– I ducked out for several hours today and went for a drive to explore an indoor flea market. It was a bit further away than I planned, but upon arrival, I was greeted by a three-story warehouse filled with vintage goodies. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been truly alone (with no prescribed task of grocery shopping or holding down the fort after bedtime) and it was a bit of an odd sensation to wander alone. I wandered and poked around for close to two hours before joining the line to check out. The guy working the register chuckled when he saw my shopping list, a complete necessity to keep from becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume available, though I admit, rather silly. I didn’t find everything I’ve been looking for, but did come home with a gorgeous Pyrex mixing bowl and a 9″ pie plate, a crock for kitchen utensils, a pretty hankie and a cookie cutter, and two maple lollipops for my little ladies. Total spent: $21. I’m still looking for a pair of milk glass candle holders and a telephone table for the foyer, along with several other little things.

– I stopped on the way home to snap a couple photos looking down on the Alpine ski school nearby. The lake below is frozen and the snow machines are pumping.

– Spicy potato soup and homemade bread, the first loaf I’ve baked myself here at home. My girls wouldn’t eat the soup, even in a milder state than written, but it was a nice, warming meal.

– Music! For how important music has been in my life, I realized we rarely play anything during the day. I find that with the constant input from the girls, I just can’t handle the additional layer of noise. It makes me a little nutty to have songs playing on top of our normal conversation and chatter. And yet, I believe so strongly in the importance of music, of all kinds. I’ve been trying to play Pandora while I prep dinner or do the dishes so that the girls are exposed to all different kinds of sounds. We had a dance party the other night to Taylor Swift and then moved on to Mama’s favorite CSNY songs.

– Sweebee and Beans were gifted subscriptions to Little Passports for Christmas, and have enjoyed the science experiments that were included in Swee’s first kit. They built a volcano with daddy this week, and we’re preparing for an eruption tomorrow.

And so we move into a new week.