Just a Quick Update

Whew, we made it back from Disney and our vacation high has ended. Dillon and I took off last Wednesday and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Poor Luke was shipped off to daycare while we organized our basement (did I mention my mom and dad got into their house the Thursday before we left?) so all is organized now. I think cleaning on Wednesday was harder than hitting up the Disney parks.

Dillon and I returned to work on Thursday and it was nice to have a short week at work, except you have to try and cram 5 days of work into 2!

Mom and dad's house is very nice and they've put a lot of hard work into getting it unpacked and organized. We're all enjoying our extended space now and it's very nice to get to visit with them almost every day. I promised Luke that this Friday he can stay home from school and spend the day with Ma and Peepaw. I know this summer will be nice when we can go over and Luke can play in the pool. He really liked that at Disney so I think that will be nice for him when the weather finally warms up.

Dillon and I spent the past weekend catching up. I did several loads of laundry and we went grocery shopping and picked up necessities. We've started eating *less* meat and I'm researching good vegetarian dinners. So far, we've had chickpea curry, pizza "crusties" with a veggie sauce, and stir fry cauliflower with noodles. I'm not really missing the meat, but I am looking forward to $1 hot dogs from Sonics tonight (I can't be good ALL the time!)

It's been so cold here that we haven't gotten out to do anything fun. Yesterday we stayed in most of the day and tried to do some potty training. Luke is just not having it, AT ALL. He refuses to use the potty and just sits on it and then gets up and puts his pants on, then uses the bathroom. If anyone has tips for how to train a headstrong boy, please let me know. He understands the concept, he just refuses to participate. We're all pretty frustrated with the whole process.

 We're beginning to think of things to do this summer (maybe camping with Luke? Starting out in the back yard and then maybe taking some hikes?) and also starting to plan Luke's 3rd birthday. Wow. It's hard to even write that, I can't believe he'll be 3 this year and no longer a little baby. We'll be having his party in Virginia this year to make sure that all our family can come. I think I'll keep it pretty simple with a cookout at the park. I'm going to boycott a "pinteresting" party just to make it easier.

Since we haven't done anything except try to keep warm, here are some pictures of the snow we had a few weeks ago and some videos of Luke at Disney!

Dillon and I aren't huge Valentine's Day celebrators, but we did partake in some good filet minion and lobster tails (anything to eat good food). It was fun cooking together! Luke had his favorite meal, noodles.

Before...

... and after! ;) And these were my Grandma Estep's china dishes. They had been stored in our basement so when we cleaned last week, I pulled them out, washed them up and decided to use them for our "nicer" occasions. Valentine's seemed like a good time to use them!