Lately...

In health...

Today I feel like a million bucks. I just got over a tummy bug that lent me a weekend (and a Monday) of pure misery, so to wake up today feeling a little more normal is cause to rejoice! I plan to celebrate by going to an eye exam and possibly taking a trip to the thrift store (depending on my energy level - I've been pretty fatigued and likely won't have any energy left after 10:00 a.m., but I feel amazing regardless).

One of my New Year's resolutions for this year is to get an annual physical - which I tend to never do. I called and scheduled it yesterday, so I feel like a champion. I anticipated being scheduled about 6-8 weeks out, as tends to be the way of annual physicals, but nah. It's over three months from now! 

In puzzles...

Here are some of the puzzles we've done in the past few weeks (and by "we," I mostly mean "me" because right now, I'm the dominant puzzle builder. We take turns. Sometimes Scotty will do most (or all) of a puzzle, and other times I do most (or all) of a puzzle).

This one was a gift from my friend Cassie

This one was a gift from my friend Shannon

I bought this one while Scotty was on Brocation a few weeks ago

This one was a gift from my sister-in-law Amber

The puzzle above was missing four pieces and had two sets of duplicate pieces.  

A lot of puzzle companies are great to replace puzzles when pieces are missing, so I checked their web site and found their replacement policy. They sent out a new (but different) puzzle, which I started building yesterday.

In holidays...

Zoe is obsessed with Groundhog Day. Last year, she insisted on going to school dressed like a groundhog. I wondered is this going to be a thing? Sure enough, it is a thing, and I was required to provide groundhog hats and masks for both Zoe and Eva this year.

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Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and I can report the following:

Nicky remains single.

We only had to make one Valentine's Day box.

It's an axolotl

I wanted to make a fancy and fun Valentine's Day dinner for my family, but since I wasn't feeling well, we had Kraft macaroni and cheese, which in all honesty, was more of a hit than anything I could have made. Because kids.

I bought the board game Viticulture for Scotty's and my Valentine gift. 

I wanted something Valentine-y to hang on my front door, but I couldn't find anything I liked, so I got a Christmas wreath on clearance at Michaels for $5 and slapped some heart ribbon on it. 

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Since Easter is later in April this year, I feel like there's actually time to decorate for Saint Patrick's Day! I'm not making it a priority, but if I happen to stumble upon a cute shamrock doohickey, I might just go for it!

(I do have two Saint Patrick's Day decorations in a box somewhere).

In parenting...

Sigh... 

I can't even.

In learner's permits...

Nicky has his learner's permit and is learning the ways of the road. I usually let him drive home from school everyday, and sometimes we take little detours. Yesterday I had him go through the drive-thru at McDonald's (gotta teach those important life skills!) and then I had him go through the car wash where I let him eat his spicy mcchicken behind the wheel. 

So many milestones happening around here!