"I just have a big ol' smile on my face"

...said a bleary eyed Oliver upon waking on his fifth birthday.

And he did. A BIG ol' smile.

The smile continued all weekend, as we enjoyed days full of visiting, partying, saunaing, game playing and more visiting. My sibilings and I see each other infrequently, and I must say, I soaked up the time together.

My only complaint? It went by much to fast.

This morning I'm getting back into the swing of life...slowly, relaxing with coffee, snuggling my baby and reading my grinning five-year-old a book. The daughter is still sleeping...she must have partied hard this weekend.

I cleaned the top of the fridge!

That makes me ready for the weekend.

Because, you know, you're only ready for a busy weekend when the top of the fridge is clean.

It's our Christmas-get-together...in February. Except we're not really celebrating Christmas. We're just getting together. All my sibs from their various points on the globe-AK, CA, MA and Switzerland-via China, are coming home.

Cheers!

The real reason, Oliver will tell you, is for his 5th birthday. It's only TWO days away.

*ahem*
Siblings? He'll expect the same next year.
Just FYI.

More winter fun...

Temperatures have been absolute spring-like here the last week. The snow is shrinking before our eyes, and finally, and it was finally sticky enough to make a snowman. Rolling large balls of snow makes for a good workout. I had to call in the reinforcements from the sawmill to lift the balls for us... Eric and Frank lifting together seriously grunted. Ha. Oliver and Elsa's faces were shining with amazement at the "huge!" snowman..Good fun.

Other stuffs:

• Is there a limit to the number of questions a three year old can ask in a minute?
• If there is, I think Elsa is trying set a new record.
• Along with know-it-all-statements.
• I've started a new thing. I've been making a point to wash all the dishes right after every meal. It's usually so quick to do, so much easier than when there's a huge pile. I've been at it two or so weeks, and it has been great. With very limited counter space, it makes a huge difference; I don't not make something just because I'd have to wash dishes first.
• Plus, the rest of the house can be flying, but I feel good because I can tell myself, "at least the dishes are done."
• We made valentines for all Grandmas and Grandpas on Monday, then delivered them. I've been cutting construction paper hearts left and right since then.
• A very, very highly recommended book: Unbroken: A WWII story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. A biography of Louie Zampereini (if you're a MPR junky, you might have heard of it.) a WWII bombardier who ended up stranded on a raft in the Pacific for 47 days. He was picked up by the Japanese, and survived the POW camps. Amazing story, very well written book.
• Seriously. Read that book. It's good.
• Off now, to work. I get to renew my CPR certification before my shift. I wonder how much they've changed it this time...