The Sun is Shining!

The birds are singing! Finn is feeling better! I think we'll be alright. Unfortunately Lev and I both succumbed to a bit of illness (Lev, an amazingly runny nose and nasty sounding cough, and myself just a runny nose), but we are both already on the mend. Matt and Finn are with our friends at an igloo building competition, so Lev and I get to spend the day reading books together. He can sit and read books for hours these days, pointing to the animals and learning their sounds, or just imitating the words as I read to him. So although this might not truly be a day off, it sure feels like it when I don't have to constantly break up fights or try to give individual attention to two boys at the same time (if someone has figured out how to do this, please let me know).

Due to Finn being extremely challenging these last few weeks I decided we needed to do something extra special and fun for him (and I needed some cake) so we celebrated his half birthday by making half of a cake! I'm really not that witty, we just only have one pie/cake pan, and I didn't feel like baking

one layer, washing the pan and baking the other layer, so half of a cake it was. Finn loved helping make it (especially the part where the strawberries were hiding in between the layers to surprise daddy) and the party hats, candles and Happy Birthday song were also a big hit. And then he had a major meltdown and refused to even taste the cake because I used strawberry juice to make the frosting pink instead of blackberry juice (a day earlier we had made play-doh and used the juice of a blackberry to make it pink) -- have I mentioned that he needs to understand and be in control of everything?

Anyway, Finn got a nice nap and Matt and I ate more cake. We won't talk about the fact that it was also Valentine's Day and even though I put "flowers" on Matt's shopping list, no flowers have graced our residence yet. In his defense, the flower shop wasn't open yet...

We are finally able to spend time outside again, and it is wonderful. Everyone here says spring is a terrible time of year; everything will be muddy and stink of dog poop, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. Sure, there will be an abundance of muddy laundry, but everyone is so much happier outside! And it is much nicer for Matt to be able to work without the constant din of Finn freak outs over Lev getting too close to him or his toys. I try not to think about maple syrup season back in Duluth and the smell of sap cooking over a wood fire. Mmmm!

Matt and Finn got back from the igloo building around 2 and apparently Finn had a terrible time. I was really hoping it would be a fun bonding experience for them, but Finn said his feet were cold from the minute they got there. This is the kid that loves to play outside and NEVER complains about being cold, even after an hour at zero degrees, and it was nearly 20 degrees out yesterday! Anyway, he had a nap and a snack and was back to normal after that. And then after Lev went to bed last night Finn beat us yet again in a game of Settler's. We still help him quite a bit, but his strategy of getting the longest road and largest army pays off way better than it ever has for me. Go figure!