this week, except one. Amelia had preschool Mon & Wed, she learned about the letter O. The kids made an octopus using a balloon and curling ribbon. Amelia carried hers around all week. I appliqued a couple shirts for Phillip now that he is moving up to 18 mth size. Crocheted a couple hats. Reveled in our cluttered basement enjoying the chaos of playing kids and fabric flying every which way. This week I craved a nap every day like no man's business. Napping in the morning is out of the question since Phillip is awake. Today I finally was so out of it that I fell asleep on the floor with Phillip crawling all over me. Tuesday evening Phillip was running a low grade fever. His little cheeks were flushed a perfect apple red. The day before Justin commented on his cute little bum. With his red cheeks and cute bum a fun photo session popped up, throw in a gun and a pair of cowboy boots for some throw-down cuteness. I taped smarties to the wall so he would not show off his important parts. Worked like a charm. Amelia had to squeeze in on the action to. She chose her outfit, the flower, and clip...even the poses. All for a pack of smarties. Man, my kids are trained!!! Gotta say I am loving the process of learning how to use my strobe and huge soft box. I received 4 new photography books in the mail on Tuesday. Can't wait to learn some more.

Sunday we invited two families over for dinner. I had a powerful craving for Cafe Rio Chile Beef enchiladas. I am always a bit disappointed by homemade Cafe Rio attempts. Dinner was delicious but not quite what I remember. I made the shredded beef, lime-cilantro rice, black beans, creamy tomatillo dressing, and pico de gallo. The Gull and Haley families came over. Brother Gull helped roll out homemade tortillas while Sister Gull cooked them. We enjoyed getting to know the Gull family better. Sister Gull actually ran a private school in Draper Utah. She is a very interesting lady! Everyone slurped down fresh crepes for dessert. I am thinking of starting up a dinner club and book club in the very near future.

Phillip is in a funny stage. He loves the dogs next door. He barks all the time. He loves walking around wearing a monkey backpack. He laughs when getting dressed and undressed. That kid thinks just about everything is hilarious. He is trying so hard to talk. If you listen he will carry on a full blown conversation usually about bye-bye, monkeys, dogs, dishwashers, and climbing chairs. The kids are starting to play together more. I love that. We played outside in the melting snow this afternoon. Ahhh, the sun was invigorating. Last week Amelia came down into the basement after Justin put her into bed. She pretty much just wanted me to come snuggle her...first she had to go potty, then her bum itched, then she was hungry. Once I got into her room she asked me giggling the while to snuggle her. Irresistible! I told her she needed to go to sleep otherwise she'd be crabby in the morning. Her face turned thoughtful then she said, "Mom!? I don't have snippers!" Her little fingers were working in perfect snipper action to empathize the point. We both dissolved into mirthful giggles. It took some time to stop giggling. Ah, that was memorable!

I linked my tingly and numb arm to pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. The usually swelling in the extremities most likely exacerbated the main nerve in my hand. I slept with a hand brace on last night, the numbness and tingling did not bother me so much. Between trips to Amelia's room I actually slept last night. Phew. I hope once this baby comes the numbness will go away. If not my crocheting days might be limited.

Last week I invested in a computer video camera. We enjoyed calling Jeff, the James Lances, Grandma & Grandpa Call, and Grandma Debbie and boys on Skype. Let me know if you have Skype!