Jasmine

 After all the construction, the whole garden is a mess, and the grass is just barely clinging to life. Our Fresia didn't even appear this year. It makes me wonder if the construction guys were pouring paint and things into the grass. 

My lovely jasmine is the only thing I have to admire. 

Afternoons At The Park

It was sprinkling so we had the big park in Cascais all to ourselves. 

 I can't even handle how cute the below picture is. People always ask me when/if Sebby is going to school. Sebby wants nothing to do with other little kids; In fact, he calls them "babies." If he sees a four or five year old girl, he will say "that baby is wearing a hat," or "that baby is on the swing." This might have something to do with the fact that I still call Mooji "my baby."

Anyway, what Sebby does want more of in his life is Freddy. All day long he asks to pick up Freddy or go see Freddy. He was sitting on my lap just now as I uploaded these pictures, and seeing Freddy on the screen made him burst into tears.

 The matchy thing is just a coincidence.

 He never goes anywhere without a few cars or trains in his hands, and then a few for his lap in the car, and one for each pocket. Oh, and a few for my pockets too.  Every one of us is well acquainted with all of the Thomas Train friends.

Photo Dump

Ugg. My camera is the worst. At least I thought it was until I realized the lense is toddler-finger-print dirty. I've since cleaned the lense, but now the camera has taken a little vacation.

Zita had her Winter orchestra performance at the end of January. It's hard to believe she is already in her third year with this orchestra.

 I know I say this too much, but big age gaps really are the cutest.

 Sebby can now walk happily along the waterfront without actively trying to throw himsef into the rocky sea below. We are bit by bit getting back to doing "normal" family things now that Sebby is getting a little older.

 My tall girl.

 Jumping shot had to be done.

 Zita took her friends to the farm for a weekend of countryside living. Pai was the lucky parent to accompany the girls. I had the three boys and as a few weeks have already passed, I only remember that I took them for a sushi dinner. The rest is a blur.

Scenes From Valentine's Day

Zita decorated the dining room for Valentine's Day with the contents of a care package from my mom. We had to keep the dining room closed off until dinner because I knew as soon as Sebby saw it, he would try to gather it all up and re-purpose what he could. Sure enough, the first thing he did was move a chair over to the hanging decorations and pull down a lantern. 

There were three...

I love how Zita strung everything up.

 We made the chocolate truffle cake that I've posted about before and improvised a bit with the frosting. Little taste tests here and there meant I didn't have enough baking chocolate when frosting time came along. We managed by diluting the frosting with a lot of condensed milk. Can't go wrong with that.

 It was just the four boys and me for dinner. Zita and her friend walked up the road and ate out, but joined us for cake later on.

 Seb playing peek-a-boo with the paper hearts.

That was it- Valentine's Day 2015 done. I'm free of holiday prep and work until 4th of July; we'll be flying on Easter this year.

The Sweetest

Early morning big brother cuddles are the best

This Is How We All Feel Lately

Pai has worked or been gone for three or four weekends in a row now. It's been a long haul for the last few weeks. 

While there is no light at the end of the tunnel work wise for Pai, the weather has turned Springy, my jasmine is thriving and about to bloom, and we are back to spending most of our play time outside. 

Sometimes, after a big walk and morning at the park, we could all use a little snooze on the couch.