We have been talking about nut crackers in this house since before Christmas.  I’m not sure why, but it’s a frequent topic of conversation.  Last week the stars aligned (ok, really my memory and location aligned) and we found a nutcracker at the grocery store.  The kids were thrilled.  Sadly, we seem to have missed nut season!  :/  I found some almond stragglers at the grocery store, and a bit of remaining almond/hazelnut mix at the produce market, but it’s definitely slim pickings.  I bought a handful of almonds and hazelnuts, but the kids don’t really like them.  If anyone out there comes across walnuts in shells, could you send some our way?  Or tell me where I can find them?  I’m out of ideas.

I love the games that Lex and Eve have been playing lately.  We play lots of board games, of course, but recently they’ve started making up their own games.  The other day they invented “net tag” (which I would have called “blanket tag”).  The game involves them running around upstairs and “tagging” each other with their baby blankets.  There are complex rules that Lex explained to me, but honestly I don’t remember any of them.  What I do know is that it keeps them busy, and active, and upstairs, for a good long time!  Today they were playing “garbage truck” which involves each of them getting a pile of cardboard cards (that came with the toy garbage truck at Christmas) and then running back and forth between the living room and kitchen.  Again, lots of complex rules about safety spots and whatnot.  I noticed that on each trip into the living room they would tuck one of their cards under the end table.  Perhaps the winner is the first out of cards?  I’m not sure.  Actually, I’m not sure there even is a winner to these games.  It makes me happy to see them playing so nicely together and having so much fun.

Honestly though the “playing nicely together” is hit or miss.  They seem to spend as much time fighting (shrieking, yelling, running) as they do playing.  Sometimes I’m not even sure if they are fighting or playing!  Yesterday Eve came shrieking in to me and started crying about something, with Lex right on her heels.  I found myself saying, “I’m done getting involved!  You two can either play nicely together like siblings, or fight like… well, like siblings <insert giggle as I’m trying to stay serious> Either way, I’m done!”  The both paused, then Lex said “Hey Eve, want to go play net tag?” and away they went, best of friends again.  I love them!

It was 37° and sunny yesterday afternoon so we decided to go outside and play. Crazy weather though, by the time we made it outside (its takes us awhile to prep and bundle!) there were gray skies and snow falling! We played outside anyway. I did some much needed shoveling while the kids puttered about, then we went across the street for some sledding.

"I'm king of the mountain!" yells Eve, standing atop our broken deck table.

I love the fresh sled path.

This reminded me of a Monty Python scene. Quick, name it!

It looks like such a monumental hill from this perspective. Really the top half is just a snow bank from the neighbor's driveway.

This is the same scene with different camera settings. It looks like a much nicer day!

Snowy Lex

I’d like to say this outing ended well, but unfortunately I made the grave mistake of forgetting snack before we went out in the snow. By the end Lex was a disaster and followed me home kicking and screaming. I do love putting on a show for the neighborhood. Sigh. After he settled down and had some food all was peaceful again. * Note to self, keep snack bars in jacket pocket for emergency feedings…

We went to a birthday party at the fire station today. The kids were thrilled! They have been talking about it for weeks! The fire fighters gave us a tour of the station, including sleeping quarters and fitness facilities, then the kids got what they came for… fun on the fire trucks!

Two interesting things we learned today. One, fire fighters have actually died on the fire pole in the past (more likely at the bottom of the pole!) Apparently when your brain is rattled from an alarm in the middle of the night you may not be quite coordinated enough for a fire pole. The lieutenant said that some of “the young guys” use the pole now, but most use the stairs. Even still, two, those guys go from sound asleep to trucks leaving the station in under two minutes. He said they aim for one minute, but often are closer to one and a half. Lex and I don’t even make it down the stairs in two minutes, let alone dressed (in TONS of gear) and in trucks. It’s amazing! I think we have a pretty excellent fire department. One I hope never to need!

She's such a cool chick.

Cool in her own sort of way, anyway :)

None of the kids wanted to try out the stretcher, so Alan volunteered. We were afraid they might never release him! :)

Lex loves fire trucks. He loves climbing on them and playing in them. I think today is the first time a fire fighter closed the door though and Lex almost lost it! Poor boy.

Did you know the jaws of life are stored inside the front bumper? Pretty cool.

Can you find Eve in the truck?

After the fire fighter got all suited up, he took off his mask and let the kids feel the air coming into it. Eve kept giggling and going back for more.

Happy Birthday little guy. Thanks for the great party!

I’ve decided those are the 2 most important words regarding birthdays.  I know there are some of you out there who still wallow in the delusion that birthday cake is some decadent gift from god, but you people clearly haven’t had these cookies.  See the recipe below?  That’s what I’m talking about.  Alton Brown (the geeks’ cook) took the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe and modified it three times for three variations, including this one known as “chewy”.  Tessa took this and modified it slightly by adding pecans (on my request), and dark chocolate chunks instead of chips.  These things are heavenly.  But at 5 Weight Watcher’s PointsPlus points each, they are also evil.  For comparison, there is more enjoyment in each one of these cookies than can be found in an entire birthday cake.  And an entire birthday cake has far many more points with the enjoyment spread over many days.  I am a strong believer in moderation with food, so if you are going to eat something that’s technically bad for your body in fairly small amounts, it’s best best get the most out of every bite.  With that said, I reiterate, F|_|(|{ Cake.  Long live birthday cookies.