Minn-NO-snow-ta: We have little coating for a few days. Even though I don't miss the messy parking lots, I am longing to be snowed in for a day.
Downton: I feel satisfied and relieved by the way things resolved between Matthew & Mary. But - if Bates is really guilty and he used Anna for a little bit of happiness before imprisonment, then my opinion of him will plummet. It's so hard to judge his culpability since he plays the martyr so very well. And Sir Richard - will he leave the family alone or milk their scandals for all they are worth? Oh well, at least he no longer has power over Mary's chances with Matthew. If you don't know what to do with your Sunday nights now that Season 2 is over, Dawn plans to continue weekly discussions with Masterpiece Mondays. Dickens is coming!
Dancer: It was Observation Week at the ballet academy so I took some time out to see her in action. She was able to observe a Level 2 class (en pointe). I have no idea how long she will be able to continue both ballet and violin, but we are doing our our best to allot the time and money to make it happen. She is on the verge of two exciting milestones with each: vibrato and pointe. It would be nice to see her achieve both before narrowing her focus.
Sunshine: After a year of saving, she finally had enough money to buy her own American Girl doll. She chose Marie Grace. For some reason I chose to drive to MOA on a Saturday instead of ordering online. I'll know better next time.
(At our house, the girls save their own money for American Girl dolls. Not that I dislike them, I just don't like them. The books are formulaic and the merchandise is almost as as expensive as having another child. We do buy our girls Beautiful Girlhood dolls and all the clothes and books that go with them for Christmas and birthday gifts. The dolls are versatile and the books are about real life heroines. But there's something thrilling to a girl about American Girl dolls, and I'm happy that she's happy.)
Choir Boy: He spent the night at the choir building President's Day weekend for singing, team building and rousing music games like musical tic-tac-toe. I could not quite tell if the girls left behind missed him or were jealous, or a mixture of the two, but everyone was glad to have him back home - especially his baby brother. At least I think that's what all the horsing around meant.
Little Princess: Very day she says something funny, or at least in a terribly funny way. She saw her big brother juicing a case of oranges and a light bulb went on, "Oh, so that's how orange juice is made!"
Little Prince: We have nicknamed him Samuel, as in Samuel Morse. Long "ugh" sounds mean he wants something. Short "ughs" mean we guessed correctly. Here he his showing off his block building skills.
Around the House: I cleaned and organized the pantry and now we can walk into it! The two new red bins on the floor are for baggies and wraps that are open and the other one is for chips and crackers. The box in the middle is for unopened baggies and wraps - you get a lot when you buy at Costco.
Seasonal Fun:
Tax Return: What do you do with yours? We wanted to put on a deck (finally) but decided to save most of it instead. Almost all of it - I got a summer quilt and shams (20% off and free shipping at L.L. Bean), Lauri puzzles for the little ones, Extreme Dot-to-Dot books for the older ones, and a pretty new pot to replace an old cheap IKEA one.
President's Day cupcakes
The Chair of St. Peter with Papal Symbols (the child who get up and gets their chores done by 7:30 gets to sit there for the day - and serves the rest of the family - since the Holy Father is the "servant of the servants of God)
Lent Begins Again
Stay Tuned For: The Next Violin Recital.
