Random thoughts

1) I declared a Pajama Day for Izzy the other day and let her wear her Clifford pajamas all day. This of course relaxed some of the stress I feel about the fact that my bedtime attire and my daytime attire are starting to "blend." Anyway, she enjoyed it and was most sad when I did indeed, make her take the pjs off the following morning.

2) Keith is now in level 2 reading books at home (and Dr. Suess!) and is doing so well in his little reading "tests" at school that the teacher has decided instead of reading his sight words for these tests, he now has to spell them. He missed a few when we practiced the other night, so more studying is necessary. But I'm thrilled to see him doing so well!

3) Izzy is learning to write her letters! She picked up her magna-doodle the other day, scribbled something on it and then said, "Look, Mommy! A 'U'!" And indeed, it was! And just in case you think I'm going all braggy for some little fluke, I MUST inform you that she immediately erased that letter, scribbled a "T" and said, "Look, Mommy! A 'T'!" And we spent the next 20 minutes discovering she can now draw (and identify) quite a few letters. Next prodigy is on the rise!

4) Not to leave the eldest one out, I must mention that Mary's violin teacher is quite impressed with her progress and has noticed that she is naturally mastering some of the fingering [MR--keep your comments to YOURSELF] that older kids just can't do yet. We really need to practice more often. (We like this teacher better than last year's--who seemed so impatient and "bothered" by the lessons and was impossible to reach when we had any questions or were attempting to change the lesson days when John couldn't do the day assigned anymore....)

5) I bought an exercise ball and a walking DVD a few weeks ago thinking I could try to get some exercise in somehow. I'm too embarrassed to do EITHER in front of my husband (his teasing really does defeat me). The ball has now turned into a really, giant toy as I can't use it in front of the kids without them wanting to play and get in the way. The instructor of the walking DVD was so freaking ANNOYING and said so many BRAINLESS, STUPID jokes that I fear I cannot do it again unless I put it on MUTE. I will have to work on my schedule so that I can do these exercises during nap-time--instead of letting Izzy skip it so that we can run errands where I only have one child (leading to grumpy Izzy later in the day) AND instead of using my precious quiet time to read which causes me to get so caught up in whatever book I'm reading (or RE-reading since I haven't been to the library in awhile) that I don't pay attention to the other kids properly when they get off the bus. Bad Mommy!

6) I am not big on SAINT Valentine's Day. My husband knows this and really appreciates it, I'm sure. So I do not expect a V-day gift from my husband and will NOT be put out if he doesn't bother. I did, however, buy my three precious ones tiny, little boxes of candy. There were some very happy faces at the breakfast table this morning. (BTW, Dave. If my husband were to buy me lingerie for V-day, he would probably get clocked and be forced to sleep on the couch. Just sayin'.)