Happy Valentine's Day 2009

How to make Valentine's night special with a two year old on the premises. That is, besides the fact that every night is special with a two year old on the premises.  Given his choice Calvin would make a every night a party (although, apparently not with cake, but I'll get to that later).  At least a couple times a week he asks to have a picnic in front of the fire place, an activity which, thanks to the difficulty of keeping a two year old sitting during a picnic, we reserve only for occasions which we deem as special.  So we made tonight just one such occasion and spread our blanket in front of a warm fire to enjoy its coziness on "the day of love".  Of course, many people celebrate hearts day with fancy meals; some go out, some order in, and still others plan and cook delightfully gourmet versions of an edible love affair, but that just wouldn't do for a picnic dinner and we opted for something way more fun than fight crowds or pay exorbitant amounts of money - we made individual heart shaped pizzas.  Perhaps that's the crowning glory of making your own pizza dough - being able to shape it however you want and in any size (and dressing it however you want, too, of course).  We had two different Valentine themed pizza options tonight - The Audrey Hepburn Classic Romance pizza (sporting clever cheesiness, olive you olives, going all to mushrooms, and slightly spicy uncured pepperoni), and The Brad Pitt Spice Things Up pizza (with it's extra cheesiness of Italian mozzarella and Mediterranean feta, and slightly spicy, yet goofy, banana pepper rings).  Strangely enough Jon and I opted for half and half pizzas and Calvin opted for everything everywhere.  I guess you just can't have one without the other.  Don't forget to pour the (cheap) champagne.  We hope you all had a happy Valentine's Day, no matter how you decided to celebrate!

It may be winter today...

but it was spring (in February) on Tuesday.  I miss the puddles already.

Pondering

Praising Monday

Weekends are all fine and good, but there's something to be said for the return to routine on Mondays. Weekends often find us running from one fun activity to another, even if just within the confines of our own home, and by the time Monday rolls around Jon is probably happy to be headed off to work, and Calvin and I are happy to return to our quiet weekday routines, such as a good, long afternoon nap. And today was a relatively pretty day. Keep in mind, of course, that we're talking Michigan in February, so when I say relatively pretty I mean it was almost 40 degrees and there was just little enough grayness to allow for very faint shadows on the sidewalk.  So we took advantage of this and took our first walk since last November (shameful, yes, but what are you going to do in sub zero weather???) to get our mail from the box. Getting out of the house without dressing in suits NASA would envy was a wonderful treat this time of year.  Exciting stuff, especially since it's been a long time since it has been warm enough to handle the camera for a good outdoor photo shoot (ah I miss those). Of course the other part of it being nearly 40 degrees? The puddles. Last year I had to encourage him to play in the puddles so I could get some pictures (only a scrapbooker would consider this), but not so this year. This year I had to encourage him to slow down so as not to soak the camera (thankfully I had the longer lens). I am ever so thankful to my mom for getting him those really nice boots last fall; his pants were soaked up to the knees, but his socks and feet were bone dry. Needless to say, he did take that really goooood nap, which allowed me to clean the bathrooms and then make chicken, biscuits, and gravy, healthy style, for dinner (after thoroughly washing my hands, of course).

If you're wondering about the black and white... none of his winter clothes are color matched, and Photoshop is a wonderful thing.  There are more pictures in the Februrary 2009 album, plus I'll be sharing a few more later this week (just to keep you in suspense, or maybe it's because so little is going on and I need to spread out the excitement).

Penny for your toddler thoughts

Oh to know what exactly is going on inside that toddler thinking machine.

(scene - bedtime a few nights ago, after lights out before songs)

Calvin - "talk about God."

Jon - "Okay.  God made you, God made me..."

Calvin (interrupting) - "God made everybody.  Yeah.  That must have been haaaaaard work."

(scene - grocery store produce section, picking up a ginger root)

Calvin (holding aforementioned item in his hands) - "This is a ginger root."

Me - "Yes, we need it for dinner."

Calvin - "This is an ooooodd thing."

(insert hysterical laughing coming from the nice man stocking the lettuce)