Forgotten Februaries

My blogging brain was largely out of commission during the month of February (and March), which means I have a plethora of unblogged pictures just waiting to make their online debut. I debated long and hard (or maybe more like short and not at all) about whether to backdate these all in the individual posts I had envisioned at the time of the picture-takings, but...nope. Not gonna. Instead you get February 2013 in a nutshell. A colorfully adorable filled-with-my-children nutshell.

There is a really nice playground just across the intersection from our apartment complex that is quite fun. We've been there several times now, and even ran into Chris's boss there and chatted with him while our kids played with his girls. That was fun.

This particular day was really cold, despite the sunshine. Wind in Albuquerque is a killer--Jane's bike streamers can give you some idea. On the upside, this park has a sidewalk track perfect for bikes, several slides, swings, and even a zip line.

Not in Utah moment: I can't remember any park near our house in Salt Lake that actually had sand instead of bark, pebble gravel, or rubber. I also can't remember any park that didn't have a bathroom. No parks in Albuquerque have bathrooms, no matter what time of year it is. But at least the girls have been able to make dozens of "birthday cakes" to their hearts' content.

Hey, remember that holiday in February? Valentine's Day, I think? Yeah. Our entire celebration of Valentine's Day consisted of Megan, Ben and I joining in on the party at Jane's preschool. Note how healthy the lunch menu was that day. Made me smile since they generally are such a health-food conscious establishment.

 We had a good time. Megan and Ben especially loved the chance to actually stay and play, when generally they are just in and out and don't touch anything while I'm dropping off/picking up Jane.

Cute girls!

Since it, you know, doesn't snow in Albuquerque, we've been getting fair use out of the bikes the girls got for Christmas. Around our apartment complex we are constantly coming across weird seed-like things that fall off the trees and litter the sidewalks. After bike riding one day, Chris decided to bring a few of the seeds inside so we could all dissect them and see what their guts look like.

That was a fun little family science experiment.

We also have been known to build block towers. Lots and lots and lots of block towers. So many, in fact, that I have gotten tired of pulling out the camera so I only have pictures of one.

Last but not least, Chris built me a desk. I had been doing all of my business work while sitting on my bed, which is not conducive to prolonged productivity, let alone back health. Perfect timing--he found three large sheets of MDF next to a dumpster that he claimed on my behalf.

It's quite different working on this little porch versus the garage we had in Utah. (I was going to add quite a list of positive adjectives before the word garage there, but let's not rub salt in the wound, eh?)

 By the way, that's not snow, it's sawdust.

It would have been a really nice desk. I say would have been because in the very last stages of building, in the steps of adding superfluous elements solely at my request which were completely unnecessary structurally speaking, the whole thing broke. In a move to tilt it back from its side to upright, the MDF split apart at no less than six of the screw points. Always a risk with cheap wood, and here was excellent proof of that. So, instead I now have a black skinny folding table for a desk. Much less personal and "built with love"...but Chris still totally gets all the wonderful husband points!

Which reminds me--I have never blogged about our bed!!! I have been shocked and dismayed at how many people don't know that it's finished, and especially don't know how gorgeous it is. That most definitely deserves a post of its own and it will be coming soon!