february wrap-up.

Since we're quickly approaching April, it's time to move this blog past February. A few random photos from the month...

We had fun watching the winter Olympics. For the opening ceremonies, the kids made paper Matryoshka dolls since the Olympics were held in Russia. We also attempted to spell Olympic-related words with our bodies one night.

Ski.

Sled. I think.

Ice.

After our first very warm day, the frogs came out in full force. We could hear them making a lot of noise in our forest. And then we found this little guy stuck on our front door. 

This kid and his fluffy top hair. 

Evening light in our backyard.

Simon and messes. All. day. long.

A warm Saturday at the park.

We finally tackled some of the mess in the garage. It has been such a luxury to have a garage. As we unpacked boxes, we just tossed the empty ones into the garage and ignored them. Actually, we put a lot of things in there and ignored them for awhile. We finally decided to break down the boxes.

Before.

 

Not quite there but getting better. Maybe some day we'll park our cars in there.

Picking out old reclaimed barn wood for our new kitchen island!

Our first date night in MONTHS. Delicious vegetarian entrees at Irregardless Cafe in Raleigh. So good. And because I love reading food descriptions in an attempt to recreate them later:

Fresh poblano pepper stuffed with a Spanish ratatouille rice placed atop a black bean cake and served on a roasted red tomato puree and balsamic reduction, topped with cream fraiche & smoked gouda.

and

 Half of an acorn squash filled with a wild rice pilaf, lentils, pumpkin seeds and a splash of molasses, topped with roasted corn salsa.  Set on refried black beans with roasted beets and white beans with roasted pineapple.

sunday evening stroll: yates mill

Gorgeous weather a few Sundays ago revived our Sunday evening stroll tradition. We walked around at Historic Yates Mill and explored some new trails. The kids had fun climbing on fallen trees. Oliver ran most of the trail, always insisting on being the leader, and yelled at anyone who dared pass him (or collapsed on the trail in frustration). Amelia and Elsa pretended to be imps the whole time. You never know what those imaginations will come up with next.

the farm park.

I've been trying to explore different parks in the area. On a very warm day in February I took the boys to Knightdale Station Park. We walked around on the trails there for a bit and then ended at the playground which had a fun farm theme.

snowy river.

Anyone remember The Man From Snowy River? We had the piano music for the soundtrack when I was a kid and I remember attempting to play "Jessica's Theme" as dramatically as possible on the piano. I kind of want to try that again. Mom, do you still have the music?

We had our own little snowy river after all the snow we received. The little stream that runs through our yard is usually dry or just has a trickle of water. But after it rains or snows, we get quite the little rush of water. Without fail, Oliver is always soaking wet when we he comes in from playing outside. Oliver and I went out exploring a few days after the snow storm and had fun walking through the stream.

The wetlands behind our yard were pretty, well, wet. Also, I found out that all balls eventually come here to die. There must be two dozen balls out there.

Backyard explorations can be exhausting.

february snow.

North Carolina has received an usual amount of snow this winter. I think the kids have had 10 snow days (including one yesterday). Freezing rain has been the main cause of cancelled school and delays. Around Valentine's Day we got a pretty decent snow storm with several inches. It was such a beautiful scene, watching the surrounding forest turn white. Our windows and forest views remain one of my favorite things about our house.

Unfortunately, Ben was driving home from D.C. when it started to snow. The first 3 hours of his drive were fine but the last hour took him three hours. He passed several accidents and countless abandoned cars on the side of the roads. People got stuck or scared and just gave up and walked home. Thankfully Ben made it home without any problems.

The snow turned to freezing rain during the night and we woke up to lots of fallen branches in our backyard. We also lost power all day. The house got cold quickly. I was wearing several layers but the kids didn't even notice the change in temperature. I was dreading a long, cold night but the power came back on at dinner time. I was so grateful for a warm dinner.

Snow day art projects.