We have survived the second round of colds. Ainslee took the brunt and ended up on amoxicillin for an ear infection. The first 2 days of the medicine were torture, but she's learned to just buck up. Harper's back to her old self - we got to go to dance class this morning. Her class is working on their big dance number for the May show. She did a great job in December so she should pretty much be professional by spring. Logan got rave reviews from his teachers...again. He absolutely excels at school and is very excited for kindergarten next year. He's counting to 39, learning all kinds of shapes, zips like a pro, and is doing great with his writing. He's decided when he grows up he will either be an engineer, astronaut, guard or Viking.

Travis and I have started working out at the gym. He's my personal trainer and does a great job. We've been lifting weights together. I like that portion of the workout because you do a lot of standing around, resting. Don't get me wrong, I lift weights, but there's a lot of downtime. If I'm to lose this baby belly of mine, I should probably get moving. The gym offers a childcare so the kids get to come with us and burn off energy of their own. So far, it's been awesome.

We've been staying pretty close to home - will winter ever leave?! We've got big ideas when the warmer weather get here. Harper and Grandpa have been making plans for the garden. Harper has 2 requests: strawberries and tomatoes. When she gets to thinking, she'll add broccoli and carrots and cauliflower. Logan wants to grow nice juicy tomatoes and pretty little trees that have pretty leaves that never fall off and an upside-down tomato plant and some carrots. Keep in mind, Logan doesn't eat tomatoes and he doesn't like carrots from the garden. He's a big talker. I think Ainslee will be a lot of help this summer. Last season she could crawl around and get dirty. Logan helped plant and hoe (he used his great-great-great grandpa's hoe.) Harper helped plant but she tended to cluster her seeds. Both Logan and Harper helped pick. But the vast majority of the work was performed by our neighbor, Grandpa Knoche. He does the prep work and maintenance and everything in-between. This year we should be out there with him a lot more. It could go either way; we'll be help with the workload or add to it.

The whining is calling me back to the kids...