MEANWHILE....

While all of the issues with Lenore have been happening, life has continued with zest and fervor in our corner of the coast. J's folks came out to visit in January for Toe's birthday. One of Toe's buddies who was born the day before Toe held a Jedi birthday this year and we took Toe to Portland to attend. Highlights of the party were Jedi training with a stage combat/martial arts master who taught them a real combat sequence (but only after he talked to them about The Force and feeling energy in your body and breathing) and building their own light sabers. It was an impressive party, well managed by the parents, and so much fun.

Jedi Toby-Wan-Kenobi

A week after Toe's birthday, J celebrated his. I tried my hand at making a German Chocolate cake. I had no idea how labor intensive it is! It was not the prettiest cake, but it was delicious. A dear friend brought J a cake to celebrate, so we had two.

Lighting the non-German Chocolate Cake

 Toby, J, and I all got bikes for the birthdays and so now we have the task of teaching Toe how to ride his without training wheels. It will take some time for him to learn to balance and steer at the same time. It is not coming naturally for him, and he becomes frustrated easily. We're taking it in chunks.

 We also inherited a dog from Lenore - Sasha. She is between twelve and  fourteen, a Belgian Malinois? Sable Shepherd? and an absolute LOVE. We've had fun getting to know her - taking her for walks, brushing her, spending time in the yard... She loves walks and people food and trips to the vet (she spent time as a vet-tech training dog years ago, so she is really comfortable there). She really HATES metal bridges, riding in the car, and having her people being on different floors of the house. She is very polite with people and other animals and great on a leash. She charms people wherever she goes.It has been a joy adding her to our family.

At the end of February, we took J's brother, Uncle Awesome, to the airport to return to Peru. He has taken a job down there and plans to return sometime - maybe in six months or a year. He was with us for a whirlwind two months and we will miss him.

The day after we took Awesome to the airport, J and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary.
We were married on February 29, so after 16 years, we have only had four true anniversaries. We celebrated by taking Toe and another couple out to dinner.

 Recently, Toe took the radio world by storm. A friend of ours runs a children's hour on our local community radio station once a week. While she was on a trip recently, a group of our actor friends filled in for her. We sang, read stories, and J played his guitar. Toe took to the venue as if he had been doing it forever. He introduced himself and his parents, read the Jules Pfeiffer book Meanwhile, told jokes he had made up himself, and generally made himself at home in the studio. It was pretty hilarious.

 For Easter, we went to my "big brother's" house for brunch. He had some mutual friends staying with him and they made an amazing breakfast (it was Indian food, so a little spicy for Toe, but J and I LOVED it). It was the first time I've seen Marc in a while and we had a good time catching up.

 Finally, spring has arrived in our neighborhood. Our azaleas, periwinkles, and fruit trees are blooming and we are spending more time in the yard.

Other events have included a visit from J's Aunt Betsy and Uncle Craig (first time we have seen them in sixteen years), taking Toe to see Waiting for Godot and Twelve Angry Men, saying goodbye to Toe's godparents who are moving back to Minnesota, and continuing with our daily routines of breathing treatments, work, school, and lots of laughter. Kind of a busy winter-into-spring.