Well....

We were supposed to be in the midst of a beach party as I type this... one more effort to deal with this crummy weather (more snow, anyone?). But Henry's been coughing again, and his voice is hoarse. He woke up coughing at least once each of the last couple nights. We just didn't want to push it. So the party was officially postponed. I'm totally bummed, as I was all set to make pineapple skewers and drinks with little umbrellas in them. I had the Beach Boys CDs from the library and lots of beach activities for the little ones... Hopefully the timing will still work out for Henry's friends when we reschedule.
But we had a nice weekend regardless. Dad was here for a couple of days. He hadn't seen Henry or Clara since Clara was a couple days old.
We spent this morning adjusting to the time change. Henry and Grandpa read the comics together and then the boys did some trim work in the bathroom. Henry is an excellent helper.

Kitteez

Vote for these cute kitties:

Give them 5 Cheezburgers.

Random Images

So I guess I was remiss in getting a post up about my big brother....who is now old....but not as old as my other big brother who will be FORTY soon! Yikes. I guess this means I'm old too. Or middle-aged? Or getting there....
Here's Rob with lovely little Eleanor:
In my defense- I did get a card to him on time, and I called him before the day was over.

Here's my sweet girl in the bath.
And here's Henry and I at the beach during our pretending picnic yesterday.
A short interview on th beach:

Looking for the Sun

We're so tired of it that we're taking matters into our own hands. Henry and I have been doing some large-scale painting. Here's our ocean:
And here's the sun:
We're planning beach picnics and beach parties to fight away these winter doldrums. More photos to come.
In the meantime....Clara marked 8 weeks of life yesterday. Here is a little gift I bought her. We love Robeez shoes! And she will not wear solely hand-me-downs. This girl has got to rock and ain't nobody holding her back!
Here she is, showing you a little of her attitude:

Give me a quiche

Henry made his quiche last night and it was quite a success. I let him break the eggs, using a tip from the cookbook which said to have the kids smash the eggs in the bottom of the bowl, rather than on the side. It was a good tip- they were right, it's easier to get egg shells out of the egg than to scrape egg off of the counter. I thought he would enjoy the egg-breaking, but he didn't like getting the egg on his hands.The recipe called for a cup of Swiss cheese. We substituted cheddar and just added however much we had in the fridge that needed to be used up, which was probably a cup and a half. The more cheese, the better. It also had broccoli- of which we used more than called for. And scallions, which smell delicious. Another good tip- the book suggested using an extra-large bowl to allow for exuberant stirring.
Once we put it in the oven Henry pulled up his chair and sat down to watch. It ended up taking a while to cook, since we had added extra of just about everything- making it deeper. But it was worth the wait! I think we'll be making quiche more often!
For the fashion-conscious reader (I'm talking to you, Gretchen!) take note of Henry's outfit. He did choose it all by himself. I love the neon-green and maroon combo!
Tomorrow's menu: Lasagna for the grandparents. Henry's already a pro!

OMG the SNOW!

It just won't stop. It snowed a "measurable amount" again last night. Oy!
Here is Franklin demonstrating the depth of the snow. Notice, he's also making P in the snow...heh heh.

So, we've had to get a little creative with our time, in order to not drive each other crazy. Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum and renewed our membership. They have a new (temporary) Clifford exhibit, which was much cuter than I anticipated. Henry could have stayed all day and played with the conveyor belt which took giant foam bones to Clifford's giant food dish.
I decided that today we would do some cooking together. First, Henry browsed through his cookbook (Salad People) and chose some recipes. Then he made a shopping list. He started strong with "pie shells" but things got a little illegible with "scallions" and "milk". We were planning to make a quiche for dinner and salad people for lunch. Before going to the store I managed to get a cute photo of Henry and Clara together...of course, she was sleeping...
After returning from the store I set Henry up with some new window markers. He did a little bit of window art while I prepped for Salad People Assembly. My main goal was that this would brighten up our view a little bit...
Here Henry begins work on his edible art.
And here he is about to dive in. He ate everything but the cottage cheese...which he tried to spit back out on his plate. He insisted he didn't want his salad person to have hair. He had a variety of other options, but wanted to keep it simple.
I'll let you know how the quiche goes tonight!

