Feb. 20: I have lots of things I want to post about.  The fun things we did in Texas, the cute things Sylvia is doing (pointing, nodding, standing unaided for a few seconds, repeating sounds).  But instead I read blogs and responded to emails.  Sylvia took a nearly-two hour nap.  Andrew’s at preschool.  I’m feeling better.  So it’s a good day.
Partly because this pretty bag made me feel so happy:

Feb. 16: I just happened to pick up a newspaper a few weeks ago, and I ran across this comic.  It really cracked me up, so I thought I’d share!

Feb. 16: I’m writing to you from my sofa in wintery Wisconsin. We flew back home from our wonderful stay in Texas. I’ve missed my kitties and my friends, but I think I could have stayed with Bryan’s parents for another couple weeks!
Our flight home went super-smoothly. Andrew drew in his connect-the-dots, trace-the-letters activity book for hours, and Sylvia charmed the pants off our fellow travelers while we were at the airport, and she did alright on the flights. She doesn’t like toys a lot, so amusing her on my lap in an airplane is a little dicey, but she slept most of the flight from Dallas to Madison.
I’ve just downloaded 400-some photos onto my computer, so processing and uploading those should keep me busy today!
Bryan is home from work today because he has president’s day off (who knew!). So we’re pretending that it is Sunday, and we’re having a good morning petting the kitties, and getting re-settled in our sweet home.

Feb. 9: A couple days ago, Joe made several posts to his website about his experiences as he begins his semester in Sri Lanka.  I’d been jonesing for an update and his descriptions helped me feel like I’ve gotten a glimpse of his life with his host family.  I’ve copied his posts below, or you can read them on his website: http://platosfootnotes.net/

Feb. 9: Yesterday (Sunday) was Sylvia’s due date.  She was a few days late, but I so clearly remember how I felt this time last year…wanting to get that little baby born!
Since Bryan’s parents were both home yesterday, they suggested that I take off for a few hours in the afternoon.  I didn’t take much convincing!  So I went out and did a little shopping…  I found a pair of cute heels for $11, and I got a pedicure and am now sporting purple toe nails!  Sylvia is very intrigued by them and keeps checking them out:)
I came home for a quick clothes change and a hello to the kids, and then Mark and I went out to hear a Beethoven symphony.  LuAnn got the kids supper and put them both to bed, and Mark and I went out to dinner together.  So thanks to my incredibly awesome parents, I got about eight hours off from any parenting duties! Amazing!

In other news, Sylvia learned how to nod yesterday.  Now when we ask her a question, she often nods “yes” in response.  Previously, she only could shake her head “no,” but “no” meant either “yes” or “no”!

Feb. 6: The kids and I had a good day of plane travel yesterday, culminating with a joyful greeting of Granny in the College Station airport.  Andrew and Sylvie did a great job on our flights, and the flights couldn’t have been smoother.  In fact, our flight from Madison to Dallas got in a half hour early.  I was happy to have one less half hour to keep the little miss amused:)
Andrew has been vibrating with enthusiasm since a couple days before our trip, and since we’ve been here, he’s been in a state of general rapture.
The day is sunny, the weather is warm, and me thinks we are going to have a lovely day!

Feb. 4: When I drove to the gym at 6am, the thermometer said 0 degrees.  That’s just one of the many reasons that I am super-excited about our upcoming trip to Texas!  The kids and I are flying down to stay with Bryan’s parents tomorrow.  Bryan will join us on Sylvia’s birthday (Wednesday the 11th).  Then we all get back home the following weekend.
Andrew has been frolicking about for the last several days with happy anticipation about seeing Granny, Grandad, Melanie, and Ben.  It’ll be so fun to see them and to hang out in a new location for a while!  Bye bye (for a while) cold winter!

Feb. 3: Moments ago, I could be found sitting on the kitchen floor next to an open cabinet door.  This gave me easy access to the bag of chocolate chips I have stashed there.  Usually I grab a handful here and there, but I kinda needed a good luxurious time with my chocolate bits.  So there I was, sitting on my dirty kitchen floor in my workout sweats, ignoring the unhappiness coming from the other room, and reaching into my secret stash for just one more taste.
In the words of PioneerWoman.com, “Just keepin’ it real.”

Feb. 1: For those of you looking for a way to pass a few minutes on a wintery Monday morning, I’ve uploaded three albums of photos into my gallery.  Here’s the last couple weeks, here’s an Obrich outing with Jessica and her kids, and here’s this past weekend.  Enjoy!

Jan. 31: The kids and I are having a great day today.  Bryan is doing a chess tournament at the technical college.  Andrew’s still got a bad cough, so since he’s sick, I let him watch Lion King.  He’s watched Robin Hood dozens of times, and he watches segments of animal documentaries nearly daily, but he’s only seen other feature-films rarely.  Having watched Lion King a couple times in the past couple years, he was nervous about the scary parts.  We talked about them a lot, and he’s very intrigued with this new movie.
Sylvia took a good hour-and-a-half nap this morning, and then we bundled up and went to the Overture Center for a Kids in the Rotunda performance.  Afterwords we met up with Terry for lunch at the Plaza.  It felt so nice to walk around outside when it was not bitterly cold.  I think the thermometer said 36 degrees.  That’s about twenty degrees over what it’s been recently, and we enjoyed it!
Sounds like Bryan’s home now, so I’ll run.  Have a great weekend!