Tight Space

FYI: My 'innie' belly button is about to become an 'outie'

The Food of Love

Happy V-Day everyone, or as a friend of mine puts it, Happy Mildly Disappointing Day. I've had my share of disappointing valentine's days, but I can't say today has been one of them. Rob and I went out to dinner last night so we could be sure of getting a reservation. And can I just say wow! We went to The Red Door, which is a little restaurant in Moscow, just across the state line from us. I love fancy restaurants where you can take 2 hours to eat your meal and the waiter isn't hovering over you the whole time trying to hurry you along and the food is fabulous! Go here to see their menu and drool. Although, actually, we didn't have anything that was on that menu because the chef had come up with a special Valentine's Day 3 course dinner that we couldn't say no to. I realized after we left that we really should have taken pictures (though I'm sure that would have been a dorky thing to do) of our food because it was so beautiful and did I mention how amazingly delicious it was? I've never seen Rob eat anything with such delight. He said he actually got all tingly after taking the first bite of his dessert! 

We've had a pleasant day today and the kids are looking forward to some friends coming over in an hour or so for dinner and a movie (we traded babysitting so we could actually have a date this weekend). Oh, and speaking of food, I made homemade breakfast sausage this morning and who knew it could be so easy! No more store bought for us!

On a more somber note, I just spent almost $1000 getting Rob set up for a conference he needs to attend in May. Ouch!

Happy Birthday Sam!!!

A week late, though let's be clear that it's this post that is a week late... the celebrations occurred right on time. It's crazy to think that my little son is 6 already. I keep having to buy him bigger clothes which is a wrench not only to my wallet but to my heart because he's growing so fast! 

I think we managed to make Sam's birthday special. We got up early to take him to our favorite breakfast place over in Moscow; he had a party at school; and we spent the afternoon in Spokane picking up this little beauty of a bike you see below:

Then it was back home to enjoy Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner (which I have a suspicion that Sam picked because it is the ONLY meal which he likes but Grace doesn't. Usually she'll eat just about anything and he is the picky one). Then there were more presents and then the cake. THE CAKE!!!!! I tried a new recipe and had my doubts about it up until I put a bite in my mouth and then swooned. 

Since then we've been working on teaching Sam to ride his big new bike. Our efforts have been hampered my wet, cold, and snowy weather, though we did have a nice day last Saturday and spent some time at the park doing this:

He's learning fast and I think by the time spring is here and I'm ready to get on a bike again, he'll be good to go. 

Sam's extraordinarily happy to be 6. The mantle of authority and expertise that comes with being a whole year older has settled gracefully on his shoulders. This entire past week he's been saying things like, "I can run so much faster now that I'm 6", and "I'm stronger now I'm 6", and "I know how to do that now that I'm 6", and "Grace, you have to do what I say because you're only 3 but I'm 6".  Unfortunately for him, this last one doesn't really work. Grace may be only 3, but in her head she's older then us all. 

Tragedy

Out of nowhere, suddenly chocolate gives me heartburn. 

I weep