February 2017

oh my gosh I’m so behind … quick, have a months-late update! 

Holidays
—The Superb Owl: Per our new tradition, we had the Carneys over for Super Bowl Sunday. The older the kids get, the easier and more fun these kinds of things are — they watch movies, they play Pokemon, there’s occasionally yelling but we have enough beer and snacks in us to not get bent out of shape about it. Heh.
—Valentine’s Day: This year each of the kids made a “mailbox” for Valentines, which was a fun afternoon’s project. Annika handed out Harry Potter valentines, and Lukas went with PJ Masks, a current fave. I gave them treats at breakfast (chocolate, and a fuzzy little critter each — a fox for Annika, and a lion for Lukas). Later that day, there was an ice cream party in Lukas’s class — super cute, and super messy. 
—Spring Break: Once again, we went to Tahoe with the Carneys — albeit to a new house, since the one we’ve been to before was reclaimed as a primary residence by the people who own it, heh. Between R. still recuperating from knee surgery and me having recently sprained my ankle (training for a half marathon that I will not get to actually run), we didn’t even bother trying to ski this time; instead, it was all about sledding, snow fights, and building snow stuff. This house was near a big open place with a big slope to sled on — we did some truly epic runs. The kids are all old enough now to really enjoy it, and have enough stamina to stay out there for awhile.  

Annika central
—Annika’s braces come off: This phase was relatively short, although I’m sure it felt like forever to her — but the day did come where it was time to remove her upper braces and get a retainer. I let her play hooky from school, since the appointment went till after 10:30 — it was a fun day when she got to pick where we went for lunch and we hung out together, but also I made her do some schoolwork on her computer so the day wasn’t a total brain vacation and I was a Very Responsible Parent. ;-)
—Girl Scout cookies: Ugh. I ate more than we sold, but it all counts … she didn’t do a single sale on her own, just the booths we were signed up for, ha!
—Grace’s birthday: Grace had her party at Sharks Ice, and after a few tentative laps with the buckets, Annika got right out there and started making the big loop of the rink. Lukas was so excited to try it, but at first, it was so weird and scary that he cried a little. He kept at it, though, and by the end, he loved it! I only showed off my backwards-skating a little bit.
—Leveling up in swim class: They kept at me to put Annika in the one-hour class, so we changed our swim day to Saturday mornings. It was an instant and total disaster, both kids hated it, Annika announced that Saturday used to be her favorite day of the week and now it is her most-hated one. Good times, good times. 

Quotable
—Lukas playing hangman: “It has … 6 letters.” The word was: XLE
—Lukas explains it all:
—“Mummies are zombies wrapped in toilet paper.”
—“Snow is made of salt and sour stuff.”
—Lukas names his most beloved new stuffed critter: Pokie the pokeball
—Annika, hearing some pop song or other from the 60s in a shop: “I don't like vintage music.”