Had a good Valentine’s Day! The kids each received one of those Bilbio toys. Activity toys – all about activity toys for my active two.

These things are pretty great. They can sit and spin around in them which I have a movie of them doing that somewhere. They can turn them over and stand on them. They have been hats. Not surprisingly, Quinn is using it as a place to put things. Tyler nn is spinning bear and lobster in his. We brought them with us for sliding down hills in the snow. Pretty fantastic thingamabobber!!

Speaking of love, this dog loves Chris. Sadly Daddy is very busy and so Chase doesn’t get all the Daddy time he would like. But when he does, oh this dog is in completely heaven. I love this picture….

One can never question the tenderness between father and daughter. The way he immediately softens when she needs him, when she comes in dressed up or giving him something she made leaves no room for doubt that he adores her.

She comes to snuggle in the middle of the night after a bad dream. He lifts up the blankets and they snuggle close and sleep tight.

She will sit quietly in his lap while he works. And this mellowness that she exhibits, different from her spirited older brother, means that he is happy to have her there in his lap content with the company.

It is sweet and I love seeing him be such a softie. He always wanted a son, but he never knew how much this little girl would steal his heart.

This week has been a great week! It has been a while since I had one of those at home. Somewhat surprising considering the number of work and other commitments I had and then again, not that surprising as we just returned from vacation. I was trying to put my finger on what I was doing differently to make this week flow better. I finally stopped that exercise realizing “who the hell knows?” I mean there are times I am on top of my game and the kids still fall apart. And so rather than over-analyze it, I am just going to enjoy it.

I am definitely a way better Mama with sleep – I just feel better, I am more fun, and just have more energy for life. Today Tyler wanted to play Monopoly (preschooler rules here). Usually I would say “no” or brush it off. Today I made it a priority. And it was a really nice time. I sat down, we connected.

Of course after the game, they naturally went totally crazy while I tried to talk to my Mom on the phone. But I am remembering to surf the moments, and so I try to effect a shift in their energy, but I don’t lose it. And so they shift, and then you get this:

..and there they are, swinging easy and letting the day pass them by.

And naturally twenty minutes later they were both naked in the backyard playing with the water hose. I am learning to love these waves and not run from them, but rather ride them. Each one brings a surprise – what crazy play will they come up with, what body part will be the butt of jokes today (pun totally intended), what nook will they find to catch their breath, what will the quiet moment be.

I see how it is easy to feel like one big party pooper as a Mom. Always having to shut down the fun. And while yes, sometimes that has to happen, these days I am starting to join it a lot more often. And you know, I am having a lot more fun!

Who knew? A Tyler creation and I am so in love with it!

And I love Duplo legos. So many of Tyler’s friends have moved on up to the regular legos, but my kids are just not ready. It is so interesting to watch. Their play with the duplos is effortless. They have a good amount to create with and build everything and anything you can imagine. They are happy, content and do not struggle in building their creations.

When Chris brought out his legos, to my chagrin, I saw a different vibe in the kids’ play. Quinn obviously struggled more and of course, likes to put the pieces in her mouth. Tyler started to get very particular – having to use specific pieces and wanting to build the models he saw in Daddy’s stuff.

Suddenly the creations were more labored and it seemed more difficult to make come to life. He would want to play with the big models he and Daddy built, but parts kept falling off every time. They are built to be on a shelf, not flown all over the house as he wants to do at this age. I also found that I was needed more which I have a problem with. And while I don’t mind challenging them, this level of legos caused too much contraction and more frustration for everyone.

And so this mean Momma put the kabash on the little legos. On occasion a model he and Daddy built comes down, but I find that he doesn’t even ask for them very much anymore. A day after our trip Tyler was happily building “spaceships with cameras attached” with his Duplos. When they are both older, the regular ones will come out again. But for now things are once again happy and peaceful and full of numerous creations, like my new friend here, cardinal. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, ya know?

I think I could have saved a lot of money on that dollhouse. I get so caught up in making sure she has the house, the dolls, the furniture. Really all she needs is a plate and 4 bugs.

Little Miss cracking me up as usual. She had collected 4 roly-poly bugs on the evening walk. We had a leaf bug in the bug barn to whom she thought about feeding them. Ultimately they ended up on this plate. She was talking to them and telling them where to go.

Once they started crawling around it was “you go over here little roly” as she created a story for them. She was so quiet and so focused. I loved seeing her face right up to the plate, so a part of whatever they were doing.

I just love the simplicity in kids play. It doesn’t take much for them to create a world. I also think that roly poly were put on this earth for kids.. :-p

In the midst of so much blahness, sometimes inspiration and ideas come at just the right time and make for lots of fun. And so this was the case Monday night. Chris and I were both pretty worn out and down and having that “how did we get here?” conversation trying to figure out why the house is always a mess, why nothing gets done and why we both feel so overwhelmed. During this time, the kids were naturally up to something and soon enough we found out what.

Before long we had two monsters running into the office roaring their terrible roars and gnashing their terrible teeth. They then headed back out to add more color to themselves. They quite enjoyed themselves and I was simply thrilled that there was no water or grand-scale clean-up involved! :-p

We ate dinner with our two little monsters. I knew that our evening walk would now be a bath and then suddenly inspiration struck! We told the kids that after dinner we would be putting the monsters at the table into the witches’ bubbly cauldron. They were very intrigued and loved this idea!

I left the table and quietly made a very bubbly bath in the bathroom. When I returned, the kids were finishing dinner and getting their dishes to the sink. Chris and I turned off all the lights then we cackled like witches and each of us chased and grabbed a child and took them to the bathroom. The kids of course were giggling and eating it up.

When we turned on the lights in the bathroom for them, there was the bubbly cauldron waiting and they both jumped in with gusto. I brought them each a small colander (which became their cauldrons) with many spoons, baster and other tools from the kitchen. They spent the next half hour happily making spells in their cauldrons in the bath!

It was so cool and we all had such a good time. If only I could have those kind of brilliant ideas more often. At any rate, it was a really nice evening and I enjoyed that for once everything seemed to effortlessly flow.

So the last week everything has felt so labored. The only conclusion I can come to, especially since I am well rested at the moment, is that this is my cycle taking me out. Someone tell me how it is fair that after birthing two children, that cycles have an even stronger (read:negative) impact on my body? Come on Mother Earth – cut me some slack?

So I have no energy these days…I have been here too much lately – this no energy place. I don’t know why I am back to the place of extremes, either so up or so down. I kind of thought after so long, I had finally found my middle ground.

I am trying to take greater notice of my patterns as a friend advised. Down times will come and I just need to brace myself, know they will pass and not get swept up in the emotion. Nevertheless, I find it frustrating that I feel like lately I can’t get back on top of things.

And so after dinner last night we were waiting for Daddy to get home from a late meeting. It was raining and the kids wanted to go outside. I opened the garage door and out they went. I opened up the back of the minivan and laid down sideways looking out.

For five minutes I found my breath. I listened to the wonderful rain pouring down on the garden. I noticed the bright sheen on the driveway created by the rain and my neighbor’s outdoor lights. I watched the little stream running down the side of the street. I watched the rain fall off my neighbor’s eaves. And in that five minutes I found much peace. Whatever this was, I was going to be alright. I took many more breaths and just took in the moment.

Of course, I finally got up to see what the kids were doing. And here is what i found – the two kids hauling the inflatable ghost over to me in the rain to show me something. Those two crack me up sometimes….they are such nuts!