Busy Days

We've been up to a few things in the last few days.
Clara has spent a lot of time napping and looking cute :We both went to visit the midwife who helped to deliver Clara:
Henry and his dad went shopping for new fish:

Mom was here for the weekend (and still is, due to the weather) so Pete and I got a chance to go out to dinner with Liz and Van:
We celebrated Van's new job with Coke:And laughed at him as he tried to change the channel on the t.v. By the way- apparently if you get stuck in the back room at Merle's you also get stuck with the crappy new waiter who, when you ask what kind of beer they have, responds with "well, do you know what kind you want?" The next night I made a new (to me) recipe from the Silver Palate cookbook: Chicken Monterrey. It was pretty tasty!
Pete and I had been to a movie in the afternoon (The Savages) so there was a bottle out for Clara to have. Henry helped her to finish it.
Grammie got some face time with Clara during dinner.
Look at the back of that head. So cute.
We've got more snow now. Continuing to feel housebound. If you have any warm weather where you are, please send some our way!

House of Illness

Well, I may have to knock on wood again (if you believe in that sort of thing) but I think we are really truly on the mend this time. It might be thanks to the chicken soup...

Or it could be the hours of quiet time (video watching) that we've had...

Or maybe it's the magical influence of the lunar eclipse...
Or the "silly kitty" that comes to join us at "brepfas"...

Most likely, I suppose, it's the medicine. Clara's round of meds ended and Henry's began after a trip to the doctor yesterday. The good news is that Henry only seems to have an ear infection. His lungs sound fine. And we didn't have to give him any purple medicine (ibuprofen) this morning! He's still a little fussy and fragile, and his nose is still runny, but we'll take whatever improvement we can get!

Happy President's Day!

I thought I'd steal a minute while Clara's sleeping and before Henry is escorted back home from his grandparents' house. I know he'll need some attention when he arrives, because apparently he is running a fever again. Henry's health for the past few days looks like this:
Thursday: vomited on bed
Friday: ran a fever, slept most of the day
Saturday: mostly okay, some coughing
Sunday: earache started
Today: runny nose, cough, fever again
Tomorrow: who knows? He will have to stay home from school, since he won't have been fever-free for 24 hours. I might be making a run to the library to check out some movies.
I will be forever knocking on wood, but for now Clara seems to be in good health. Pete and I are holding our own as well...for now. I do have some chicken soup cooking on the stove, with lots of garlic. It wards off more than just vampires, you know. And there is orange juice in the fridge...we usually only buy orange juice if Will or Dad are coming to visit.
So here are your Clara pictures for the day. Take note of the hipster outfit from Auntie Amber. Also, the shoe-socks from a friend of Mary's.
I hope this president's day finds your home healthier than ours! In honor of the day I'm in the middle of reading Lincoln and Whitman, a pretty interesting read if you're inclined to like that sort of thing. One thing about nursing a baby- I have lots of time to read again!

Lounging in the Boppy

Clara's medicine smells like cat pee bubble gum, and I accidentally just licked some off my finger. I guess I thought it was sticky from the mousse I had for dessert.
The Boppy seems to have given Clara the hiccups.
Her eyes are still of indeterminate color...I think.
Does she look bigger? She's nursing more these days.

More Valentine's Pics

Though Henry had perked up a little bit in the middle of the day, he was really still feeling pretty crummy. When Pete got home they laid down to read a couple books and Henry fell asleep again. He awoke long enough to eat a little applesauce, take some Tylenol, watch a video and go back to bed. He slept soundly enough that Pete and I were actually able to have a nice dinner.Joyce requested a picture of the two of us. Do we look tired? Yes. We were. (I could probably have used a little mascara, but who has time for make up?)
Here are the pretty tulips Pete brought home to celebrate our 15th Valentine's day together.
And here's Clara. She put on a pretty pink dress to party with us. Check out her cute cute legs!
I hope everyone found a little bit of love to celebrate in their own lives!