2014 Begins...

Happy New Year!!!

I'd almost forgotten about that wild and crazy night at the Morton's.  It was first time we've all stayed up for the real turn of the clock...maybe not the greatest idea, as we learned the next day, but we had fun.

February is a great time to start getting caught up for the new year.  I've only missed two birthdays already, but at least I'm squeezing this post in before the third.

This photo is all I seem to have from my own birthday.  It's the cake that my sisters brought over to cheer me up after our out-to-lunch came to a bit of an abrupt end, thanks to a certain 2 year-old that I foolishly brought along.  And the joy continued later that afternoon, since I had exercised great wisdom in scheduling dentist appointments for my kids on my birthday.  Oh well.  Luckily, I know my kids love me and have an abundance of sweet moments where they manage to express their love, even if those expressions don't happen all at once.  Or on my birthday.

TLC turned 9 last month.  He's still the same smart, inquisitive, joke-telling, game-playing, sister-teasing kid that he was at age 8, but maybe a bit more mellow, responsible, and definitely with a bigger appetite.  He zips through homework and piano practicing so he can focus on more important things like computer games, Legos, and TV.  He enjoys Cub Scouts--he earned his Wolf at the end of last year and now attends Bears, where he gets to have me as one of his den leaders.  What a lucky kid.

2014 has been good so far.  We've had some great days skiing, even one with Aunt Tracey, though not much snow here in the valley.

The kids are working hard in school, some doing Science Fair projects, some trying out for the school play, everyone reading and studying spelling words.  The three bigs have Federation coming up for piano.  It will be SCC's first, but she doesn't seem all that nervous. We continue to try out new systems and incentives to keep the household manageable and family members respectful and responsible. I'll be sure to post the golden solutions once I discover them.

We seem to be close to beginning a minor renovation project in our basement. I'm excited to see some improvements that will make better use of the space down there and also provide better storage.