Last night, I got a text message from my friend Caryl. Have I told you about her before? She is awesome. She organized an effort to clean, organize and decorate our house while we were away. She stocked our fridge. She planned a bake sale for us. And much, much more. She is a wonderful, solid friend. Anyways, last night, she texted me to see if I wanted to meet up with her today with kids and dogs at the park. Caryl doesn’t even have a dog, but she figured everyone in our household needed to get out… she’s thoughtful like that. Of course, I was eager to hang out with her, to get out of the house with the kids, especially since it was supposed to be 60 here today.
So, that’s what we did this morning. Two kids, 5 kids and 2 moms at the levee, out for a walk. Her kids are almost 2, 3 and 11. Her almost 2 yo was scared of the crazy dogs running around, but the other 4 had a blast together. Her 11yo is great with little kids. Ilya just adores her. It turned out to be such a beautiful day to be out, windy but beautiful. It was OVER 60. At one point, I think it hit 70!
This is Lena out at the levee, taken by her 11yo friend. I won’t show you any of our other photos, since I don’t know how Caryl feels about photos of her kids on the internet.
We came home and had lunch, eating leftovers. I really love how they don’t question what I give them and if I tell them they need to eat what’s on their plate before they can have an apple, they will. That is one thing I totally appreciate, knowing how picky kids can be. We had a little refusal with the broccoli last night, but both kids ate it once we showed them that they could have a clementine when they finished it.
Naptime was hard. It was not so fun. Ha, until they were asleep. That was nice. I love my quiet time and have no guilt about sitting on the couch during it. I just sit and read blogs and catch up on emails. And, when Aaron got home from work, he took the kids to the playground. Seriously awesome.
But now, I think they’re home and I should figure out what in the world is happening with dinner. Aaron asked me if we could have leftovers and if pasta and mashed potatoes “went together.” Maybe at a buffet…
a moose in moscow 
This is a wonderful post. You will have so many more beautiful days like this.
I need my husband to learn that leftovers are NOT a bad thing! 🙂 At least Vladan loves leftovers.
I love, Love, LOVE the picture of Lena. You should use it as your blog header. It's a perfect picture of a perfect little girl. 🙂
I eat and have always eaten leftovers at home all the time. The family joke is that as long as the food doesn´t attack you then it´s okay to eat 🙂 And Lena is so beautiful, she looks wise beyond her years.
That last picture of Ilya and Lena is just so beautiful!
Leftovers ROCK! My husband sometimes makes a leftover buffet for us….A little something of everything in the fridge!LOL I love how you are instilling good healthy food habits…like fruit for dessert!!! The children are just beautiful; especially in that last shot hugging each other.
Beautiful pics of your darling kids!!All the best for you, patience and strength for the tough days and the process of growing more and more together as a family of four! Also joy and lots of humor for each new day!Wishing you a wonderful and blessed NEW YEAR!
Happy New year!