Detente

After a brief but ferocious battle on Saturday evening, I was surprised to see Roxy and Casey in such close proximity on Sunday evening, so I thought I better document this rare event. (Casey has taken to sleeping on Roxy's new dog bed.)

Sunday's family walk

It was so perfect yesterday that I insisted everyone come with Roxy and me on Sunday. Alana wouldn't walk (her legs were "tired") so Larry, Matt and I took turns giving her piggy back rides. In this photo, Matt's working on a snowball - lots of those got thrown!

Tu B'Shevat Seder

Such fun! We had four families over to our house for a Tu B'Shevat seder (the Jewish "new year of the trees"). I read a bunch of stuff online and finally picked a seder guide from Hillel, which I thought covered the topic quickly but richly. I bought a bunch of great food for each of the three categories - fruit with a hard outer shell (oranges, nuts), fruit with a large pit (dates, olives) and fruit that you eat the whole thing (figs, grapes). Matt and Larry helped a lot with setting up the table and arranging the food. I made cranberry chicken and a nice salad for dinner and the guests brought side dishes (roasted potatoes and rice and beans).

I made a small GF chocolate cake and we sang Happy Birthday to Larry, since his BD was on Thursday (but he was working). The kids played very well together before and after dinner.

After dinner, Larry introduced the other husbands to Guitar Hero, which was a huge hit, no surprise. We're already planning to get the group together for other events, it was such a success.

Walk in the park

We finally got some snow on Thursday night and Roxy and I had a good ole time in the park on Saturday - the weather was perfect, I even took off my coat after awhile.

I took this photo of a perfect deer print near the path where we were walking.

Perfect Attendance Certificate!

Casey the devil cat

He's not quite as frisky as he once was, but he's got some life left in him, and he's still a handsome devil. In this photo, he's got milk on his chin.

Another perfect spelling test

Playhouse

The new stove came in a terrific huge box, which we made into a playhouse. I have wonderful memories of a child of playing in just such a structure. Alana is showing off her pony. (Inexplicably, Larry fussed and fussed, saying "Next we'll move into a trailer.")

NEW STOVE!

The burners of our old stove (at least 20 years old) have been extremely tempermental ever since we moved in. We replaced two of them and had a repair man in once, and rather than spending more money to repair it, or waiting until the stove died completely, we decided to treat ourselves to a new stove, using the rebate we got for our winterizing upgrade. Isn't it gorgeous?

New earrings

This is not a great photo, but I'm so pleased with these new earrings, which I got on South Street for $6 (on sale at a lovely shop).

Dirty little secret: I colored my hair! I've done a frosting kit several times, but I've never put color on all my hair before. This was a system called "Color Match" which is supposed to help balance hair with more than one shade (which mine has, since I'd frosted it a couple times but haven't been cutting it, so the new growth is noticeably darker). I'm very pleased with the results, even though I chickened out and washed it out sooner than the directions indicate. It looks very natural and definitely more evenly colored. And a tiny bit reddish, which I think is very bold of me!

Scrabble

Today we had a wonderful brunch at our friends, the Kleiner's. The kids played really well together and actually let the adults talk for awhile. Then we played a rousing game of Scrabble with everyone involved. This is a terrible photo taken with my cell phone, but it's fun to have a record.

Then it was homeward bound. A really nice, relaxing trip.

Bonus: Larry was snowed in on Sunday (no snow in Liverpool, but there was 3 feet in Fulton), so he spent the time we were away finishing the new windows (painting) and fixing a few damaged spots on various walls (from workman and general wear and tear).

Friends

Great trip to Philly, staying with my friend Susan, who's fallen in love with Matt - if he goes to college in Philly, he has an automatic adopted grandma/favorite aunt.

Had breakfast with our friend Kevin and his son DeSean. This is an adorable photo of the three kids together.

Then walked around South Street though it was really cold. Larry's mom met us there, and she bought the kids beautiful glass figurines from the Tiffany glass store.

