i'm really enjoying being back at WFM. the job is easy and familiar, i feel comfortable and at home there, i know a lot of the team members and am getting to know the new ones, and it's stimulating for me to use my mind in this way, at least for a few hours every saturday and sunday. i'm finding myself daydreaming of going back to work there full time... then i get home to my sweet babies and wonder what the heck i was thinking!

today is valentine's day. traditionally josh and i don't do anything special... we both kind of view it as a made-up holiday to make money for hallmark, russell stover and flowers.com. but lately josh and i have been connecting in a rejuvinated, new way - mentally, emotionally and physically. we've made some changes in our financial habits and our eating habits, both of which were bringing us a lot of guilt and strife. maybe the fact that we've been making these changes together has brought us a newfound closeness and satisfaction with our life in general. maybe it's something about the fact that on february 21st we will have been together for 10 years. whatever the reason, we're in a really good place and i'm enjoying it thoroughly. josh surprised me last night with my first vday gift, then at work this morning i received a vase full of peachy-orange roses (the kind i carried on our wedding day) with a note from him. when i got home from work, he gave me two cards - the sweetest one from him, and one from micah and rowan, with micah's little handwriting in it - oh! - and tucked inside his card was a gift certificate to a nail salon! YEAH!! i am so excited. :) turns out katherine helped him get the GC, so she and i are going to go get our nails done together and go to a wine bar near the salon afterwards. i am so looking forward to this relaxing girls date. :) i'm going to get a spa pedi, which includes a hot stone massage and a peppermint mud mask, and a spa mani. i won't get polish on my fingernails, but i think i'll get a deep red on my toes.

i've been following the olympics this year, mainly because of the ravelympics. i'm not on ravelry as often as i'd like to be, i think because i don't have a camera and can't post pictures of my knitting, but i decided to join my knitting buddies, mama and katherine, and cast on a new project on the evening of the winter olympics opening ceremony, which i intend to finish by the end of the games on feb 28th. i chose this cozy cashmere hat for my project. i've already hit a snag, but katherine's coming over tomorrow to help me figure it out. i can't wait to wear this hat!

so i ripped out the top part of my fingerless mitt ("i" meaning my mother) and redid it, and now it's perfect. PERFECT, i say. now all i have to do is finish the thumb! and by "i" i mean my mother! oh, and i guess i should knit the other one.

micah is doing so well at preschool. they had a "100th day of school" celebration this week. on monday she took a little art project made of 100 macaroni noodles and lentils. she glued them onto a little piece of thin cardboard in the shape of a tree, with some grass at the bottom. she arranged them and josh glued them on. it looks a little too perfect to be the work of a 4-year-old, because her daddy's a perfectionist artist, but i'm sure the other kids got help with theirs too. then yesterday, she wore a necklace that she made out of 100 beads. now, on this she did almost all the work on; she picked out the beads herself at the rockbarrell with josh, and strung about 70% of them onto the fishing line herself. when she got tired, she asked me to take over. she told us that she got to walk across the little stage at assembly and show off her handmade jewelry. : ) josh and i wished we could've been there to see her!

a bit of kid news:
- rowan has graduated from pronouncing his name "row row" to "rowan", and he usually adds "poole" to the end if you ask him what his full name is.
- rowan is getting closer and closer to potty training. if he's naked, he will ask to go to the potty. if i put his underwear on him, he forgets to ask. i think it's the sensation of having something against his skin; his mind and body just assume it's still a diaper.
- he is really talking a great deal, and becoming more and more clear. the other day micah was watching lady gaga's grammy performance on youtube with me, and was disturbed by the part where they toss her into the tank thing that catches on fire. she crinkled up her nose and said, "mama, lady gaga's weird. if you see her on redbox, don't buy it." (we rent movies from the redbox at the gas station near our house now and then.) rowan repeated her word for word! i was impressed, and amused that such an odd sentence would come out of his mouth.

- micah, as mentioned, is doing fantastically well at school. she has 6 friends; 5 girls and 1 boy. she loves her teachers, especially the aide, ms. brown.

- we've started working on simple math and writing the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case at home. we bought her two workbooks from staples and she's been enjoying them, even asking to work in them in the evenings.