On Her Own

My little daughter, who won't officially be two and a half until March 6th, is well on her way to being potty-trained. I'd like to credit my exceptional parenting skills and watchful diligence for this amazing feat, but truth be told, I've done nothing. Ok, so we did bring out the potty chair a while back but found that Sam was more interested in it than Zoë. So we put it away.

Then suddenly, in the last couple weeks, she's been telling us she has to pee. So we indulged her and took her to sit on the potty, and lo and behold, the little girl WENT. On multiple occasions. And she's gone poo too! We are thrilled to bits that this next phase of her life is happening and that she's really getting the hang of it.

Is it just the difference between boys and girls? I don't know, but I am SO proud of her and so incredibly thankful that it's been so easy with her thus far.

My baby girl is growing up so fast.

For Your Listening Enjoyment

As you can hear, I've added a little widget to play some music on my blog. The piece you're hearing is my favorite piece of classical music - Mozart's Symphony No. 40.

If you know me, it probably seems a little surprising that I like classical music, but I do. (Yes, I know what you're thinking...that Marching Band music probably suits me better, but you just shoosh.) I am by no means a classical music afficionado, but there are several pieces that I really do enjoy and actually intentionally listen to. I love putting on my Mozart CD and working in the kitchen. It's soothing to have the music playing, with no lyrics to disturb my daydreaming, and to chop vegetables, knead bread or mix up a batch of cookies.

I first heard this particular symphony when I was in high school. My friend Trixie (yes, that was her real name) had a cassette tape of some Mozart and I really liked it. So, it being the 80's, we copied her tape and made me my very own. I think I still have it around somewhere. I've listened to it over the years and finally got a CD version for Christmas a year or two ago. Now, it's the only CD in my kitchen CD player.

So, there ya have it. Another layer of Kate you didn't know existed. Scary, huh?

A Good Day

Man, today was a good day! We awoke up to the promise of clear skies and sunshine, which is enough to make me jump for joy, especially in the middle of winter. With Josh working some extra hours this weekend, the kids and I were on our own. So, instead of addressing the piles of laundry mounting on my bedroom floor, we donned our shoes and sweatshirts, grabbed some snacks and my camera, and headed to the park.

There are a plethora of parks in this outdoorsy town, but I had a specific one in mind. We headed down to the park that sits between the marina and the bay. I wondered if it would be a bit breezy, as it usually is, but it was PERFECT. The sun sparkled on the water like a million diamonds, the air smelled faintly of saltwater and spring, and the bay was alive with boats.



It's days like today that remind me how much I love this town and why I tolerate (barely) the drab, dreary, dark winters here. Man, there just is no place better when the sun is shining. And summer never lasts long enough for me to get my fill.

It's hard to tell who enjoyed the park more - the kids or me. Instead of heading directly to the playground, we followed the walkway around the park which took us along the marina and then over to the bay. Sam was in heaven to be able to throw rocks into the water. Zoë toddled around, investigating this and that and I happily soaked up the sun and snapped pictures.







We encountered lots of friendly dogs, who stopped to greet us and allow us to give them some love, which thrilled Zoë, considering her recent puppy infatuation. We eventually meandered over to the playground for a bit before heading to the car for some snacks and the trip home.

Then as if the day wasn't already near perfect, one of my bestest friends, Michelle, stopped by for a visit. This is significant because she lives 100 miles away and hasn't been in my neck of the woods for a couple years. (I've been down her way lots of times, and it's only been about a month since I've seen her.) She had come to town to visit her cousin and set aside some time to come over. What a treat! We had a great chat, albeit too short, and in between having to break up fights between the kids, we managed to look at house plans, compare notes of books we've read lately, and various other topics. It's been awhile since we've had some one-on-one time and I was thrilled to have the chance. Let's do it again soon, 'k Chelle?

Days like today make me very happy to be alive.

Busy Days

It never fails, my six days off seems to just fly by, whereas the days I work seem to drag. Why is that? Maybe because I have more fun on my days off? Hmmm. Food for thought.

Whatever the case, we've had some busy days lately. On Valentine's Day Sam had a party at school and since I am the Co-Room Parent I went to help out. (I would've anyway, even if I weren't.) Anyway, the kids had a great time. We had snacks, they opened their Valentines from their classmates and there were several craft projects for them to do.

Oh, and it was a Pajama Day so all the kids wore their pjs to school.

Sam didn't have school on Friday (mini Mid-Winter break) so I packed up the kids and we headed south down to the children's museum. It's totally worth the hour's drive and $7/per person admission. The kids LOVE it and I would've spent more time there except I was starving and it was pretty crowded. So we headed out and stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Red Robin. It was a nice day - so much better than sitting at home doing the same ol' thing.

Bronco Buster Sam

Little Zoë Peep sitting on a sheep

By Leaps & Bounds

One, two, three...HOP!

Chef Sam cooking up some pizza

Zoë sampling the goods

Ready for takeoff!

Fasten your seatbelts!

Sweets from my Sweets

These are the treats I awoke to on Valentine's morning. Josh left for work before I was up so once the kids woke me up, I stumbled out to the kitchen to be surprised by this.

I had mentioned a few weeks prior that I needed to get some kind of pasta platter, instead of serving my oodles of noodles up in their boring ol' cooking pot, and lo and behold, my dearest remembered! Using his sharp sense of logic (and probably hearing my voice in his head) he went with a standard white, thinking it will go with anything. Bingo! Good choice! I was very pleased with my gift, not only for the surprise factor and the thoughtfulness that went into it, but he filled it with my dark chocolates, which are my fav. I've spent the last two days nibbling on these little treats and feeling very loved indeed.

Thanks honey! You're the best and I love you!

Mic Check

Is this thing on?? Testing, one two. Check, check.

Just wanted to check to see if anyone can hear me. Due to the underwhelming volume of comments, I just wondered if I have the volume up at all. I see your muddy footprints by the door, but no other sign that you stopped by. (Yes, Heather, I see you. Right up front here. Thank you so much for checking in regularly!)

Seriously though, I'd love to know that you've peeked in. Blogger has recently changed the way they do their comments and I've enabled it so that you don't have to have a blogger.com account in order to post a comment. I'll welcome any and all comments, as long as they're relatively clean and kind. Please let me know that you've stopped by!

Music to my ears

Last night we were driving home from my niece's basketball game. Zoe had fallen asleep and all was quiet. I had the radio off and was just enjoying the silence.

As Sam often does, he pipes up and says "I love you Momma."

"I love you too, Sam" I replied.

Things were quiet for minute and I was smiling to myself about what a sweet boy Sam is. But he wasn't done.

"Mom, I'll never stop loving you."

Now that's the kind of sound a mother never tires of.