happy birthday, daddy!

Emilia thought Daddy would like Spider Man napkins for his birthday.




The girls were excited to give him Despicable Me. It's one of his favorites because it has three little girls in it.






It takes a pretty special guy to put up with four demanding girls, watch Tinkerbell and Barbie movies, and sing at the top of his lungs to Taylor Swift. That's our Daddy! We love you!

valentine fun

This year at church, we had a valentine exchange and celebration. The girls loved it! They had fun playing with the giant blow-up crocodiles...well, Lydi was a little intimidated. They got to decorate their own heart shaped sugar cookies. The best part was going through their valentine sacks once we got home.







Look at the pretty table Mom and Callie set for our meal after church.



Aside from not feeling well, Emilia's valentine party was a lot of fun. The kids really seemed to like the snacks, games, and crafts. I enjoyed helping plan this party. Valentine's Day was always one of my favorite parties when I was teaching.







I had a fun valentine meal planned to fix on Valentine's Day. But since I came down with the flu, it had to wait a few days. The girls love pasta with alfredo sauce. I found the heart shaped pasta at World Market and thought they would like it. Emilia helped set the table. Isn't it pretty?!






Roger is responsible for this culinary creation!

my manly valentine

I ended up getting the stomach flu Valentine's Day afternoon. Not fun! At least we got a few "mushy" pictures in the day before. Love my man!
(the dipping picture was his idea, not mine. he practically tackled me.)

baby legs

gotta love 'em!

this morning

Woke up to this!



Today: Periods of snow and windy. Some blowing and drifting snow. High 14F. Winds NE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected.
Tonight: Snow likely. Very cold. Low 3F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Snow accumulating 2 to 4 inches.
Tomorrow: Snow flurries early. Then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Very cold. Wind chills may approach -10F. High near 20F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Tomorrow night: Bitterly cold. A few clouds overnight. Low -4F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.


Emilia and Avery found their summer jammies in their drawers this morning and wanted to put them on. Too funny that they wanted to wear them today...a snowy day. They put them over their winter jammies!




Michele braved the weather and dropped by with this. Thanks, friend!




The girls got busy crafting.




Lydia is sick now. Poor baby. Avery is on day seven of fever and coughing. Hopefully Lydi's won't last that long. Grandad stopped by to check on his sick girls. He ended up holding Lydi until she fell asleep. Emilia's kindergarten was cancelled this afternoon because of the weather.

saturday fun

Avery helped me make these yummy little Valentine treats yesterday.



Holiday Pretzel Kiss Candies Recipe
~Taken from littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com~

Ingredients:
*Small, waffle-shaped pretzels
*Hershey's Kisses (any variety of Kisses or Hugs will work)
*M&M's
*Cookie sheet and parchment paper



1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or wax paper). Spread out pretzels.





2. Put a Hershey's Kiss or Hug in the center of each pretzel.
3. Heat oven to 170°. Place baking sheet in oven for 6 minutes. Kisses will just begin to melt and look shiny, but will not lose their shape.



4. Gently top each Kiss with an M&M. It should immediately push the Kiss' point down, but if you have to press it into the Kiss, you may need to heat them a little longer.

Place in the freezer until the Kiss is hard again (i put my whole cookie sheet in my big freezer, but you could wait for them to cool and put them on a smaller plate if you don't have that much room in your freezer). Package them in a cello bag, add a bow and a tag, and you're good to go!




While Ave and I were making the treats, this is what Roger, Em and Soph were up to!

one year ago today

February 5, 2010
~love my doll babies~

another cold week

This week we had more snow, wind and negative temperatures. This time it was blowing snow. Roger and Emilia both had two more days off from school. We had big drifts on the side of our house.




The deck was protected from the north wind, so the snow fell nicely on it.




We made snow ice cream. It was my first time to try it. We couldn't believe how much it tasted like the real thing!








Snow Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients
1 gallon snow
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk

Directions
1.When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.


Roger and I drank lots of coffee.




Avery has been sick this week with a fever and cough. Hopefully this is the last rough day for her.




Emilia and Lydia played together well, even without their other playmate.