March/April Recap

Okay, Blogger has a new layout, I'm a little thrown off by this...(take a break, eat some raw cookie dough)...okay I think I can handle it  (go back for some more cookie dough)(and again)(last time)(recipe here)

So March and April, what did you have in store for us?  Besides another trip to California of course (I haven't even caught up on the last two visits like I wanted to via posts). Avery's teacher loves me.  I probably will be voted parent of the year by school administration. (more cookie dough to celebrate)

Ben - Finishes up his last haul in Seattle.  He has now worked at Seattle Childrens, Harborview, Swedish and Virginia Mason hospitals.  He's seen dog attacks, bear attacks, axe attacks, car crashes, drunken fights, sober fights... I'm pretty sure he's got the whole doctor thing down now.  Can we retire yet?  The one thing he didn't see much of were his kids.  But he's about to see more of them than he wants to, because they now sleep in our bed!

Cruz - Turned two and all of the magical qualities that a two year old has were instantly bestowed upon him!  Just today he managed to: dump a box of crackers, push a chair to the freezer and get himself and Miles a popsicle after being told he couldn't have one, put cooked oatmeal into a pot of macaroni that was being boiled (my fault for not having put away breakfast before starting lunch perhaps) and take most of the keys off of my laptop, which is old and doesn't function so well, but I still like to use from time to time.  Most of these feats were accomplished while singing "we will, we will, rock you".

 He can reach the water function on the fridge now so he can get his own drink which is good.  And he has graduated to showers from baths which I think is funny, because he stands there like a short little man just soaking it all in.  Then he squeegees when he is done.

Miles - Officially warrants a technology intervention.  He'll get kicked off the Wii, go to the computer, get ousted there, find the iPad, get that taken away, sneak my phone and try to watch TV on it...  But since he can't read, the weather stinks and he needs constant attention I don't know what to do.  He does like to cook with me though.

Avery - Continues to whittle away at her college fund by requiring dental work.  From the looks of the bottom row, the worst is yet to come.  I specifically requested that the children have their father's eyesight and my teeth darn it!  But at least so far they can see.

Me - April brought me officially another year closer to my demise.  Today, in fact. I went from the cute, still youngish sounding 33 to serious sounding 34.  I think I might stick with 33.  No one really asked how old I was last year so I didn't really wear it out.  It just sounds way better.   

And although I generally prefer a more glamorous birthday shot.  Here I am, doing what I love most - yardwork - on my birthday.  Specifically here I am de-thatching the lawn.  It's like brushing a matted dog, only it's pine needles and moss.  Super rewarding, and I am going to have some serious traps (as in the muscles) when this job is done.

Britt - Spent a month (it was actually February-March but I forgot last time) with the gauchos in Argentina. Actually only part of the time was spent with any gauchos, she was there to learn Spanish...which she now speaks as well as a quarter of the percentage of Southern Californians (the same quarter she was in before).

I don't have any pics of her getting dip-kissed in Argentina, although I'm sure they exist, so here is one of her  horseback riding in the countryside with her hombre numero uno.