1, 2, 3 BREATHE

Phew!! What a hectic couple of weeks it has been! I keep meaning to put up a post, then immediately get pulled away by work, the Punkin Head, or SOMETHING. Im pretty sure if it wasn't pre-programmed into my body I would have forgotten to breathe sometime in the last 14 days. So right now I'm making myself step away from the kitchen to be one with the laptop. Oh how I love my computer - it means I HAVE to sit and type. A little cherished down time for a 24/7 working mom.

What exactly has been going on the past couple of weeks in our little world?

Well, for starters I have been playing around in the kitchen with a few new recipes. I posted a couple (click here) and will put up more later on once I download pictures.

And of course with the beginning of spring comes gardening! The Punkin and I have started getting our hands dirty and cleaning out the gardens when the weather permits. We have been watching the daffodils and iris' start to pop through the ground, can't wait for them to be in bloom. Dooda is quite the little gardener for an almost 2 year old too, Im very impressed! She LOVES weeding - hopefully as the flowers start to sprout she learns fast that only the weeds need to be pulled. I think she may be a little too thrilled with the fact she gets to yank stuff out of the ground :)

We have also been into some arts and crafts - which is always fun and exciting. At the moment she is mystified by transparent tape. If I add a piece of transparent tape onto the paper for her to color on, she can lift the tape up and the crayon stays on the tape, leaving a bare spot on the paper. She has gotten very good at putting the tape back to complete her picture, or sticking it to her nose - whichever seems more appealing at the time. Oh, the little things! We must have done this for over an hour the other day.

I'm thinking that Mothers Day gifts for the grandmothers are going to be handmade paper flower bouquets with a few of Punkin's little hand cut-outs as the petals. We haven't actually tried this yet, but I will keep you updated on how it goes - In my head the vision is adorable!

We also have added a new member to the family this week. Dooda is totally infatuated with fish, so Dada brought home a new beta for her.

Meet Sushi (horrible name, isnt it???):

 The worst part of the whole name thing - he is housed next to a bottle of red wine on the counter. :) We already have Punkin calling him Sushi too, quite amusing.

Outside of home life it has been work as usual for both the hubs and I. Spring marks the start of my busy season with my students and their horses and boy has it started off with a bang! I'm loving every minute of it though. And for the hubs spring means the count down to summer vacation and swapping roles with me. He goes from teacher to stay at home Dad over night at the end of June. I have to admit its nice being able to swap roles like that so we both get a good amount of time at home with Dooda Loo.

Such a BORING post, I know. I promise to update again soon and post the links to some of the crafts, etc. we have been indulging in. For now, I must forfeit the computer and head back to the kitchen to get dinner ready....a yummy sounding fried artichoke recipe I found here on Tablespoon.com  Im modifying it a bit to incorporate it into a pasta dinner. Cross your fingers for me that it comes out as tasty as it looks! And that MAYBE Punkin will want to try some too. Hope you are all well and enjoying the transition from winter to spring!