February News

Please note - there are two picture albums this month:

February 2009 follows the standard format and features miscellaneous pictures of the kids and our activities in February.

Mudroom Project - February 2009 is dedicated to showing a blow by blow of our project this past month. Some folks will be more interested in this one than others, and I certainly understand if you don't want to view all 150+ pictures in this album. We are very proud of the product of our work and wanted to show it to those interested.

To enjoy a walk through of the new mudroom, click

For me, February is the most dreaded month of the year. Typically the coldest, it seems winter will never end. Valentines day rarely provides any relief from the doldrums of the day to day grind during this month. For many years, I 'got through' February by looking forward to the time Stephen & I would spend snowmobiling on the weekends.

This year, February seemed somewhat unusual. Yes, we still had the cold and snow. However, the days seem to be getter longer and the sun feels slightly warmer in the afternoon. These are refreshing signs that the winter, while certainly not over, are waining.

A departure from the norm was the pace in which things seemed to happen this February. My meetings, the passing of Stephen's grandmother, and dad's 8 day stay with us - now seem like a blur.

Dad stayed with us for over a week to ‘hammer out’ the mudroom. Literally, he worked around the clock – sleeping for just 1 or 2 hours at a time, most of the week. He set a pace that I could not keep up with, and Stephen struggled as well. At one point Stephen said to me when referring to Dad, “He’s like the energizer bunny, he just keeps going.” Having done hours & hours of work before he even arrived, the truck came loaded with custom made trim and cabinetry. Before it could go up, we had to finish electrical, heating, studding, drive wall, carpet & paint. It was an amazing accomplishment given the fact that Dad was working with half a crew (or none at all at times). My biggest contributions was running to the store, running after the kids and running the stove. It was a lot of hard work and one tough week, but the product of the work will be enjoyed for a lifetime – literally. The mudroom will suit the needs of our growing family for as long as it needs a mudroom. When the kids are gone, I’ll use the cubbies for canning jars or something! Anyway, it’s beautiful. A great improvement to the house overall and will be enjoyed by everyone (especially me) for years to come. We owe it all to Dad (and mom for putting up with no dad for 8 days). Thank you!

Jordan has been pushing teeth this month (6 in all now)– so we’ve been subject to islands of fussiness. The good thing is she seems to respond well to Tylenol, so I keep giving it to her. She is eating from a plate on her own, and she pretty much chows with the rest of us. I found she loves canned pineapple which is a welcomed addition to her limited choice of fruits.

Jake enjoyed playing ‘catch-up’ with Victoria & Edward while they were here. He loved having Pappa here, especially the time saved for wrestling. Pappa showed all kinds of new tricks and convinced him that ‘seyister’ is Spanish for sister. Whatever!

I made a couple of other posts earlier this month, so I guess that's it for now. I am planning to start seeds in the basement to get a kick start to a good garden this year. Haven't ordered yet from the seed catalogues, so how am I doin? Time to get it in gear because Spring is on it's way!