Must Read!

I should be blogging all those pictures--all 5 of them--I took in March and showing you how cute and talented my kids are and how we actually traveled to somewhere with sun and not this endless, endless snow that we have here at home. But, instead, I am showing you this. I know we can be food snobs over here, but this is ridiculous and disgusting. That's not to say I haven't eaten at or enjoyed some of these restaurants before (oh Macaroni Grill focaccia, how I love you). I do think that the old adage, that knowledge is power is the point of this article, though. All our best and some pictures to come sometime in the future!

February

February is the month I would like to forget about. If I could pick just one month each year to get rid of, it would have to be February! It is just so cold here! I know it's cold almost everywhere, but still, we're chilled through and through and getting so very tired of snowsuits and hats and mittens, etc. etc. Also, for those of you who know Cache Valley, the inversion. It's just gross to go outside and smell the air. There's something wrong about that. My kids are truly trying to be good sports, but what we all really want is to go outside! That's not to say we don't get out for a walk almost every afternoon, but it's just not the same as playing outdoors unencumbered by layers of down and water repellent fabric for hours on end. Hadden's newest obsession is Lego's, which is not helping my cabin fever in any way. It feels more like a slow and cold form of torture to put together houses, cars, planes, helicopters, etc., etc. day after day only to have them immediately smashed by a loving but not so very gentle nearly 2-year-old. And then there's the stepping on the forgotten pieces, you know the ones that you thought you picked up out of the rug, but apparently you, well, didn't; only to find them embedded into the tender skin of your feet? Yikes, am I just complaining? What I meant to do was post these pictures of how we are managed to survive February despite it's best efforts not to let us. Hope you are all defrosting, wherever you may be!

Truly, Calla is happy nearly all the time. I don't think she actually remembers summer.

I think we were super bored this day and Hadden took to trying on extra sunglasses. I really cannot remember why he thought it was so funny to wear them with only underwear, but it was funny.

He then, of course, had to run around the house. I particularly love how fierce his face looks. He is generally very fierce lately.

Even the deer are getting tired of scavenging for food underneath all the snow. These particular deer were right outside Calla's window when she was getting her diaper changed. She looked up and said "deer," and Chris looked out the window to see these two right up next to the house. Hadden came running and pretty soon we had scared them into the neighbors yard, which is where they are in this picture. They then jumped over the fence, at which point Calla started to cry uncontrollably and kept saying, through her huge sobs, "deer" We think she was actually terrified, poor girl!

The other day Hadden informed me that it was Dimple's birthday. Dimple is the little stuffed dog in the above picture. Hadden has never been much of a stuffed animal guy, but Dimple is by far his favorite. I decided to humor him and made cupcakes for Dimple. Hadden insisted that Dimple eat dinner with us (he has a bowl of soup and a bowl of water) and then he had to have a birthday candle, which Hadden was all too happy to blow out for him.

And this is what the kids were doing this morning while I was getting ready for church. Chris has to be at church at 7 a.m. every Sunday, so we all fend for ourselves and reading books in our bed is one way to keep them from fighting with each other while I get ready. Hadden put down his age-appropriate book and mischievously said to me, "Mom I am going to read a vampire book to myself! It's the one with the apple right?" I, of course, thought this was hilarious. For the record, he has no idea what a vampire is, just that I happen to have a few books about them and that I've read them a few times. Maybe we'll get out a little more in March!