Man at Work

 Brandon spent almost the entire month of March in his office plugging away at his dissertation.  He had originally planned to finish later in May but in order to apply for some jobs bumped up the date. He is a person that thrives under pressure and he has definitely given it his all these last few weeks. It was normal for him to leave our house at 4:30 AM come home at 7 to put the kids in bed and then work again until 10 or 11.
I don't know how he did it, but he managed to finish that thing.

During this time I felt calm during the day and then had crazy dreams all night.  One night I jumped up on Brandon and pulled the blankets over us because I knew that there was a green poisonous gas seeping into our house and somehow I was going to protect him.  Another night I thought there were bugs crawling in our blankets and I pulled everything off of the bed, including the top sheet and rolled it up into a ball.  Brandon didn't even say a word.  He just got up and went to the bathroom.  When he came back I had a new blanket from the closet for each of us.  He just took his blanket and went back to sleep.  A different time I woke him up to sleep talk to him about pie.

I overheard him talking to a friend about waking up early.  He said that he didn't need to set an alarm. He would just wait for me to do something crazy and then just stay up for the day.

Somehow we both survived.  He finished his paper and I have gone back to sleeping calmly.  I guess this is kind of how marriage vows work.  In sickness and in health, in grad school, and in sleep talking.

While he works I keep busy by reading books from the Eugene Library.  If I were a poet I would write an ode to the Eugene Library.  We regularly have 30-40 things checked out and sometimes even more.  We get movies, books, comics, and music.  I have explored the shelves and checked out books from cooking to crochet from book binding to local ghost stories.  If the zombie apocalypse ever happened I know most people would run to take refuge in the Costco, but I would want to live in the Eugene Library.  There is enough knowledge in those shelves to rebuild the world, and enough entertainment to last the rest of your life.

 Ike likes when we take a run to the library because he has reading material for the way home.  I don't know why he was so bashful but he hid his face.  I don't think it is because of the pink hat but you never can tell with toddlers.

And speaking of pink, the Rig-girls had a taste of high school glory when they were part of a Grease skit for the Mr. and Miss. Irish Pageant at Sheldon.

 Claire is in our ward and she put together such a cute little show.   The girls came on one at a time and it was almost as if she went from 5 to 17 in one minute.  Of course that started the mom waterworks for me because my babies are growing up so fast.

Pad Thai that I cooked myself!

 I know I have taken a bunch of pictures of my kids on movie night but pretty consistently it is the best part of my week.  It is the one moment where they are all happy, quiet, and not destroying anything.

Album Cover - Probably be better if Daisy was flipping the bird.

Daisy's Birthday

 Our little Daisy turned 7.  She shares her birthday with Sailor and the two of them are the cutest little birthday buddies ever.  Sailor's mom put together a Pinterest worthy tea party which will never be matched which worked out well because I have signed a contract in blood swearing that I will not host any more birthday parties.
And then Daisy got to celebrate again when her grandparents came.

 We watched the Weber State game in the classroom theater that we have adopted.  For the first time it seemed that there may be a reason for three giant screens in a tiny room.

 For her birthday meal Daisy chose Dairy Queen.  She is one smart little lady because the kid's meal comes with ice cream.

 I knew that Dad was feeling right at home when he made one of his custom breakfast creations.

 We also had to stock up on some Diet Mt. Dew.  This "Shopper in Training" caught the attention of the whole store. She had the dew, a giant jar of Nutella and some Whoppers Robin Eggs.  I think I saw a hippie faint as we passed.

We had a lot of fun just hanging out and playing Splat!  We went to Sunrise Asian Market to stock up on some exotic ingredients, we made several trips back and forth from Buena Vista, and we took a trip to Value Village before it closed.  My favorite moment was when my mom and I went out and bought a new bike for Rocky. I felt bad that I made my parents spend all their time here helping me with the kids, but I was so grateful that they were there.  Brandon spent almost a month working ridiculous hours in his office to make a deadline and it was such fun to have my mom and dad there to keep me company and to keep me sane.

 Ike stuck with tradition and attached himself to his Opa.  I don't think there was one minute that they were here that he wasn't either with him, or looking for him.
It always seems like these visits will last, but the goodbye is always too soon.

 Recently Ike has gotten interested in the culinary arts.  He pulls up his chair so he can watch whatever cooking is happening and when it is time to taste he will run to the drawer and grab his fork.  He gets into the spices regularly and recently discovered the pepper mill which basically blew his mind.

We haven't been seeing much of Brandon lately because he has been slaving away at finishing his dissertation.  We stopped by to see him the other day so I could take a photo of his office.  To me it looks like the perfect grad student office.  Like if you were having auditions and casting the perfect room for the role you couldn't find a better match.

 Ike figured out how to get to the top bunk.  He loves getting into all of Rocky's things, but he always ends up getting caught because he can't figure out how to get down.

