Thursday, February 13, 2014

Winter Games

The cold continues. Mother Nature is making me pay for all the times I have said how much I enjoy the winter. Jen and I have argued about this for years and, for the first time I can remember, I am longing for spring.

Mid Winter Snow Pile

We really don't have anywhere else to put any additional snow. However, there is a rumor that temperatures may rise above freezing soon for the first time in over a month. This got me very excited for the prospect that some snow would melt and free up some space for shoveling.

Yup, it's official. I'm a dad.

Martin Raises Drum Stick to the Gods of Metal

Martin has taken his uncle Scott's drumming lessons to heart and is embracing Scott's flare for the percussively dramatic.

Enjoying Living in a Place Where You Can Get Crab Rangoons Once Again

Last Saturday night we ordered Chinese take out and got crab rangoons. This may sound like a small thing but New York City and its surrounding suburbs is a cran rangoon desert. One of the more shocking moments in moving to New York City was that if you ordered crab rangoons as a Chinese joint they had no idea what you were talking about. Now, for the first time in a decade, I once again live in a rangoon-friendly environment.

The rangoons were delicious.

Mesmerized by Elmo's World

The boys are still hopelessly addicted to Elmo's World which may be the worst television program ever made. Elmo is annoying enough but if I ever see Mr. Noodle on the street I'm going to shank him.

I've made good progress in weaning them off this horrible program in the last week but there is still work to be done.

Stout Braised Short Ribs with Creamy Polenta

Last week I was able to make stout braised short ribs in the slow cooker. I'm still learning how to use a slow cooker and I must admit I am still very skeptical of it as a cooking device. Sadly, the time savings outweigh any moral dilemmas I have at the moment.

Hats and Snacks

The last three days have almost resembled a routine with Jen waking the guys up, getting them ready, have them steal snacks out of her purse, getting them to daycare, me picking them up, giving the dinner, bathing them, reading them books, and getting them to bed. Of course no routine will stand with our work schedules so this will all go out the window tomorrow.

Olympics on TV

After a couple of days of fiddling I was able to somehow get the Olympics at home for viewing. The Olympics have always been a celebrated time in our household. There is no better way to relax after dinner than by watching young people's dreams be crushed or, in rare cases, realized.

Nana STIM with the Wombats

The boys were less than a month old the last time the Olympics were on. Here they are with my mother on her birthday and their one month birthday watching the Olympics together on the couch at our old apartment. Reading back on the blog it would appear that I even had some free time, time to make dinner and even write about it. We were still getting daily visitors at this point to come see the new babies.

Now we're on our own with these two maniacs.

Playing with Valentine's Decorations

Jen had the boys do some crafting on Saturday where they were for some reason delighted by these hearts on string and found great joy in playing with them.

Arts and Crafts Time

Arts and Crafts Time

They spent some of the morning making some crafts where Elliott discovered a passion for glitter and Martin re-discovered a passion for getting bored with things quickly.

Playing Guitar for the Boys

When I got home they demanded I played the guitar and then, as standard practice, stole my pick (which they still think is disgusting for some reason), and then bum rushed me, covering the strings with their grubby little hands.

Elliott with Hands Behind Back

Elliott discovered how to put his hands behind his back and now thinks it's hilarious to walk around the house like this while giving us a mischievous glance. One of these days there will be a knife behind his back and we are all going to pay.

Cousin Bath Time

Saturday culminated with joint bath time with their cousin Evelyn followed by bed, and Doug and I attempting to track cables through the attic to hook up to the antenna with no luck.

Sunday was a series of failures. We attempted to take the boys swimming but the pool was unexpectedly closed. It was annyoing until they handed us a bunch of free passes so we will attempt again soon.

For now we await temperatures in the 30s, about 50 degrees warmer than we've been experiencing, and the beginning of the slow trot towards spring!

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