Valentines

We didn't do anything special for Valentines Day. Bohdin came down with a cold Friday night and was still snotty on Sunday. Instead Buddy spent the day working on the bathroom. This weekend he removed the sheet rock and paneling from the wall. Those studs will need to move back a few inches to make room for pantry cabinets. After removing the sink he noticed the main waste pipe for the house is cracked. We'll have to get that fixed I imagine. While we do that we will also move the plumbing in the kitchen from one wall to another. I've racked my brain for weeks trying to find a good plan that doesn't move the sink but it's just not possible. As soon as I moved the sink to the opposite wall in the kitchen the entire flow and aesthetic for the kitchen changed for the better. It was a big relief to make that decision. I've put the rest of the kitchen planning on the back burner for a while.

I spent Monday working out Disney World plans. I have some restaurants scoped out. The other thing that has to be done is figure out which day we do what. The military offers a deeply discounted four day ticket. That means we only have one shot at each park. Two will be with Buddy and two without. I think we'll take up the rest of the time at the beach or the science museum or something. When I read the promo on the Disney World website for the Playhouse Disney live show he thought it sounded boring. He didn't want to just sit. I'm still not sure how much he will like it there. He's going to be sitting and waiting a lot.

After story time on Wednesdays we go to Kroger. Last week when we went they gave each of the kids a free balloon leftover from the Super Bowl. Bohdin didn't want his so he gave it to Nyla. When he was holding the balloons for her as she was getting out of the cart he lost one. Bohdin doesn't like to get balloons because they lose air. He actually loves balloons and he bothered Nyla to no end by playing with her balloon. One game they played together was pinata. They had a lot of fun playing chase with it as well. We won't be able to go to story time tomorrow. When I told Bohdin he started crying. He is enjoying story time quite a bit. I think he is at an age when he would enjoy preschool. Too bad it's too late. I'll see about finding him some drop in classes though in addition to the story time.






It snowed Sunday night but I didn't let Bohdin go outside. Nyla went outside very briefly. She no longer loves the snow. She hasn't done her "Me love snow dance" for a while. Sunday morning Nyla announced that she had a baby in her belly. Buddy jokingly told her she was grounded. Nyla looked at him and in a very indignant loud voice said "NO! ME! NOT!". When questioned a few minutes later she admitted she didn't know the meaning of the word grounded.

Shoveling

We woke to snow Tuesday morning. It was our biggest snow of the year at five inches. Nyla had trouble walking around in the snow until I shoveled a path for her. Both she and Bohdin have snow shovels now and tried to help. After a while Bohdin got the hang of it and did part of the driveway. Buddy had already shoveled part of it in the morning so Bohdin just had to take the additional half inch off that had fallen later. Nyla was not having fun outdoors. She wanted me to swing her but I didn't want to so she cried and cried. That swing will be gone soon I think. Bohdin offered to push her but she continued to cry because she didn't like the way he was pushing. Finally Bohdin told her that if she didn't stop crying he would stop swinging her. She didn't stop and I was glad to see Bohdin walk away. I took Nyla inside and set up a video for her. Bohdin and I stayed outside for about another hour. I don't think Nyla loves the snow nearly as much as she claims to.




Bohdin loves to eat the snow and washed the fireplace shovel so he could grab some without stepping outside.


Buddy has been working on the demo of the bathroom while I struggle to figure out how to put it back together. Buddy wants the cabinet in the bathroom to match the new kitchen cabinets but it is so hard to decide. We've changed our mind numerous times. I can't believe how difficult this is. Once we finally do decide it shouldn't take too long to put the bathroom back together. The toilet is staying in the same spot and the sink will be smaller and moved over a little bit so not too much work. The door will also be moved over slightly. The insulation had been really poor in this room so now that the walls are open Buddy stuffed plastic bags where the air was moving in. That whole side of the house feels more comfortable now. The toilet paper that is sitting on top of the toilet was moving in the breeze before Buddy did the temporary fix.


One day in the car we only had one water bottle for the two to share. Bohdin asked for a drink so I passed it back to him. As soon as Nyla saw it she wanted it. Bohdin passed it to her without taking a drink first and asked "Why do I have to live Nyla's way?". In a sense we all are. Nyla likes to ask for things as soon as the lights are out. She can decline a drink or a snack 30 seconds prior but as soon as the lights are out she wants something. Not only does she want it but she wants somebody to get it for her. She claims she can't reach. So far there has only been one situation where I will get out of bed to get something for her but it doesn't stop her from trying. It doesn't hurt that daddy will often oblige her. The one time I caved was actually last night when she wanted her toe nails clipped. I agreed to that so I wouldn't get scratched in the night. She did have a scraggly one.

Buddy has a work trip to Orlando the beginning of March. I've never been and hate to pass up an opportunity. At first I thought Disney World would be really lame but it might not be so bad. I'm not thrilled with the idea of driving 13 hours or lugging two kids around the park myself while Buddy works but it will be memorable and it could even be fun. I have a lot of planning to do for the trip in addition to thinking about the garden and the cabinets. It's been really busy around here. A break from the usual might be nice.

Train pillow

We woke up to more snow on Saturday. The DC airport had record breaking snow and even Annapolis had 21.5 inches. It's funny how we missed all of the snow in Maryland. I'm sure it's a good thing we missed the big storm since most people probably don't even own a snow shovel. It's going to be ugly there for a while. Bohdin and Nyla enjoyed playing in the little bit that we did get. We should wake up to even more tomorrow. Four to six inches is predicted over the next 24 hours. We were unsuccessful finding a sled at one store and didn't keep trying although I meant to.





