Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

It is one of those absolutely fantastically gorgeous days here. Everyone, go ahead and feel envious, because this is perfect. It's sunny with blue skies and just enough clouds to be picturesque. The temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Xander had an early release day today and everything has the feel of a holiday. He is in a great mood. I thought it was because he had a short day and therefore didn't have time to get too overexcited and tired out. It turns out that, in his opinion, everyone in his class had a great day because so-and-so was absent and he is "the rudest person." I am sorry to hear that for the absent boy's sake but happy that Xander had such an awesome day.

Nick is happy and loud today. He woke (again!) at 3 AM but I was able to get him back to sleep pretty quickly and he slept in a bit. I will take it. I told him he was quite feisty today and he said, "Yes!" While waiting in a tax office for our files, he was so cheerfully loud that the proprietor came out to say hello. I am proud to say that Nick wanted to share his outing snack with both the proprietor and Xander.

So, the new simple learning activity for the day is: Calculator. Ta-dah! This is how I "made it up:"

1. Nick spilled some chocolate milk on our little hand held calculator. I said, "Uh-oh, I hope it still works!"
2. Xander said, "Let's test it and see if it still works."
3. I showed him how to press a number, press the + symbol, press another number, and press the = sign.
4. He was fascinated with the numbers he could add up to for a long time.
5. I'm surprised I didn't think of this sooner. Talk about educational hand held electronic entertainment!

I can't forget to brag on Erik. Last weekend, I realized the washing machine was broken (wasn't spinning the water out of the clothes) and told Erik this was going to have a big impact on our lives within a week. He did the research, took the machine apart (did you know washing machines have a clutch and a transmission?!), bought a new part, and fixed the thing! In two days!! I squealed and jumped around, that's how excited I was.

And here are our latest pictures:

No-Bake Healthy Cheesecake (Healthier, that is)

Xander adopted this puppy he found under our bed (a gift from Grandma Lucy at Christmas)

He made sure to design a puppy bed out of his slipper and had me knit a blanket that was just the right size (Oh, he did make sure to tell me, "Pretend this puppy is already house trained." It's a convenient puppy.)

Nick's cutting strawberries

Toddler knife, don't worry

There's our good ol' Nick

Strawberry Heartcake for Valentine's Day

Look at this picture of me, my dad, and my siblings back in the day (I'm the one in the Shalom Y'all shirt)

Xander's class Valentine's Day party - tons of treats

Mmmm, ice cream sundaes

Making candy necklaces

Enjoying his table-mates

with his table-mate who moved away - this was his last day

Yep, Nick is handing me his diaper...outdoors