Best of February

Here's what you get in a mall in Minot, ND!

The kids had a blast at this water-activity zone at our hotel

It was fun, but so noisy!!

Wore these two right out

Emerson has had a blast with indoor T-ball

Look at him go!

One of Theo's many cardboard creations: a full-on iMac!

One afternoon (like many others), we packed up lunch and headed to the Science Center with some friends--the K'Nex exhibit they've had for the past few months has been a big hit in our family

Addy building a house with her friend Caleb

Sera's K'Nex creation

Obviously she learns it from this guy . . .

. . . and this one too!

February Frenzy

February has been a little icky, but for all the right reasons. We ripped our house apart and put it back together again, hemhorraging a fair amount of money in the process. It all turned out for the best though, because our house is looking pretty awesome! Especially compared to what it looked like when we moved in.

Just before Valentine's day we piled all our furniture, books, and toys into the kitchen, basement, and garage, handed our keys over to the floor refinishing people, and headed out of town. We drove down to Minot, North Dakota, about four hours away, and spent a couple of days pretending that the in-hotel water recreation area was a real live beach, even as the snow continued to swirl around outside. Our family is big enough now for the "kids eat free" thing at Holiday Inn to be worth something, so we also enjoyed eating out at their fairly fancy restaurants (by our standards anyway) morning and night and didn't even bother with lunch. We took a couple of breaks from the pool for a bit of shopping and to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, but that was pretty much it. It was a lot of fun while it lasted, but gave us pause to realize that we really enjoy being outside, and wouldn't mind living someplace where that was a reasonable option for a few more months of the year.

When we got back, we slept on mattresses in the basement for a couple of nights while the floors finished curing, then moved the lonely mattresses back upstairs for a few more nights, to move around while new baseboards and window casings and doors went into all the rooms. Amid all the hammering and sawing, we watched lots and lots of Olympics--yay for those! I love being inspired by people with more drive than me! Fortunately, after their five-day weekend, the big kids headed back to school, giving Aaron and I a chance to get a coat of fresh paint in all the bedrooms as well. Less than two weeks after it all started, we were able to move back into our fancy digs, beds and all, to have new baseboards and doors installed in the basement as well. Of course the living room, hallway, and family room still need painting, the grand piano is on its side in the living room, and various paintings and picture frames are propped against the wall for now, but the hard part is done, and the other stuff will happen when it happens, I guess.

Really, that's it. The month was a seething heap of disarray that I'd rather not relive. I lack the patience to live a life that isn't orderly and scheduled, and February qualified on both counts. But sometimes, it seems, you just absolutely have to go through the muck and the mire to get to the gleaming valley on the other side. I hope it's a gleaming valley anyway, because I've had just about enough of frozen tundra!