The Phoenix: Epicuriousmothering Rising

FIRST ANNUAL GOBBLER 5K (MALCARNE FAMILY PLUS SMITHS) Post Gobbler Football game (Thanksgiving 2013) with nephews  Piper and Great-Grandmother Rasmussen The Thanksgiving Crew--My parents, John's parents and grandmother, my brother John and Family, My sisters Anne and Doreen and their Families and my niece and her husband, Kyra and Patrick, and her brother Zach.  I think it was 27 total.  Total blast! The Feast Henry and cousin Shaun Finn and both is Grandpas making the Thanksgiving puzzle (they worked on this for four hours!). Black Friday (or rather Gray Thursday) shopping with cousins--10pm Thanksgiving night Annual Tree Decorating Party . . .  Celia Getting ready for school . . . whose under that table? Christmas 2013 Henry (with pig tails) and Phoebe skating . . .  Newest Addition to our family--the Eternal Flame outdoor gas fireplace  Santa Came! The utter exhaustion of opening presents! Holi

It's cold outside.  Winter cold that makes my bum freeze within three minutes of starting my run and about forty-five minutes to thaw once I walk back through the door. That's why I'm sitting in the sunshine that's streaming through the windows and have my back to the fire. I love winter--the snow, the ice skating, the sledding, the down coats and the invigorating chill that makes you feel somehow super duper alive (perhaps because if you stay out too long, you won't be . . .).  But I really truly HATE being cold.  I'm to bundled up one when everyone else is in sweaters.  I think it's from my Connecticut winter childhood where once you got a chill in that damp cold, it was nearly impossible to shake.  Who knows, but during these winter mornings after long runs in the dark, I find myself sitting for nearly an hour after the kids go to school in front of the fire, soaking in the radiant heat like a lizard.  I think to myself, honestly, nothing is quite as pe