Life Update

 Wowzas!  I've been gone for a while, but it hasn't been because we've been lazy around here.  So much has happened in the past month!  First and foremost:  PC took the bar!!  We don't find out if he passed or not until May.  He studied like crazy for it.  He went to the church and studied all day long.  He liked it there because it was so quiet.  I counted down the days with a paper chain that adorned our living room.  PC actually didn't like it because it reminded him how few days he had to study.  I was reminded how many days til we were done.  (half empty, half full?)  My friend Heidi was an angel and offered to watch my kids two days in a row so I could go to the Temple while PC was taking his exam.   It was lovely.

PC was a mess the day after he finished the test.  When I say mess, I mean he was very on edge and anything would make him get upset.  I honestly thought it was kind of funny just because I knew this was the runoff of all the stress he'd been experiencing and now he didn't have anything to focus that stress and energy on.  He started to level out 2-3 days later.  His employer was extremely kind and gave him an additional 2 weeks off after taking the bar to relax and recuperate.  We decided to do a stay-cation.  First because we already went on a 'vacation' in December (which I will get around to talking about someday). Second, this mama couldn't handle sitting in the car for a long road trip or be able to run after kids in new settings.  Third, our kids never sleep well when we are away from home and well, this is our last month or so to potentially get any sleep (before the baby comes).  Doing a stay-cation was such a great decision!  We really had fun too.  We took the kids to the Zoo, the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport and the National Cathedral (the last one was obviously for PC and I).  Our afternoons were filled with walks to the park or around the lake.  We ate lots of yummy treats and, of course, watched a few movies :)  Our normal routine got thrown out the window (my preschool endeavors with the kids, and making dinner/ household chores) but no one seemed to mind. :)

Watching a movie

Um, this girl is pretty much darling.  Glad my bump can be a comfy resting place.

We picked a great day to go to the Zoo.  It was almost 60F that day (and the next day it snowed!).  We picked up K1 from preschool, grabbed some Wendy's (which anytime we have fries, is a treat for the kids) and drove to the Zoo.  I knew it wouldn't be as crowded during lunch time esp since most children who wouldn't be in school that could go to the zoo, would need a nap at that time of the day.  Point being, we got there and it was empty of kids.  A few adults were walking around.  I loved that we didn't have to fight wait for a spot to see different exhibits.  In fact we would frequently put the kids right on the counter (hey no one said anything) and let them chill there for a while.   Honestly, it was relaxing (which is saying something for the zoo). We took lots of video while we were there.  Maybe I'll get around to uploading some.

The zebras walked right over to us!  

The kids really enjoyed the small animal house.  I love hearing K1 say an  animal was 'cute' because he says the word 'cute' in a small voice.

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of our escapade to the A&S Museum.  PC has taken K1 a few times, but it was my first time seeing all the airplanes, rockets and artifacts.  I loved seeing how excited K1 was and how he would try to explain things to us. :)  "Look Mom! It's a telescope"  "That's a satellite bud, but yes it kind of looks like Hubble Telescope".  The other favorite saying was,"Check this out!!".  What a cutie. Once again, it was nice to go during the week when no one was there so we could let the kids run free and not worry about losing them.  Ironically enough, there was a work cart parked by the bathrooms that K1 couldn't resist climbing on, and we eventually had to leave because he couldn't leave it alone.  Thankfully, we were at the end of the museum anyways and had an easy reason to leave.  That kid :)

Our last destination spot was the National Cathedral.  We did this one on a whim.  Thirty minutes later, we were in the car with snacks, stroller and the camera.  It was a quick trip.  Honestly, I just wanted to walk around inside for a minute or two to say I'd been there.  We followed a guided tour for about 15 minutes, but obviously small children can't last forever in such a boring non stimulating/ I-can't-touch-anything-or-make-noise environment  that we left.  We did learn that it was the 6th largest cathedral in the world.  I was surprised that Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey (two that we've been to, woop woop) weren't even in the top ten. (warning: this portion has many pictures)

This was the 'science window' and actually has a piece of moon rock in it.  You can see it in the red circle.

Pointing out all the glass to Sister

This little room was called the kid's chapel.  It had tiny chairs with cute pictures embroidered on each of the cushions.

Here we are at the end...looking bored

....and ready to be done

...and blinded by the sunlight....cute.

