St. Patty's Day and Little Green Men

The evening before St. Patty's day the girls always put out doll furniture and their miniature treasure chests. They make sure the leprechauns will have fun out our house and leave gifts! They came as usual, and this year they brought chocolate, gold coins again. Adelle was SO excited. She loved the coins!

She also loved the the furniture and cushions were all askew! She loved the pink glitter all over the furniture and the small drops of party drink still lingering at the bottom of the tiny cups. She also noticed small blades of grass and was almost beside herself. She tried to find the leprechauns trail from our yard to our kitchen table. She was certain she found it.

Lydia seemed less than impressed and remarked she was disappointed that they didn't leave a letter this year. I guess we can't all be happy.

When Adelle came home she told me that her friend had educated her that pink glitter is not from leprechauns, but from love bugs. Adelle gathered every pink sparkle she could find, placed in a plastic bag, and said she is saving it for when she is older and needs to find her true love.

We celebrated as a family by making corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes and for the first time I made soda bread. The girls didn't care much for the corned beef and cabbage (like usual), but they loved the soda bread. It reminded me of KFC biscuits.

Violet had one of the hardest evening ever and was so crabby. We made it through though.

Kisses and Independence at the Aquarium

A couple of weeks ago Lydia, Adelle, Violet and I headed to the aquarium. We bought Lydia her yearly pass since she hadn't been with us the last time. Violet decided to take this time to be fiercely independent. She wanted to walk and crawl around all by herself, which in a busy place is not the best idea. We made the best of it. Violet saw this bottom feeder fish. She decided it needed kisses so she kissed the glass :)

I just managed to snap a picture of Lydia before she threw her arms up. She is growing up so fast.

We got to see a lot of the animals this time. Lydia and Adelle enjoyed petting the sting ray while Violet crawled around the kids area. We even had a chance to see the penguins swimming around and chasing each other. Adelle even had to use some of her hard earned money to buy a stuffed, plump seahorse which she named Hannah. That girl has a mountain of stuffed animals, which reminds me of myself when I was younger. Hannah has now joined the ranks of sleeping buddy.

I Wanna Play Too

We have a PS3 and almost everyone plays it from time to time. Lydia and Adelle really like Little Big Planet 2, Wes has been playing Mass Effect 2, and I was playing Heavy Rain before that game just got way too intense. Violet often will try and sneak the PS3 controllers when we aren't paying attention. One day I decided to let her play too. I gave her a PS2 controller and she had fun pushing the buttons while sitting in her pink, cushy chair. It wasn't too long before she figured out that it was not like everyone else's controller and she tossed it aside. Poor thing. She really wants to be big like everyone else.

The Cat has Taken Over

Violet became quite fascinated with the shelf in my desk recently. She kept trying to move it and kept hitting her head. It was promptly removed to a far away location. The girls then placed a blanket in the space. Before I knew it cat had taken over my desk. She now feels it her own little spot. I work from home most days and often cat will stick her head out hopefully. She loves it when I pet her. I am used to sharing my spaces, but this one makes me laugh.

Fish All Year

On Saturday, February 19 I was feeling a little restless and decided the girls and I should go do something. Lydia was with her dad for the weekend so Violet, Adelle and I just headed out. We ended up going to the Living Planet Aquarium. We decided to get annual passes.

Violet was quite taken with the fish. She got pretty excited and kept signing fish and frog. Adelle really liked everything as well.

We saw every exhibit and Adelle even ran into a friend of hers. We had lunch at the little cafe, but before too long Violet was very tired and so we headed home so she could have a nap. I am glad we got the annual passes because it doesn't matter if we are only there for an hour or two because every time we go now it will be for free!

Growing Things

We are planning on planting a garden again this year, despite many plants that did not make it last year. We decided to start early by planting some seedlings inside. We all had fun doing it together. We planted tomatoes, bell peppers, dill, spinach, sprouts and onions.

So far we have had a pretty good crop of sprouts, the spinach is starting to get pretty big, and I have seen little baby tomato, pepper and dill plants. It is fun to have little green things, even if it is on my kitchen table :)

My Sweetheart and the Ballet

Usually around Valentine's Day Wes and I will go to a bed and breakfast for a night. Since Violet is still pretty young we decided instead to go on a special date. Wes splurged and got us tickets to go see Sleeping Beauty by Ballet West at the Capitol Theatre.

We both got dressed up which was particularly fun. Not everyone does that for the Ballet anymore. We ended up going to a matinee. It was Wes' first time going to the ballet. The story was absolutely wonderful and the dancers were amazing. I really liked the girl who played Sleeping Beauty. She was a beautifully talented dancer, and she was also very expressive. Our seats were wonderful and could see everything that was going on clearly. There is just something about ballet that can transport you to an entirely different world.

After the ballet we went out to dinner at PF Chang's. We enjoyed chatting, and laughing with each other. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. It is great when we can get out together and just have alone time.