Project Life (Feb.15-21)

It started to feel like spring this week a) because Lent began this week, which means Easter is not too far away!, b) because the days are getting longer, such that it's not totally dark by the time I get home in the evenings, and c) while the week began with snow, it ended with 65-degree weather!

Monday 2/15: This is Kate's newest face. She furrows her brow in mock-irritation, and then when we imitate her, she laughs. It's cute. Tuesday 2/16: Mardi Gras!...ahem...I mean "Shrove Tuesday." Honestly, we had never heard of Shrove Tuesday until we came to Bethlehem. Every year on the night before Ash Wednesday, they have their Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. Now, Methodists like to eat, and they like to do things that they've done forever, so I figured it was just a tradition that got started somehow and they've kept it up. But apparently, according to Wikipedia, Shrove Tuesday is the bonafide Protestant (well, Anglican, at least) version of Mardi Gras. Rather than engaging in drunken revelry those hedonistic Catholics (just kidding--I so wish I was one) the good, sober Protestants "shrive"--that is, obtain atonement for sins--and indulge in the most wild and crazy food their somber, hymn-singing minds can concoct--pancakes! Woo hoo!

So, that's why we eat pancakes and don't call it Mardi Gras... but we still decorate with masks and beads. Go figure.

Wednesday 2/17: Ash Wednesday. My favorite liturgical holiday. Matt finds extra significance in the day now that we have Kate (he blogged about that here) and I took some cute shots of them cuddling after the service that evening.

Thursday 2/18: I took Kate down to stay with Granna and Opa for the day, and on the way, Kate threw up the entire can of pears she'd had for breakfast. All over her brand new outfit. I hadn't thought to pack a spare outfit in the diaper bag (until literally minutes before "the event," but even then, I thought "eh, she'll be fine") so I called Granna and Opa and asked if they could run by Target and find her something to change into. Turns out, they had bought this cute Butler dress for her (to give her at a later date) so she got to wear that. Won't it be perfect for March Madness?!

Friday 2/19: Kate has outgrown some of her first pairs of shoes. I thought they seemed tight when I put the navy ones on her that morning, and then she seemed to stumble more than usual during the day. It was time to put them (and the same-size, same-brand brown squirrel/acorn ones) away. I was sad, and apparently Kate was too, since later that night, she dug them out of the box I'd put them in and wanted to play with them!

Saturday 2/20: We gave Kate her backyard swing for Christmas rather than saving it for her birthday because I was eager to use it, and last January had several 65-degree days. This year, it has snowed more than anytime this decade, and we've only been able to swing twice so far! Saturday, however, was gorgeous, and we went outside two different times to swing and play ball. It was so fun! (We also went to a 50th anniversary party for a couple in our congregation--pics of Kate's party ensemble coming on Wordless Wednesday!)

Sunday 2/21: Kate slept in this morning, while Matt and I were up at the crack of dawn! I woke at 5:30, when Kate started making noise, and while she went back to sleep, I could not! So, I got up at 6 when Matt did (to finish working on his sermon, which subsequently wouldn't print, so he relied on the Spirit, and man did the Spirit show up!) Kate slept in until 8:15, and might have slept longer, if I hadn't woken her up by taking this picture!

Coming this week: trips!