Elena 
1. I can say with confidence that my 14-year-old-daughter Izzy, will be able to run a kitchen very smoothly, all by herself, in her own home. I know this because without her being able to walk, I have had to do all of the cooking and cleaning by myself – like I used to do before I had a teenage daughter… and I realize how many of those jobs I have handed over to her now! And how much I missed her help over the past two weeks! Tomorrow her bandaging comes off and she will be able to put some weight on her foot. I don’t want to push her at all – we want this foot to heal fully, but I am now very aware of how much I rely in Izzy and I am very grateful for her!!
2. Noah and Rosie are both running track this spring, so I am shuttling everyone back and forth to their practices. The first meet is next week but as I look at the calendar I see all kinds of conflicts coming up- conflicts with choir, conflicts, with piano lessons and the math tutor, conflicts with soccer, conflicts with Holy Thursday…and on the outside I’m okay with it. Because I realize that I will only have conflicts like this for a few more years and then it’ll be over and I’ll miss it.
3. Last Tuesday we were also babysitting my granddaughter. She’s a beautiful baby and very friendly and personable, but she also has a stubborn streak. She won’t drink formula from a bottle from us at all, although she can be persuaded to take breast milk in the bottle if we can persuade her to try it. She also is bored to death with being in the house. So last Tuesday she was fussing and crying and wouldn’t let us pacify her, so I wrapped her up in her coat and car seat and took her with me to track practice. She LOVED IT. She liked looking at all of the kids in the gym doing their drills and she really liked it when the basketball kids showed up and started bouncing their balls. She was content for the entire practice! I think I might be onto something with her.
4. Remember that day it was 70 degrees out and then plunged into the 20s? I do. Because it made my front steps crack! I have so many memories on those steps!! But here’s what they look like now. Contractor is coming on Monday to give me an estimate.
5. Mr. Pete turned 56 on Saturday. He spend the day getting the tags updated on the cars, (because that’s how the State of Ohio wants you to spend your birthday every year, waiting in line to get e-checked). Then he went out to lunch with me, and then came home and worked on getting the rear wheels fixed on Gabe’s car. He worked, and worked on that car and even went over to his shop to get his torch to get some stubborn screws off. After three or so hours he finally got one side done – side two to be continued. Then he cleaned up and took his 8-year-old daughter to her first dance! Not bad for an “old” man huh?
6. If your idea of a good time is wearing a suit and tie, fitting into a big hall with over 300 other dads and daughters, listening to music from Frozen, while snacking on all kinds of delicious carbs, then you would have enjoyed the Father/Daughter Dance. Rosie said it was awesome and that she had a great time and can’t wait to do it again!
Mr. Pete said he was glad she had a good time!
6. Then to top off his birthday weekend, Mr. Pete sang in a concert. I’ll have his solo edited out later, but if you’re interested, here’s the entire program!