I made a train pillow and blanket for Bohdin when he was two. He hasn't really cared about it but Nyla took interest in his pillow recently. That made Bohdin possessive of his pillow. I decided to make Nyla her own train pillow. It was originally intended to be as big as Bohdin's but then I changed my mind. She loves it. Bohdin loves it also and tried to take it from her. That didn't work out and we decided that I would make him a second smaller pillow. In the meantime I had to add his name to his pillow. Nyla has her name on her pillow but it is hard to see. We went to the fabric store today to get the green, blue, and purple fabric that Bohdin wanted. It's not the fabric I would have chosen but it absolutely suits Bohdin perfectly. This pillow will be a loader and dump truck per Bohdin's request.

Counting

The kids love Nutella and I rarely buy it anymore because they eat it like candy. They found the jar the other day and snuck off the basement. Two chocolate monsters reemerged. Bohdin had already cleaned himself off a bit but Nyla had not. It was bath time afterward.




When we lived in Maryland Bohdin had us count while he ran from our bedroom to his to get something. It was a race against time. Now that Nyla has her own bedroom she demands that we count for her. She is much slower than Bohdin so it is very tedious. Often I count quietly when she leaves the room or count to three then stop counting until I hear her coming in again. The other day she ran in counting. "Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve." I had no idea she could count that well. It turns out she couldn't. When I was telling Buddy I told Nyla to count. This is how she counts. "One. Two. Three. Eighteen. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen." She was always out of the room for the middle sections.

We stopped at a farm yesterday to pick up some ground beef. When we walked into the store Nyla said she hadn't seen any cows. Bohdin repeated the same thing to the girl behind the counter. After our purchase she directed us to where we could see the cows. Despite the frigid weather we stood out there for several minutes watching the cows. Bohdin is saying now that watching cows eat is boring but not boring for babies. I wonder why he was the last one back in the car then. He also tried to throw some hay over the fence for them.

Snow

It snowed Friday night so Saturday morning we were able to go outside and enjoy the snow. Bohdin said he likes it here better because it snows more. The ironic thing is that it has snowed more in Maryland this winter. It's easier to enjoy the snow here and Bohdin gets a chance to shovel. Buddy made two large piles of snow for the kids. Bohdin enjoyed it quite a bit more. We went out again in the afternoon. Buddy and Nyla went back indoors so Bohdin and I walked over to the big hill near the playground. Somebody had left their sled their and we borrowed it for three runs. Twice Bohdin went himself from about 3/4 up the hill. The last time we went together from the top of a pretty steep hill. I thought he would be scared but he wasn't. He had so much fun. It's too bad it was already getting dark or we could have stayed longer.






I've been busy the past few days getting our seed order ready. It's hard to cull down the list to a reasonable number. I was slightly successful with my order of 47 seed packets yesterday. We have a lot of work ahead of us to prepare beds for these many many things we will grow.

Farmer

Bohdin told me yesterday he wants to be a farmer when he grows up so he can grow lots of food. He is excited about having a garden this year. We plan to give him his own plot to tend. He'll harvest the vegetables and sell them in the neighborhood. It will be his first summer job. When we were looking at varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers. Bohdin commented that we have to spend a little money now so we can have a lot of money later. He already understands. This weekend he helped me pick out berry varieties. We will have 4 types each of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Next summer with luck we'll be swimming in berries. We have yet to finalize our other crop varieties. Bohdin's current tomato list is miles long because he liked the sound of every tomato with the word gold in it.

It was cold outside yesterday but we bundled up and went out anyway. I found Bohdin a coat at the thrift store last weekend and he likes it. It's his first coat since he was two. He has finally agreed to wear them. Nyla didn't get enough sleep the night before and was especially grumpy. She was so sad when I was done swinging her. We missed story time yesterday because Buddy's truck is back in the shop. At first we were told it was the shift solenoid but today when they were going to install it they discovered a whole new transmission was needed. Those things are really pricey. Buddy has been driving my car and now we'll be without it for another few days.




Several weeks ago I signed up to go to the Louisville Science Museum with a homeschool group. We were able to get deeply discounted tickets for admission, IMAX, and the Titanic exhibit. The cost of the Titanic exhibit for the three of us was less than one regular priced member admission to the exhibit. I knew the kids wouldn't be interested but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I talked about the Titanic briefly with Bohdin prior to going. He was bored since there was a lot of reading and objects he didn't care about. I thought it was interesting even with an impatient Bohdin. We also did an IMAX movie since it was so cheap. The film was Animalopolis. Bohdin liked it but Nyla hated it. She initially liked the "giant tv" but lost interest within a minute. She spent the entire time climbing from my lap to the seat next to me. Thank goodness that thing wasn't any longer. Bohdin's favorite part of the museum was the giant bubble maker. He loved popping the giant bubble. Nyla liked the mock bus they had set up with real seats and dolls. It even played Wheels on the Bus which is her favorite song. Neither wanted to leave but we had to get the car back so Buddy could get to work. We'll get a membership and go again. It's not a huge museum but they had lots of fun.



After Nyla's nap we made blueberry muffins. The batter was a hit.

Pizza

When we were living in Maryland our neighbor invited us over for dinner one night. She made a pizza with a wonderful crust. When I asked for the recipe I saw it was basically the same one I had been using. The difference between her soft crust and my hard one was the rising time. She made the dough, put it in the pan and only let it rise while she was prepping the toppings so not very long at all. I tried the same technique and we are in love. Bohdin likes the crust now and it is so much faster to make. It tunrs pizza into a fast meal instead of planning for rising time. I put the pizza into cast iron pans and since I have a little one I make a little extra dough so Bohdin can make his own pizza. He likes extra extra sauce and cheese. Buddy likes a deep dish Chicago style pizza so I make his thicker with lots on toppings. I share one with Nyla and we just have whatever is handy in a thinner crust. Our last one had kielbasa, squash, pepperoni, and a bit of leftover meatball from lunch.