A Peek at the Poulsens

1. Homemade pizza. 2. When your baby is so excited to see you that when you pick him up he wiggles and squiggles with every ounce of energy his limbs can muster. 3. Consistent, synchronized afternoon naps. (or good ol' CONs, in the college days.)

My brother, Sam, is a freshman at the University of Michigan as a voice performance/education major and he is the MAN! The local theater (not affiliated with the university) was putting on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical "next to normal," a favorite of his, so he auditioned and landed one of his dream roles! It's just a six-person cast so every role is a lead. The musical explores family relationships, grief, mental health, and moving forward. I hadn't seen it before but had only heard good things about it, so we thought it would be fun to come support Sam and see the show. Inconveniently, Ann Arbor is 11 hours away, it's winter, and we have small children, so we decided it would be too hard to make the trip. BUT then we decided that we couldn't bear to miss seeing Sam in such a big role and we made it happen!  We stopped at the Chocolate Garden because there were so many billboards and advertising for it on the freeway that we had to check it ...

Until February of 2012, I had never actually had an opportunity to celebrate Valentine's Day. I mean, sure, I passed around Pokemon Valentine cards and got a ton of candy like every other kid in elementary school, but I had never had a person that I could call my Valentine. Fortunately, things are different now. I have Jessie, the most beautiful Valentine in the whole wide world. Last year, Jessie and I had a total Valensuccess. We went to P. F. Changs, which is our favorite restaurant (I recommend the Mongolian Beef). I foolishly assumed that we wouldn't need reservations, but luckily for us, there were two seats available at the bar, and we didn't have to wait at all to be seated. Another unlucky couple that got there around the same time as us was told there would be a two hour wait. Yikes. Anyways, our food was Valendelicious. This year, however, Valentine's Day was more of a Valendebacle. I need to preface this by saying that I deserve a lot of good husban...

We are all healthy now and I am SO grateful! Nothing like being sick to make health feel like more of a blessing. Austin was sick for a week straight pretty much which was tiring for all of us (i.e. why Blog Wednesday failed last week) and hopefully we can now shimmy out of sick season safely. (oi! alliteration!) after taking care of a sick husband and needy children for a couple days in a row I finally took a night to myself (with Stockton in tow) and read a book at Noodles to relax. BLISS. I must have looked haggard because the lady gave me a free bowl of soup, too.  Also in the "health" grain we've been trying to eat healthier and it's been cool - we got a juicer and I have to say: fresh, cold OJ that you personally squeeze (or I guess let a machine squeeze for you) is extremely satisfying. Natalie L O V E S it, can't get enough. Sometimes we mix a grapefruit in too. YUM. We also made lasagna with pepperoni instead of beef and slices of zucchini and y...