Little Snugglers

 Brandon figured out that there is a seldomly used classroom next to his office and now it has become a haunt for these little pajamad ghosts.  I have no idea why this small room has three huge TV screens but it makes for a perfect movie night. At least somebody is getting use out of the ridiculous expense that the U of O spent.  

Not pictured: Two huge screens on the side walls

 President's Day brought us yet another day off of school.  I generally cheer for the freedom from a regular schedule but c'mon Eugene.  Between weather and sickness it seems that a day with school is the break in our normal schedule.

 Despite my groaning, we had a lovely time hiking up Skinner Butte.  I swear, nothing heals the soul like being outside.

 It reminds me how much I like these small humans.

 To get the kids hiking without complaint I bribed them with a trip to Dizzy Dean's Donuts.

 Rocky was super excited to find a Now Hiring sign outside.  She told her dad that after all his searching she had no trouble finding him a job.  It would definitely have its perks, especially if they paid him in pastry.

Ike has gotten pretty good at hiding.  Actually, now that I think about it I haven't seen him for a couple of days.

 Jill sent a package with some super cool orange lipstick.  It is a hit.

Love is in the Air, Along with Disease and Pestilence

 February was supposed to bring health and hope.  Instead it came with more sickness, ear infections, and the dreaded nightmare of lice.  Luckily we spotted it right away in Rosy and since there was only one it was pretty easy to handle.  Everyone else was spared.  I now have extremely intimate knowledge of the scalps of all my kids.  After the 12 loads of laundry that we did and all the vacuuming things are feeling pretty good around here. I maybe freaked out a little (a lot) but I think in this case I would rather overdo than risk it.  Brandon was out of town and I must have hidden my distress because Rocky said to me, "Wow, you are a really good mom.  You like always freak out and go crazy when you come in our room and it's a little messy but then something serious happens and you are calm and nice." That's Rocky, always keepin' it real.
Rosy is already a particular little lady and she was terrified that someone would find out.  I promised her that I would keep it on the DL and then I went and wrote about it on my blog.  I hope she will forgive me, but I just couldn't not post that photo with Ike and his Nutella face just right in the middle of everything and me in my headlamp.

Rocky looks like Cupid with her bow and Tinker Toy arrows, but beware.  This girl is more like Catniss with deadly aim.  That bow is no joke.  It really launches those arrows.  Brandon was really impressed with her makeshift quiver.

 Daisy and Rosy both made projects on Sunday.  Daisy was supposed to draw something that she learned from the prophet.  Darling.

Daisy making her parents look good in Primary

 Rosy was supposed to make a Valentine.  I don't know why my kids have all been so funny about calling us by our first names. Nerds.

Rosy making her parents look weird in Primary.

 It was my first year celebrating Galentines Day.  I love the idea of spending February 13th celebrating women and friendship, and eating at Off the Waffle.

 Daisy spent two weeks making her Valentines and each one was a work of art.  She still had a few to go and got to stay up late with her dad who helped her think of creative phrases in Spanish.  Daisy and Brandon are two peas in a pod and I love when they are working together.

Sugar Cookies!!

 For our yearly Valentine's Day popup restaurant this year Rocky made an owl veggie tray.  Rosy was close by to supervise.

 I didn't take any pictures of the actual dinner because after doing all that work I was too tired.

 Brandon was the king of V-day this year.  He surprised the everyone with this killer Radio Flyer.  Since we got it we have learned that it is the best place to relax, do homework, color, snuggle, or anything that you want.
He also brought me a loaf of my favorite bread from Great Harvest.  I almost started crying because it made me so happy.  It was the perfect thing because it isn't extravagant but it was something that he knew that I would really love.

 I used to take Rocky and Daisy to two playgroups a week.  Daisy and Rosy usually went to one and now poor Ike has only been to two or three of them in his entire life.  I used to take the kids to swim at Splash! but now I kind of wonder why you would take your kid to a pool when you have a perfectly good bath tub in your own apartment.  Sometimes I think it is just because I am old and tired, but I help myself feel better by concluding that Ike's whole life is a playdate.  His favorite part of the day is when he gets an hour or two to himself.

I did make an exception when I found out that toddlers can get into Get Air for $3.  He was in heaven.
I had a good time hanging out with all the moms too.  As much as I try to convince myself that I am an old lady that doesn't want any new friends, I can't help but like the other moms.  Women are awesome and I love spending time with them.

Since we have been cooped up in our apartment so much we have been taking advantage of Cosmic Kids Yoga on Youtube.  The yoga is part of a story and the woman who tells the stories keeps them focused as they stretch their bodies.

 We got all gussied up to go to an Oscar party.  Everybody brought their own homemade movies and I laughed harder than I have in a long time.

 Since there was no school on Friday we spent some of the afternoon planning out what everyone would wear.  Each of the girls took the task of dressing like a movie star to heart.  Their choices were entertaining to say the least.

Bookworms.  Nobody believes that Rosy is actually reading that.