February 2017

I'm currently sitting on a bed in a hotel in Eau Claire while Jordan is working in a local hospital. I decided to tag along on his work trip (hey, free hotel room right?!) so I could bum around Eau Claire, reliving my college memories, while he is working and Noah is having a great time at home in Madison with his grandmas. And since it's the end of the month I figured it would be a great time to update my blog too.

At the beginning of the month our daycare hosted their annual winter sledding party. It was SO COLD and windy that morning, and I had taken Noah to his Little Gym class beforehand so he was pretty wiped out by the time we got there. But that didn't stop him from enjoying the hot cocoa! We even managed to convince him to try out the sled a couple times too.

Loving the hot cocoa

Wheeeee!

Riding on daddy's shoulders is the best!

Later that week I also added on to my existing tattoo. When asked which shade of purple he liked best, Noah said, "Purple!" ...You got it, kiddo.

We went with the second from the left. That's pretty purple, right?

Another new experience for Noah this month was trying his first fortune cookie. I opened one and gave him the cookie and this fortune was inside. I think it's probably pretty accurate for this little guy who has so much to say that sometimes all his words come out jumbled together. The second cookie I gave him? He scarfed it down and I never found the fortune. I'm about 90% sure he ate it. Oh well.

Valentine's Day was fun this year. It was the first time that Noah made Valentine's to give to friends and we got a special box of treats from my mom too. Jordan and I decided to keep it simple and didn't do any big presents and just enjoyed a quiet night at home.

How many boxes of chocolate are in here??

A special treat for me!

Working hard to pack Valentines!

The finished product!

Two of our Art students were recognized for their work in the Scholastic Art and Writing competition, and the reception was held this month at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It was so great to be there to see their big moment. I hadn't visited this museum in years and it was nice to get to spend some time checking it out.

The display of HS art- it was huge!

Fun day!

 The weather lately has been insane. I think I read that there were five record high temperatures last week in Madison. This comic accurately sums up my feelings about this abnormal weather:

We had some beautiful afternoons playing outside with friends. Notice the complete lack of snow and coats. In Wisconsin. In winter. Yep. We're just going to enjoy it.

Fun with bubbles!

Noah is still learning how to blow bubbles. Check out those duck lips!

Future music-makers. These kids just fill up my heart.

<3 <3 <3

Yep, in the sandbox. Without a coat. In February.

We had Noah's parent-teacher conferences at daycare this month. They do them every six months to keep us updated on how he is doing overall at school, what they're working on with him there, and how we can keep collaborating to work on the same things at home. We're so lucky that Noah loves going to daycare and always runs in to give his teacher a big hug. The same week I had conferences at my school and got to sit on the other side of the table as the teacher. I'm really enjoying my new classes and have been trying some new opportunities which has been fun.

This weekend is kind of a big deal because it's the first time that Jordan and I have both spent more than a night away from Noah. The grandmas got here on Thursday, we dropped Noah off at daycare on Friday morning, and then Jordan and I left for Eau Claire on Friday afternoon. The whole trip has been great so far. Jordan and I have actually gotten to have dinner in a restaurant together TWICE, we've gone swimming in the hotel pool, relaxed in the hot tub, I got to do a little pampering of myself, work on some stuff for school, and just enjoyed turning off the parenting part of my brain for a little while.

Reading millions and millions of books!

We left right after a snowstorm so the roads were okay and the trees were lovely!

Before!

After!

FREEEEEE! 

Obligatory Jordan-reading-the-menu shot.

Spuds A'Plenty at my favorite college bar. Yes, that's what they're called. Basically cheesy tator tots. Yummm.

 I've gotten to get a fair amount of reading done this month. I finished the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets early in the month. Then Jordan found a couple YA books in a Little Library in our neighborhood that I hadn't read in probably 20 years- the Indian in the Cupboard and Fudge-A-Mania- so I flew through those in a few nights. It was fun to re-read these books that I remember enjoying so much, although the stereotyping was pretty yikes. Last night I finished 10% Happier: How I Tamed The Voice In My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris. It was really, really enjoyable. I've done some work with mindfulness and meditation but it's been a couple years, and this inspired me to try to get back into it.

Tomorrow is Jordan's birthday! Noah is excited for the cake and ice cream. See you in March!