Peer Pressure

Is it really peer pressure when I am the peer? I guess not. Still, I said I would have more to offer you tonight, so here I am, computer in hand.

To start, all the photos are uploaded and edited on the iPad which has run out of battery. Yes, I could run it off an USB cable from the laptop but that require getting up, and to be honest, I don't feel like doing that. So there will be pictures tomorrow.

How about a recap to start the new year?

First, Grandma Bah came and stayed with us for the weekend of New Year's Eve. It was a cold weekend for her, but a winter heat wave for us with temps in the 40's. There is precisely nothing open in the burg for the holiday weekend so we did a lot of playing in the house and enjoyed some home cooked meals. I made Choucroute Garne for New Years day and it was amazing. It is a tradition in our family to eat this Alsatian version of pork and sauerkraut for good luck but this was the first time I had made it without my mom. It was delicious. Even the cats ate it!! Nurkel was climbing up on the table for leftovers the next day. Grandma Bah seemed to have a nice time visiting with the kids and they got to open even more presents which is always popular.

Later that week eric, the kids and I headed up to the cabin to visit with Uncle Racer who was home for a week. It was great to see him. It is always too long between his visits. I am really hoping we get a chance to hang out with him in Chicago this summer when we are there. Otto got to see the great giver of Star Wars toys and Uncle Racer even showed Otto how the X-Wing makes noise. Otto had an amazing time playing in the snow with Grandpa and had to be lured in with the promise of hot chocolate and marshmallows. It was a short and action packed visit filled with good food and lounging by the wood stove. Pretty much what every winter cabin visit should be!

We had a quick overnight at home where I madly cleaned the house before we headed out again, this time to Philly. We decided that a good way for the kids to run off some steam before heading to Grandpa Chris and Nona Jen's house would be to go to the ever popular Please Touch Museum. It worked out great. The kids had a great time and really ran off some steam. The only part that was hard was getting Otto to stop playing long enough to eat. He insisted he WAS NOT hungry and then proceeded to inhale a hot dog. Ah, three year olds.... While visiting we took advantage of the food offerings of the city and feasted on Vietnamese food the first night and real Philly Cheesesteaks the second. I have been craving a cheesesteak for so long, it was amazingly good. There are many places here that serve them, but no one makes them right. This was perfect. On Sunday while visiting we went to the baby shower for Jen and soon to be here baby Harrison. It was a big fun introduction to Jen's extended family. There were mimosas and bloody marys for mommies and french toast and chocolate covered oreos for kids. Everyone was happy. Mette also managed to score a chance to play with a small pretend laptop that belonged to one of the little girls at the party. She has since then told me every day that she wants a computer for her birthday. Amazon is taking care of that and sending one our way.

Eric also asked her who she would like to have come to her birthday and she replied "santa". Smart little girl that one!!

Before heading back to the burg we made a stop at the LEGO store to see what goodies could be found for Otto. They had tv's playing LEGO movies and he was really scared they were going to start showing Star Wars things that he would be scared of so we didn't stay in the store for long. It worked out well though because I took him and Mette two doors down (we were in a mall) to the Hello Kitty store and eric went in and stocked up with guys for his birthday. Otto was so cute in the Hello Kitty store. He kept picking things up and showing them to Mette saying, "oh, Mette, look this has Hello Kitty on it!!!". Seriously, I don't think there was a single thing in the store that didn't have Hello Kitty on it, but he was going to help her find it all. We did score a really cute backpack that is just Mette's size so she can go to school just like Otto.

We managed to get the kids fed and in the car just after noon which meant that Mette took her first nap in three days on the ride home!!! She was starting to get a bit manic in the evenings with the thrown off sleep schedule and this was key. Every day we were in Philly the kids were so excited they got up at 5:30. Since we were all sleeping in one room with Mette and I on one bed and the boys on the other, when they are up, we are all up. That combined with no naps was making us all tired. It was worth leaving a little early to have her sleep on the way home.

All of this excitement combined with some quality time needed to play with the new toys from Christmas has kept us more than busy. There have also been stomach flus and sinus infections circling our group of friends so spending a few days just us in the house has worked out to be just fine.

I have been cleaning and reorganizing like a crazy person. The kitchen and third floor have been tackled and closets and dressing rooms are next. Watch out!

I will be back with more pictures and funny stories soon.

***note*** eric just looked over my shoulder at this post and said "shit, baby, that is epic. Throw the readers a bone and put a picture in." I had to explain that the laptop doesn't have any pictures and the iPad is dead. Sorry again.