Happy belated Valentine’s Day to everyone in Xangaland! Johnny’s been in Manhattan, pitching his toy at New York Toy Fair (often presenting for 10 hours a day!), since last Friday, so I spent my Valentine’s Day with Jack, Derek and my friend Michelle, who flew in from DC to visit me for a long weekend. It was so nice of her to take the time to travel all the way across the country (and nice of her husband to lend me his valentine). I miss my college days, when I could see my close girlfriends whenever I wanted.

We had a great few days and mostly hung out with the kids. But, I did have a blissfully relaxing, girls-only Sunday. With Johnny gone for essentially six days (all of Friday through all of tomorrow — by the time he gets home, the kids will have long been asleep), and me tutoring on Saturday afternoon, I needed a break. So, I hired a babysitter to come on Sunday, and Michelle and I went to Bar Method (yes, I dragged poor Michelle and her friend Katie, who spent one night with us, to an 8:15 a.m. class), enjoyed an outdoor lunch in Huntington Beach and got our nails done. So refreshing!

Michelle, Katie and I enjoying “lava flow” cocktails — basically pina coladas with strawberry puree mixed in — at Duke’s in Huntington Beach

We were there with Roya, whom I’ve stolen from Ben (just kidding, Ben! But that is what you get for moving to Nova Scotia). Anyway, Roya is five months pregnant and still looks amazing.

I really enjoyed my little Sunday “vacation,” but I was really glad to see Jack and Derek that afternoon! They had a lot of fun with Susy while I was gone, but I start to get kind of antsy after a few hours, wondering how they’re doing and whether they’re worried that I’m not there. (I’m positive the answer is that they were not worried. They were ecstatic to see me upon my return, but they cried when Susy left!) We spent Monday just enjoying the lovely weather (it was in the mid- to high-70s this whole time).

Jack blowing bubbles in the yard

Derek chasing the bubbles

Michelle teaching Jack how to blow huge bubbles

My two favorite kiddos!

Today it was back to the normal routine with the boys, which was nice in its own way. Jack misses Michelle already, though, since she spent a lot of time patiently playing with him and answering all of his many “why?” questions. We are all ready for Johnny to return. While he’s been gone, Jack (totally unprompted) has taken on the “responsibility” of snuggling in bed with me in the early morning. He says that he is “protecting” me since “Daddy isn’t here.” But today, he said, “I like being here with you, Mommy, but I want Daddy to come back now.” Awww!

I wanted to share some pictures from over the weekend. First, the garden: It’s coming along nicely.

On the left is the broccoli, growing taller by the minute. To the right are the spinach seedlings — this morning, a seventh seedling popped up, so now we’re just waiting on two (and if they don’t sprout, then so be it). One of the seedlings is now forming its first true leaves — very exciting.

And here we have one of the shallot/onion squares. You can see the green onion leaves beginning to pop up.

I’m waiting for the sugar snap peas and the carrots. I just sowed the carrot seeds on Friday, and I’ve read that they can take up to three weeks, so I’m not holding my breath on that one. I know the peas have germinated (bad bad Beverly … I dug into the soil to “spy” on one of the seeds. It’s germinated, just hasn’t poked through yet), so it’s just a matter of time before they’re above the surface. Now I sit back and watch everything grow until mid-February, which is when I’ll put in the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. In March, I’ll do basil, and in April, I’ll start the okra.

Now, the fam.

Johnny with Jack and Atari — every once in a while, we like to torment our dog. Ha. And Derek and I on Sunday morning. He just came up to me and wanted to cuddle on my lap. It was so sweet! I got lots of unsolicited toddler kisses. I’m not sure if there’s a better kind of kiss!

Not much else to report. My first SAT class at the center went well on Saturday afternoon. My student is very motivated (but not crazily so). She listens and asks questions, and she’s willing to work hard. Better yet, her dad actually asks her what her goals are, instead of demanding that she makes a certain score. He seems very supportive of her. After working for one overzealous parent and one totally apathetic one, this is a nice change of pace. Plus it’s nice that I no longer have to go out to make my own copies of teaching materials — there’s a receptionist there who will do it for me. Score!