February 2024

In February, we had a day with a foot of snow, and a day or two when it got up to almost 60 F. Both were enjoyable. Here are all the photos and videos of those extremes, and everything in between.

Outings and Adventures

Rob: Although we did have snow, temperatures were mild enough to get outside more than usual in February. On the warmest day, we did the Walkway Over the Hudson from the Poughkeepsie side. Other days we visited more local parks nearby. Alex and I ventured out to the Cornwall library so I could check out a book there. Every little town around here has its library, and we've been to most of them but not that one. It had a pretty good kid's section.  Aside from that, I think we just visited the usual places Alex likes or stayed in, since he's been more of a homebody lately thanks to videos he is obsessed with on his iPad.

The Influence of Peppa Pig

Rob: Alex recently discovered the Peppa Pig Marble Run episode, and it has become one of his favorite shows to watch. He has a strange fascination with his marble run toy, one of the few toys that has kept his attention since toddlerhood. It's the first thing he checks on when he comes home from school. Every time he watches this Peppa Pig episode, he has to come into my office and pretend to type on the keyboard like Momma Pig does on her compture (you know, because Momma Pig apparently works from home like I do), and then he goes and takes out all the marble run pieces and sets them up in his own way. He's probably done that 100 times this month. He likes other videos on YouTube too where people set up extremely long and sophisticated marble runs (I like them too).

Return of the Mice

Last summer we realized we had a mouse problem, so we set traps and plugged any holes in the wall where they could come in from. All seemed well, but somehow they are back. Not sure why (other holes in the wall? a litter left behind from before?). In any case, we set the trap again, ended up catching (and releasing) about 5 or 6 of them, and that seems to be it. For now.

Home Decorating (To Be Continued)

Rob: After getting a new couch for our living room last month, we are also making other updates and rearrangements to that space. We also upgraded our flat screen TV to a newer, 43" Sony that I got a deal on at Best Buy and also a basic TV stand. It has a good picture and good sound, and the Google TV interface isn't too bad. Much better than our old one, which now sits in front our elliptical to provide cardio entertainment. I wanted to get a big Samsung "The Frame" TV and put it on this big blank wall that we have behind the couch. But that would require rearranging where the couch faces, and that arrangement was kind of awkward  when we tried it so we aborted that idea (I do love that Frame TV though). So instead, Becky got a very large print from Ikea framed to cover the space on the wall behind the couch. Seriously, this picture is big, like 55"x84" or something like that. We have a lot of other matching things Becky picked out that we need to put put up on the walls and pillows to match too, and it's still a work in progress. So we'll wait to say more until next month with some photos. But the TV upgrade we are definitely enjoying, it was overdue.

Valentine's Day and Date Night

As usual, we stayed in on Valentine's Day and made a pizza: pesto with tomatoes and artichokes. Later in the month we had a babysitter and went out. We were originally going to do some pickleball at the church, but didn't have any takers to come play with us. So we went out for dinner at a southwest/Tex-Mex place in Middletown Becky heard about: House of Birria Tacos. Birria is a style of marinated meat in a taco that is dipped in a soup ("consomme") like a French dip sub. This place was really good, probably the best and most authentic Mexican food we've found in the Hudson Valley.

What Else Is New

Rob: I really enjoyed the Netflix series 'House of Ninjas,' which is from Japan (watch with English subtitles). And my latest story for Scenic Hudson was published in February about some local research on how lakes here don't freeze over as much as they used to. I enjoyed working on that  mostly over Christmas break. Also, we are looking forward to Utah in mid-June for my nephew Ethan's wedding. Becky will probably spend a few days visiting her family in Arizona while we are out that way too.

Alex: Although we've tried to get Alex interested in coloring in the past, he hasn't showed much interest. That has changed though, especially in the past month. He's coloring with markers and crayons everything he can get his hands on, and very serious about it. But his coloring is kind of like his language. Mostly scribbles unless you sit with him and encourage him to be intentional about it. Then he might try to stay within the lines a bit. This interest is probably brought on by efforts at school to learn writing. So we've been working on that too. Another thing he has been into lately is his toy xylophone, often coupled with videos that have music on his iPad.

Becky: Not much new, but I'm happy to say I've been making slight improvements in certain aspects of my day to day, efforts inspired by the new year.  I'm doing better with daily exercise (usually time on the elliptical or hikes on weekends).  I've also been a bit more consistent with daily scripture study.  I'm currently focused on improving Alex's after school time by helping him decode sounds in CVC words, learn new songs for primary, write/trace lines, shapes, and letters, and learn to play turn-taking games, among other things.  I also plan to contribute to efforts to get the kids (especially 4 year olds) attending better in primary.  Last, I have to mention we should be done decorating our living room by the end of this month- which will make the room that much more fun to hang out in.  Just to be clear, I still know how to be lazy, too.  That's it for now.