sun, 2/14...day 45

Cory and I enjoyed making valentines for awhile today. He made one for me and I made one for Grandma Shannon (to take over with some Fran's chocolate later).

Reminded me of the intricate doily valentines my sister and I used to make when we were young: coloring the lacy parts with markers, cutting around shapes, and gluing various parts together with the many paper hearts we'd cut out.

Cory and I weren't nearly that dedicated today but we had fun.

sat, 2/13...day 44

Tynor popped his head into my bedroom at 8:37 this morning and said, "It's after 8:30. Isn't my eye doctor appointment at 9?" Whooooops.

That's how our not-quite-frantic but very busy morning began.

This is Niall and me having breakfast at Starbucks after dropping Tynor off at his appointment in Bothell and before heading down the hill to pick up Cory from Grandma's. We had a relaxing 20 minutes or so of reading the paper, sipping our cocoa, and splitting a cinnamon roll. Not quite 50-50 but who's counting? I let Niall divide and choose so that explains it. :D)

fri, 2/12...day 43

At long last, "The Lightning Thief" movie has arrived! Niall has been eagerly anticipating opening night for weeks now. I bought tickets ahead of time for him and me to go see it together, while Cory went to Grandma's for the night. Not very often that Niall and I get a mom-and-son playdate. Very fun.

We arrived about ten minutes before the movie started, and the place was COMPLETELY packed! I guess a lot of other kids were also anxious to see the movie version of one of their favorite books. We found an aisle seat way up in the back, and I sat down on the step next to Niall. But a mom who had brought a whole passel of boys for a birthday party took pity on us. She had two of her kids move down into an empty seat, and then swapped seats with Niall. So he and I sat together in the very tippy top row on the end. Great view!

thu, 2/11...day 42

I was happy to run into Kellen in Redmond at lunchtime today (we both have Thursday appointments at noon now, it seems). Walked back to my car, and there he was!

We swung by Trader Joe's and Starbucks, and then I took him back to work with me. He hung out working on getting his laptop configured so he could connect to the network, and I worked on my own stuff, went to meetings, etc. Then we headed off to school to pick up the boys, who were also happily surprised to see him.

It was fun having him home for dinner and for the evening. He and Tynor got into a rip-roaring online (Facebook) game of Risk in the evening - one of them at his laptop on the couch, the other at the table - while I watched "24." Very companionable all around. :-)

wed, 2/10...day 41

A nice display of watercolors that Cory's class created a while back. Cory is standing next to/under his painting which has this caption:

"This is the snow falling. This is the kid's mom and that is the 'snow' in Chinese. I wrote snow in Chinese."

(Those are a couple of paper creations from Extended Day that he's hamming it up with in the photo.)

tue, 2/9...day 40

After having toaster waffles at Extended Day snack one day, Cory has become a huge fan. He has 2-3 for breakfast every morning that we have them on hand.

I love this brand, which is only $2 at Trader Joe's. Multigrain, no dairy, no extra preservatives or other "stuff," tasty. Even with a bit of maple syrup, they're still pretty healthy and they get Cory off to a great start in the morning.

Niall isn't nearly as much of a morning eater and just nibbles on a half a piece of bread, butter & honey usually. Along with his customary cup of hot cocoa, of course. At least that has some protein in it.

mon, 2/8...day 39

I picked up the boys after school today because Cory was a bit under the weather in the morning. Didn't want him to do a full day + Extended Day when he was 100%.

We walked over to the turnaround to meet Niall, and he pointed out this cool "face" that had appeared on the concrete from the light shining through the tree branches together with the painting on the wall. Two bright "eyes" and a sea creature "mouth." Fun!