Signs

Now that Aurora can read and write, we've entered an era of sign making. She made a reversible sign for her door that says "Come inside! You are welcome to!" and on the other side, "Please ask to come inside Aurora's room!!!!" So, she can write and she can act like a teenager. This morning she (quite appropriately) made this sign: "Clark's Not In the Mood to Hug."

In case you can't see it, that's Aurora on her knees saying "Hug" and Clark's responding "Noooo." Indeed, now that Clark can talk and express his own opinions, he says "No" quite a bit, and hasn't been in the mood to hug or kiss or be held for the last few days. He wants to run down the driveway on his own, get his own snacks, turn the TV on and off himself - basically, he wants to be his own independent little man! This is the phase where meltdowns and power struggles start becoming a regular part of life, which is a bummer, but we still manage to have our share of fun (and hugs).

Summer in February

I guess winter's over! Highs were in the 70's and 80's this weekend and we took full advantage of it. Saturday morning Aurora had a Daisy troop meeting at the lake. The girls were learning how to be compassionate and caring, and they made dog toys out of old clothes to give to dogs who don't have homes. We played at the park, ate outside and played checkers, blew bubbles and colored with sidewalk chalk, and this afternoon we went to another park with our new canopy and watched the boats go by. I can only imagine how hot summer is really going to be - and I imagine we still have a rainy season to come - but this was pretty darn perfect.

Kid's Stuff

It seems like just about everything I do outside of work has to do with kids. I go to birthday parties, play at parks, watch kid's TV and read children's books. This week I've felt like such a grown up. I had Monday off while the kids were at school and it was glorious. I jogged around Town Lake, got a pedicure, and had a lovely lunch with my parents to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary!

That night, mom and dad watched the kids while Chuck and I went out. We've decided that this year we're going to make monthly date nights a priority, and we kicked it off with a concert at the Moody Theater. We saw a band called Neutral Milk Hotel and it was pretty awesome.

Today we met with our financial advisors, I went to the chiropractor, Chuck set a date for jury duty, and lately I've been setting tons of appointments for things I need to take care of during spring break. You know, getting our taxes done, an oil change, and Clark's well baby visit. Okay, so in some cases the kid's stuff is way more fun than the grown up stuff, but I sure did enjoy everything about Monday... so much that I already have tickets for next month's date night. I can't wait!

Super

This weekend was filled with great weather and super fun activities. We started out with a birthday party at Peter Pan Mini-Golf. My mini golfers were adorable and got lots of holes-in-one. Of course, Clark just held tight to the club and dropped the ball into the holes...

Afterwards we met up with Grandma & Grandpa and headed out to Zilker park, which was as crowded as I've ever seen it. We played, took a ride on the Zilker Zephyr, had snow cones, then headed to Chuy's for a super delicious dinner.

Today was a super hero birthday party for our friend Melody. Aurora dressed as "Love Hero." Her super power was that if anybody needed love, she'd give it to them! Fun times at the Thinkery.

Tomorrow is President's Day, which was supposed to be a school holiday - but, thanks to the wintery weather, it's a make-up day and both school and daycare will be open as usual. Interestingly, my work will be closed soooo... super mama gets a day off! What!? 

Open Hearts

This week we had another first in the world of kinder-parenting. Valley View hosted an Open House, which was... well, it was almost exactly like our first meet the teacher, but the Booster Club was selling baked goods and Aurora was prepped on how to take me on a tour of her classroom! The main things she was supposed to point out were some sweet pictures related to Valentine's Day.

She loves her Grammy and Grampy, Mrs. Parolini, Hello Kitty, Mommy, Daddy, her friends Olivia and Mia, and Clark (of course). She also loves butterflies, watermelon, and her stuffed animal Uniqua. Today she came home with an awesome box full of Valentines. Kindergarten is the best!

Daycare is pretty sweet, too. Clarkie painted a Hershey's Kiss for "the best parents ever," which is adorable. It was wrapped in foil with a bunch of other goodies. Such a handsome boy!

We had heart shaped pizza and delicious desserts at work, and, well... that's about it. Chuck and I will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Monday night, and we have a few other fun activities planned for the weekend. Happy Heart Day to all of my loyal readers!

Games

This week the Olympic Games began, and now that we have DVR we waited to watch the opening ceremony with the kids. You'd think Aurora would've been excited, but getting her to watch with us was like getting her to eat green vegetables. I think all these unplanned late starts and snowless snow days had her feeling cooped up and out of whack. Luckily, it was warm and sunny today and we had a special outing planned - her first real gymnastic class!

She's been asking for gymnastics for quite awhile now so I've been looking into options for spring break and/or summer camp. This trial class certainly was fun, and she did a great job. Maybe if we were watching the summer Olympics she would've been more enthusiastic?

My parents came over for dinner tonight and we all had fun dancing, playing, and reading. One especially fun game included a balloon, which popped. Ohhh the drama. You'd have thought she was being forced to watch the Olympics while eating green vegetables! She could've gotten a gold medal for sadness. Her brother on the other hand, he could probably get a gold medal for cuteness.

I just needed an excuse to post that picture. Anyway, I'm hoping our wintery weather has passed and we can return to our normal work and school schedule. I do have to say that I enjoy watching the winter games. Ice skating, snowboarding, and ski jumping? Awesome! I'll just have to save my viewing until after the kids are asleep...

Haircuts

This weekend it was time to get Aurora's haircut, and it wasn't a hard decision to bring Clarkie along for his first cut, too. It was so cute long and a lot of people (my mom included) would've liked us to let it keep growing, but it was in his eyes all the time. Here's how the day went:

It's a real, short, boy cut. He kept saying he was "all done," wanting us to take off the smock, but he didn't mind sitting in the little car and having his hair cut. I can't figure out if he looks older or younger. I mean, this is what his hair looked like just over 6 months ago! Regardless, he's adorable.

That last picture shows my short-haired kids watching the beginning of the Superbowl. We had a fun night watching the first half with friends. Go Seahawks!