Everything little thing is gonna be alright

Mornings are not a time of calm in our house.  Each day tends to be a challenge - a challenge to see how much we can accomplish (and not) in just a few short hours.  By the time 9:00 arrives I am always amazed by what has been done thus far - and also exhausted.  This morning I rolled over and looked at the clock and then at Henni snuggled next to me, and at Davis fast asleep.  Rather than jumping out of bed so I could make my morning class, I decided to stay in bed.  Shortly thereafter Henni and Davis woke up, the sun streamed through the window, and we spent a lovely hour in bed reading about dinosaurs.

While there are the daily hurdles, the daily challenges, the daily moments I want to pull my hair out, and the times I consider purchasing one of those travel Groupons and giving myself a time out - life has been full of sweet loveliness lately.  So lovely in fact that I am no longer singing Bob Marley in an attempt to convince myself that things will turn out ok, but singing Bob Marley because everything is alright.

Truth be told I curse Charlie every morning.  In order to fit Charlie in the day starts early - 5:00.  After Cross Fit I take the cursed dog to the beach, and then, after a few minutes I am thankful that Charlie has gotten me up early and has therefore enabled me to watch the sun rise and to remind me of how lucky I am to spend the start of my day at the beach.

School is going well for Oliver and Henni.  Henni loves staying in the afternoon and is utterly perplexed as to why some of her friends take naps at school.  And Oliver - his writing and reading have exploded.

And I got to spend I special morning with Oliver - celebrating his half birthday.  So fun to be able to be a part of his class and his special day.

We spent a quick weekend in Florida visiting my grandmother.  While it was chilly for Florida (60s) it was much warmer than the polar vortex we have been experiencing here.  The chilly weather also made for a fun time at Sea World (the cold weather kept away the crowds).

In addition to Sea World we also went to an Air Force rocket museum.  The kids are now even more obsessed with rockets and we have been building and launching rockets galore.

Davis and I also managed to get away for our very first night - just the two of us.  My mom, oh so graciously, took the time off of work so that we could make our great escape.  Our escape was not very romantic (an MIT-sponsored conference) nor was it long (less than 24 hours), but it was oh so nice.  The Mt. Washington Hotel is on my list of places I want to return.  Also on my list- another great escape.  When we returned the kids were mad - mad that we were back as they wanted more time alone with Le Le.

Snow has descended upon us once again.

On our Wednesday snow day the kids in the hood were out in full force.  They placed magically well together for the day and managed to work together to build a huge snow man.  Have I mentioned how much I love our street?

Henni is also sure that everything is right in her life - she got the pixie cut she has been angling for.

And those sweet songs... Henni keeps stopping whatever she is doing and saying: "I just need to dance."  She'll then sing a song and dance, then return to whatever she was doing.  I think I might try it.