Then Gma took the little ones to the Free Library, and Matt and I went to West Philly and walked around the USP campus (still cold!) He was a bit disappointed - he thought the school was more in the city and less on the edge of town, but he's still interested in the school (and still waiting to hear from the admissions office).

Caleb's report card, second grading period

Two digit addition

Science test

Yum!

Matt had the simply stupendous idea to make chicken parm tonight and our combined efforts resulted in this delightful dish that is almost too gorgeous to eat, but on the other hand, tasted just as good as it looks, and it was so quick to make.

Another great time at the YMCA

Went to the YMCA for Family Fun Night and brought our friend Jake along, as well as my friend Dawn and her kids Geo and Nicki. They didn't have the bouncy castle or slide, but we still had lots of fun with basketball and hula hoops and jump ropes (I haven't done that in a long time - that's damn good exercise!)

Best walk ever!

We took Roxy for a long walk in the park today. We went down a path that I'd never been on before, which was fun for me since I've been all around that park since last year.



Caleb and Phillip spent the whole time pretending to be characters in Naruto, which I thought was adorable.



Alana and I gathered "magic wands" and berries. In this photo she's showing off the worm she picked up (yuck!)

We also saw four bird's nests.

Friends

Nicki and Alana playing Littlest Petshop, Caleb and Geo playing Naruto on Wii.

Flat Stanley

Caleb's class read the wonderful book, Flat Stanley, and then as a class project, they each made a Flat Stanley and took pictures of Stanley having an adventure. Since we didn't go anywhere over the winter break, we took photos of Stanley playing cards with us. Then we sent Stanley to visit Bobbie and Burt in New Jersey, where he went to a diner and had other fun. I'll add those photos when I get them.

Doggy assessment

I have to rush home from work today to meet the social worker from family services because, get this, she has to meet our dog. A couple of months ago I put in an application to be a foster parent and their policy is no homes with pitbulls. But since Roxy is a mix, we're still being considered, contingent on her good behavior today during the home visit. Of course I have no concerns about Roxy, because she's the sweetest dog ever. I also had to get written testimonials from our vet and the SPCA where we adopted her, and when I contacted them they both thought I was applying to foster pets, so I had to explain that the letter had to go to the county office for humans.

ADDENDUM 10 p.m.

Of course Roxy passed with flying colors. As the social worker was leaving, Caleb came bounding up and asked, "Are we going to get one?" It was hilarious - he's really exciting, which is completely thrilling to me.

Homemade pearl

We had a seafood feast for dinner and Caleb decorated the empty clam shell with a ring of calamari.

New Years Glasses

My friend Jill in Philadelphia sent these to the kids.

Yummy new windows

We got gorgeous new energy-efficient windows, and additional insulation this week. Hopefully the energy savings will pay for the improvements over the course of a few years. The best one is this bay window in the front. The rest are just ordinary windows, but being brand spankin' new makes them special. And we think we can tell the difference already.

Brrr!

I know it's cold all over the country, but the thermometer outside my kitchen window said THREE DEGREES this morning and the high will be in the 20s today (though with the wind chill, it won't feel that warm!)

Bunny prints

Every time we get snow, we have these adorable bunny footprints on our driveway and front lawn (I looked up footprint ID to find out what creature it was). Not sure where they hang out to stay warm, but I'm guessing under the house or back deck.

YMCA New Year's Party

Poor quality photos from my cell phone that document a good ole time (except for Larry bitching constantly, what a cry baby). Caleb is doing the limbo and Alana is sliding and getting ready to enter the Bouncy Castle with her buddy Lily.


After this we went home and had an extensive Guitar Hero tournament. Our friends Meredith, Dave, Aaron and Adam spent the evening with us, along with Matt's girlfriend Cristina.



The kids stayed up until midnight, though Alana conked out on the couch right around the time we were watching the ball drop in Times Square.