Some Random Things

A sign of how unusually warm our weather has been this winter - the boys' had an afterschool trip to the tubing park planned for tomorrow, but it had to be cancelled due to lack of snow. It's been so warm, they can't even make snow!  I'm sad for them, but at least it's warm enough that, instead of tubing, we can just play outside after school.

I am still occasionally astounded that I can see, and no longer have to deal with contacts or glasses to do so. It's so liberating, and so amazing. Best money I've ever spent.

I've been dairy-free for quite a while now, and have pretty much adjusted to it, and have a few observations:

- Non-dairy 'cheese' slices aren't too awful when they're part of a larger entree - i.e., a slice of veggie cheese on a sandwich.

- Non-dairy veggie shreds are totally nasty, no matter what you do with them.

- Soy milk can be substituted for regular milk in just about any recipe - a very good thing, since I love to bake, and I love to eat the things that I bake.

- I LOVE soy milk in my coffee.

- The two things I miss most are yogurt (greek yogurt with homemade granola was my favorite post-workout snack, and I'm still struggling to find a good alternative) and ooey gooey cheese pizza. I've gotten very creative at making pizzas with lots of veggies and no cheese, and they're delicious, but sometimes you just want the real deal.

Carmine, for months now, has referred to any kind of treat - cookies, cake, chocolate - as det-doh. This word was such a part of our everyday life that we were all saying det-doh, too. But the other night, for the first time, he said "treat."  And when I gave him his treat - a piece of chocolate - he said "cha-cha."  I know it's exciting for him to keep expanding his vocabulary, and it was awfully cute to see him grinning and shouting "tweet! tweet!" but I'm going to be sad when det-doh is no longer part of his vocabulary.

Gabe continues his night-owl ways, staying up until 10 or 11pm some nights. We're trying a two-pronged approach to getting him to go to sleep earlier - 1. We're waking him up at 7am every day, no matter how late he's been up the night before, in the hopes that being unable to sleep in will make him tired enough that he simply can't stay up so late anymore. 2. We've instituted the Wii Clock. Every night that he stays up past his lights out time (8:30), he loses 10 minutes of Wii time. Since they usually play about an hour of Wii on Saturday or Sunday, he starts the week with 60 minutes, and the clock will provide a very visual reminder to him of how much (or little) time he's going to have for video games, based on his nighttime behavior. Hopefully we see some progress with this.

There's a dead tree on the side of the road where we wait for the bus stop - it's a pretty small tree, and it blew over during a storm a long time ago, and has just been laying there on its side - not blocking the sidewalk or the street, so not really a bother to anyone. But it has made for a great jungle gym for the boys, and they're now making it their mission to try to dismantle it piece by piece. It'll be interesting to see just how successful they can be.

I really want an iPhone. Really badly. But I just cannot justify the $70 per month plans. I wish someone would offer a plan that costs a little less than that.

My spring and summer race schedule is shaping up nicely. I may even be running my first 10K ever. All the 5Ks, 10-milers, half-marathons, marathons, but I've never run a 10K. It'll be an instant PR : )

Dante brought his journal home from school today. One of his entries was about the football game that we watched while sitting on our "cowch," and how the "Pacthreeits won."  And today's entry talked about how tomorrow is "groundhawg daye." 

Got our welcome package for the 10-Day Family Re-Charge, and I'm really looking forward to it. We've already begun to make some subtle changes, even before the program has officially begun, and I've noticed a little more brightness, a little less stress. And when those stressful situations do come up, I'm feeling much more in control of how I react to them.

I'm completely addicted to avacadoes right now. Can't get enough of them. Also have gotten pretty hooked on an afternoon cup of tea with a little bit of honey. Even though our weather has been so warm, it's still a nice cozy ritual.

Despite the warmer-than-usual weather, I'm still longing for summer, and daydreaming of long days at the beach. I know it'll be here before we know it, but it can't come soon enough for me.

Carmine is going to be a digging machine at the beach this summer. Unfortunately, he's probably also going to be a throwing, screaming, and kicking machine. Love the terrible twos.

He's actually been slightly less screamy lately (is screamy a word? If it isn't, it should be, because that's what he is). He still lets out some big ones now and then, but it's not his default volume level.

Speaking of letting out some big ones, he also now giggles any time he farts or burps. His brothers have taught him well.

Comments

[Wes]

I added up the money I spend on "telephones" last month, and I'm pitching a hissy fit as we speak!