Home Stretch

So, we are at the end of a month that I had been dreading.  Coming back from an AWESOME vacation in Vermont, I had 4 straight weeks of basically taking care of the kids by myself while Nathan toiled away on his first directing gig.  On top of that, I had crazy work projects to take care of, so I was not looking forward to January, to say the least.  However, I have to say it was not that bad at all.  Thanks to my coworkers for helping me get my work done early in the month, lots of friends who were open to having play/dinner dates, a husband who helps out in any way he can, whenever he can and to incredible Colorado weather that often times makes it possible to be outside all day long with no jackets and bare feet in the middle of January, the kids and I made it through the past few weeks without killing each other!  We actually managed to have a lot of fun in the process too.  Zoe learned to ride a two-wheeler, Owen is pretty much rolling over and Nathan is debuting as a director as I type this.  Needless to say, I am proud of my family today. 

This last day was particularly great because, although it is bitter cold out, and generally I have trouble being inside all day by myself with the kids, we had a lot of fun!  Zoe's imagination is growing and growing and it is so much fun to watch...yesterday, she told me she wants to be in "that movie with the dogs and cat" and that we can just "peel it (the TV) off and put it back after I get in."....So, today I took a couple cues from my favorite blog these days "Pink and Green Mama" http://www.pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/ and filled up some spray bottles with colored water and sent her outside until she got cold.  Then I busted out all the rice and dried beans in my cupboard, because let's face it, I ain't cookin' a whole lot these days, and filled a bin with them.  We ended up throwing in some macaroni, pine cones, cotton balls and anything else that looked fun and she and I spent over an hour pouring and mixing.  We did all this while Owen took his SECOND nap of the day in his actual CRIB, which is very exciting as anyone with an infant may know.  Of course, the day wasn't perfect....at one point I resorted to telling Zoe that if she walked away from me near a street again, it might result in a trip to the hospital and that blood would be involved...ah, the things that come flying out of our mouths when our 3 year olds are smirking in our faces..