*pregnancy shot*

We ended the splendid vacation with PC and Sister's Birthday.  PC turned 31 and Sister is now undeniably 2! I attempted making a tiered cake.  I bit off more than I could chew because I also wanted to make a zebra cake.  Making a zebra cake added to the difficulty of properly proportioning the batter into the various pans.  The top layers ended up being great, but I didn't have enough for the bottom layers to trim off the 'dome' and not have the bottom layer look too thin. ANNNNYWAYS... it wasn't even remotely perfect, but it tasted good :)

Attempting to frost the beast

Leaning tower of cake- those are chocolate shavings...like a said...I'm a novice

All the kiddos enjoying some cake

This is what I meant by zebra.  It was really good!

Sister was so cute opening her gifts.  She would exclaim, 'Oh Wow!' or would show great excitement with each gift.  It took her forever to tear the wrapping paper too.  Oh to be little.  K1 really struggled most of the day.  Little background:  He has been talking about his birthday (or how pretty much everyday is his birthday) since Christmas.  Yeah... his birthday isn't until the end of July.  The fact that we were celebrating TWO birthdays that day, and none of them were his was a little hard to take.  I had to explain to him that everyone takes turns having a birthday and today wasn't his turn.  However, I was a nice mommy and wrapped one small gift for him to open when Sister opened hers so he wouldn't feel bad.  No, I probably won't do that next year (hopefully he'll understand by then) but we'll see.  I will note, it made the opening presents process much more enjoyable for everyone.  Finally at the end of the day, we heard him say "It's [Sister]'s birthday" to one of his friends.  That made me happy that he finally got it.

Classic 'fellows' wrapping job that makes it really hard to open the present.

PC is going to kill me that I put this cheeser photo up, but I thought it was fun

Our little chef!  Thanks Gma and Gpa Fowles for the apron, hat, and mits!

They went perfect with the pots, pans and cooking utensils we got her.

I thought I did a cute wrapping job on this

The tent!  Both kids love it.  I mean really, what kid doesn't like having a tent, right?

Some of the 'in between' stuff that happened included:  me going to town organizing our house.  I had so many things in weird places before that didn't really make sense, but I never bothered to take the time to fix them because I always have kids getting in the way trying to help.  K1 had his first dentist appointment and was the perfect patient!

 I had to give a talk in church the second Sunday into our stay-cation. That same Sunday, a woman in my ward asked if I'd be willing to accompany her for a recital in two weeks.  I said yes, not realizing that I'd committed to playing a relatively hard piece.  Honestly, it was on my skill level, but the tempo was FAST!  Therefore, there's more room for mistakes.  Almost all of my free time during the following two weeks was spent practicing this song.  I thankfully learned that my kids will play with their toys upstairs while I play the piano and not climb all over me, or plink around themselves (things that have all happened in the past) so I was able to get lots of good practice in.  We performed last night and I thought I did pretty well considering the amount of time I was given on the piece.  PC read several books, and I read The Hobbit.  I know some of my in-laws would think it blasphemous that I haven't read the LOTR books (hence I've never mentioned it and forgone the gasps that would certainly follow) but decided that I finally wanted to hop on that bandwagon.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Hobbit.  When I feel I have time to read another book, The Fellowship of the Ring will be my next endeavor. We also had the missionaries over for dinner (twice actually over the course of the month) and went to the temple as a couple (which is always nice:)).

The final Sunday before PC went back to work was St. Patrick's day.  I didn't do much for it.  We added green food coloring to our waffle mix and whipped cream, but that was about it.  I think I'll probably do more when I know my kids can appreciate it, but for now I'm taking it easy.

Waffle Master!

...with green batter

note the green whipping cream...the other is our usual strawberry yogurt for dipping

my expressive eater...and yes we frequently strip her down when she eats

Heaven on a plate

PC completed his first week of just work (and thus commences the rest of his life).  It's definitely going to be an adjustment for him.  I can already see a difference in him.  His brain isn't so fragmented with worry and stress.  Yes , he will still experience both, but thankfully, not for so many different things (at least in the foreseeable future...).  I know we enjoyed having him home for dinner MWF and of course on the weekend.  It is a new thing for all of us and I'm so happy.  I'm usually starting to lose it feel worn out by dinner time and need a break or some help.  Now I'm finally going to get that some times.  That alone is going to do wonders for my mental well being (and probably the emotional well being of our kids).

Last but not least (just to be thorough in catching up) baby Sister is sick. :( She threw up Friday night (her first big kid throw up) and has had flu symptoms all weekend.  It's been so sad to watch because she is normally so happy and energetic.  She's been so lifeless all weekend.  She'll just curl up on the floor or couch and stare off in the distance.  Makes me sad (though I won't say no to the extra cuddling I've been receiving.)  Get better quick little monkey!

Whew!  Congrats if you made it to the end of this beast of a post!