Last year we had a house full of chicas for a fun week!  I braved heart-shaped whoopie pies which was fun but very time consuming!!  This year I decided to skip the whoopie pies and we started the day with pink waffles, whipped cream and strawberries for breakfast.  The boys were delighted and that started the day off with HIGH energy! They managed to sustain that energy until Seth walked in from work at around 5:30.

I tried to defuse the wildness by plopping down on the couch with a stack of books. I went through our stack of books on the shelf and pulled out all of the love books just to make it extra enticing and festive for V day. It lasted a few minutes and then they were back to wild. We filled our day with making cut out cookies, playing with friends and ended the day with a heart shaped pizza for dinner. No candlelight in this house this year!  This year with the chaos of our schedule we just decided to make it a family gig and postpone the romantic dinner until the dust settles. (Did I mention we are considering gutting a foreclosure house?!….the dust abounds right now)

We have a long  way to go on our journey of learning to love each other well but I hope our little family celebrations teach the boys a bit about loving each other better!   I hope each of you had a happy Valentine’s Day wherever you may be!

We are heading to the mountains tomorrow thanks to a day off for Seth and some generous friends who offered to lend us their chalet in Grindelwald. Hopefully I will be back Monday refreshed and with lots of pictures!

I mean Happy Monday! I was thinking this morning how I used to dread Mondays, particularly when I was a student or working outside of the home. but now, I really rely on my Mondays to get things back in order. By Sunday night I just feel like the house is in shambles, the laundry is piled up, the boys are worn out from extra weekend excitement, the kitchen is a mess and it looks as if I haven’t cleaned in weeks. On Monday mornings Jackson is in preschool and Owen and I have the house to ourselves. He oscillates between being extra needy without Jackson around and being much more independent enjoying every precious share-free moment.   I try to find a balance between my “reclaiming the house” and spending special one-on-one time with Owen. It’s amazing how changing the sheets, starting a few loads of laundry, wiping the kitchen counters and tidying can help the place feel much less chaotic. And it’s equally amazing how a couple of hours apart for the boys can give them both some space to learn and grow and also help them to miss each other!

talking on his banana phone

Oh yes, and today is also a birthday celebration in our house! Seth is turning the big 3-3 today. When Jackson comes home he and I will spend some time baking a birthday treat. I am cooking one of Seth’s favorite meals and I am sure Jackson and Owen will sing Happy Birthday as many times as we will let them.  The rest of the evening will be spent with everyone getting over their sugar high and Jackson discussing how long it really is until it is his birthday. It’s tough that all of our birthdays are sandwiched kind of together between December and February and he has to wait until late July. Oh to be a social boy who loves to plan the next party….I just cannot imagine where he got that from.  Last night when he asked about his birthday I told him the moving men coming to pack out stuff would be his cue…but that is still a long way off.

We have enjoyed the coziness of snowy days but we are ready for some warmth, the ability to take walks and just generally ready for the cabin fever to pass. We have gone through the gamut of puppet shows, building forts, turning the playroom upside down and we are just plain ready for Spring.  BUT we know we still have a while to go! It feels like a February for sure!

every great show needs a good audience

Coming soon I have some recipes to share and a post on toddler sleep…because we have been living in a toddler sleep nightmare….don’t be deceived by the word nightmare,  we are barely sleeping. It has improved enough that I am almost ready to share.

Yesterday a friend and I hosted a baby shower for our mutual friend Haley! She is a fellow American and friend and we thought it would be fun to do the good old baby shower tradition here although it isn’t a custom in Switzerland.

We decorated super simply with fresh tulips and baby booties on the table.  The baby’s great grandmother made some precious pink booties with little socks knitted on and the baby’s grandmother made a little set of pink booties…they both looked so cute on the table! We hung a little ribbon line with vintage baby girl cards on it! And that was it for decorations. Simple and sweet.

We had punch and snacks as people arrived. After we all visited for a bit we  had Haley open her gifts. When the gifts time was done we moved into a lunch/brunch time. In case you think we didn’t feed the momma to be enough here was the menu…

Menu

strawberry lemonade punch

Prosecco with pomogranite syrup and pom seeds

hot artichoke dip

vegetables and dip (Haley is addicted to ranch)

Lunch

individual quiches

curried chicken salad

fruit salad

skewers with tomatoes and fresh mozerella dipped in pesto

bread basket with muffins and breads

Dessert

(everything was mini because we couldn’t imagine anything big after all of the previous eating! )

mini lemon cupcakes with cream cheese icing

brownies

oreo truffles

almond tarts with raspberry jam filling

Needless to say we were all stuffed by the end!  Katie hand dipped pretzels for the guests to take as a favor. They were so pretty with pink chocolate and sweet little pearl candies.

It was a really fun morning! We are looking forward to meeting Haley’s little miss!

The boys are cuddled on the couch listening to a Curious George audio and thawing from our snowy time. Now don’t be deceived, the morning hasn’t all been this peaceful. Oh, and now it isn’t again. Owen has pressed his strong-willed little self between me and the keyboard.  We’ll see how this works.

Let me describe our morning for you before I share some happy snow pictures. As Seth was getting ready this morning he commented on how the boys behavior has improved dramatically.  I couldn’t agree entirely after our Monday.  I said something like “buckle up buddy, I try not to make those proclamations so early in the morning, it tends to jinx us”. When I came out to the kitchen the boys were already at it. Jackson wanted to blue bowl that Owen had and on and on. After breakfast I popped in Sesame Street sharing video and what do you suppose they did while watching it? they fought over toys. We finished up, played and had snack time which went pretty well. It’s our first really snowy day, and although my inner voice was screaming “curl up with a book and hot choki and a cozy quilt”  the good mommy voice fought me with “take your kids outside already”. SO we proceeded to spend the next 30 plus minutes gearing up for snow play. We stepped out, I snapped a few pictures, Owen pulled off his gloves screaming, and in flew a little bird. As in, during Owen’s commotion a little bird tried to find refuge in our house since his outside peace was clearly gone. I let the boys play a few minutes outside and shoveled the walkway just to not cancel out all of the work of gearing up. And then we spent the rest of the morning getting the little guy out. He was beautiful but he pooped on everything he landed on. Computer, lamp shades, toys. And somehow I am laughing about it. (this may be coming before a good cry)

Did I mention Owen is still waking up in the night?! And that I really need him to. Not want him to. NEED him to. I am so tired and so grumpy. Oh yea, and we are waiting for a response on an offer we put on a house. So stress levels are high and bird poop is widespread. Both boys are now at my ankles, Curious George has been halted because they started fighting over holding the book and the page got torn. Off to a pb&j lunch.

Thankful for beautiful snow, a warm house, friends around the globe, leftovers so I don’t have to cook tonight, a niece on the way any day and  pb&j. Wait, I think that rhymes.

so forlorn waiting on mommy to say it’s go time

see the bird perched on the book shelf? not a great picture but you get the idea!

my father-in-law may have to read the blog today to tell us what kind of bird we hosted today!