WHEN DREAMS ARE IN YOUR HEART: February - Principals and written orders

Bart turned 45! I had to beg him not to go surfing until we had sung for him. I secretly carry this tradition on to get to relive the excitement of my childhood. Often Thanksgiving keeps screwing with me and we are not sleeping at home that day. So far no one else has shown much appreciation, but I am a believer. Bart, on the other hand, got to celebrate on semmeldagen. That's the day for our Fat Tuesday bun. Filled with cream and almond paste. *Joy*

Victoria has been collecting "character counts tickets" at school. You get these for good behavior and when you have reached 100 you can trade them in for being the Principal. I am happy that she is being good, but I am also impressed that she kept her focus and resisted the temptation to trade tickets in for stickers etc.

The things William says nowadays make me smile. One Friday William was so excited as I promised him we could play with the marshmallow gun the following day, that after nap he asked me "Is today tomorrow?". Then we are playing the whispering game around the table at dinner and he comes up with the sentence "The big grey duck likes to suck". He is doing a great job on his bike and can go several miles on the tiny 12 incher. I'm getting really confident having him on the street until he shares that he is "actually really good at riding with his eyes closed".

I read "Siblings without Rivalry" as per recommendation from the author of The Happiness Project. The book suggests not putting a role on children (the lazy one, the responsible one etc) and to focus on a child's behavior towards other people in general, not just siblings. After reading this book, I value the friendship I have with my brother even more, I appreciate different peoples' strengths and I am inspired to apply a few tools in my parenting role. Here is my summary.

I broke the sewing machine out a few times. (Oh how I wished I had a project room...). Victoria wanted skulls and crossbones on her bag for Awana (church!) while I picked airplanes on mine. A random little stuffed elephant made the cut as well, as we are getting in baby mood with Linda, Tanja, Anna and Becca all expecting little ones very soon!

I am totally obsessed with my home made planner. I don't know if I could live without paper.

Then I decided to make (start on) a photo wall. This is just a small part of pictures and frames I dug out. I am now overwhelmed and the stuff is sitting in a pile waiting for a fairy to finish it off for me. Ugh. My Runkeeper also flipped out. I am now breaking all records! But look at the map! I'm sure to get some freak pills along with my medals.

Some more exciting happenings this month was William's first visit to the dentist, family karate classes, a cheese making class for me, some fun hikes (searching for mountain lions) and excursions as well as an emotional reunion with one of my favorites reasons why Memphis rock. All of the above were quite memorable! River and I also won't forget the morning we spent with my friend Becca and her kids in their hot tub. I just couldn't get it out of my head that being a stay at home mom simply rocks.