Catching Up

I got Ellie some sun glasses for the summer. She thought she was I mean is pretty hot stuff.

Brian was outside taking pics and Ellie got outside too. Doesn't she understand cold? I guess this is what happens when you are born in Michigan.


As a Hawaiian friend said, "That is how the locals do it." Brian was sweeping the snow off of our walk way in his shorts.

I made these Valentines for our mothers. I intended them to be bookmarks, but Mom in Hawaii said that she was going to make them into magnets for the fridge. Why didn't I think of that? Then everyone can see them. Mom's are clever.
We have had visitors at our bird feeder. Mostly squirrels foraging on the ground but this was a new bird we hadn't seen around our house before. We will definitely be doing this again next year. We like looking out our window and watching our visitors eat our treats except in the summer and it's our garden.



This is Alexis during a Family Home Evening. We were dancing and she didn't want to participate so she went into the kitchen but she couldn't stop the beat. There is more about Alexis at her blog. She got glasses and participated in this year's swimming Special Olympics.

All About Mikey

I just wanted to blog about Mikey. He looks so cute naked. Poor baby got the bad Rackham dry skin genes. He loves it when I put lotion on him. He giggles a lot. I have been having trouble getting him to sleep through the night. He has gotten used to eating through the night and I give in and keep doing it. I don't like to hear him cry. It doesn't help that he sleeps in our room. I am ready for a bigger house, but that will come in time. This week I am going to get him to sleep. I will be sleep deprived and will probably end up on the couch. Oh well. Wish me luck.






He is so stinkin' cute!!!

Handmade Home

I have seen on a couple of other blogs making leggings made out of woman's knee length socks. I thought I would give it a try. I found theses at Target in their Valentine Clearance section. So I cut them off right at the ankle and then I sewed a hem where I cut them off. Wha la! Leggings! Ellie loves them.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic. Our camera with working flash was out for repairs.

I WON!!!

A while ago I entered a drawing on this blog. Well, you can guess by my title that I won. I was so excited to see my name. At first I could not believe that it was me. I had to read it a couple of times. I got to pick out a treat for Ellie from Stephanie's Wonderland. I picked the turquoise peony tutu with matching headband. Ellie loves it. I love that she likes to dress up.

Ellie is also wearing her favorite t-shirt. It has a monkey playing a guitar on it.

Celebrating Love, Snow and the Year of the Tiger

For Family Home Evening last week we talked about the two greatest commandments. We read Matthew 22: 36-40. We made Valentine votives out recycled baby food jars, old tissue paper and mod podge. We put battery operated tea lights inside and then attached the scripture on a heart with ribbon. We gave them away today to Grandma Val (It's her birthday!), to a few of the widows from our ward and an older Brother in our ward. He was so giddy to receive a Valentine. He said that he hadn't gotten one since he was a little kid. Brian and I liked this service project and will be doing it again next year (a new family tradition).



Brian took me to see Leap Year. It was cute. He also took the girl's and made me this Valentine. If you click on it you can see it larger and read it a little better. It brought a tear to my eye and touched my heart. I love my family!!!


For the girls I made these felt cupcakes. My first attempt. I think it turned out pretty well. Lexi saw the box and asked if she could have one. I said go for it. She tried to be careful to take one out and then she went to take a bite and was sad to discover that they were fake. I then gave one to Ellie. She took a bite and glared at me with her signature pout. It was funny.



We took time to celebrate the snow. Brian really wanted to take the girls sledding. I stayed in the van with Mikey other than taking the photos.


We had company on Friday and of course I had to try a new recipe. I made Easy Raspberry Chicken with Coconut Rice. It was so yummy and our company asked for the recipe. I love when that happens. There wasn't any leftover because Brian kept piecing on it after we had finished dinner and our company had left.


Happy Chinese New Year!!! This is the year of the Tiger. Grace bought Alexis a jacket and Ellie an outfit that I thought would be great to wear today to celebrate. Thank you Grace. Brian and I wore red for the New Year and for Valentines.


Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!

A contest

I entered a contest over at Spors in the Desert. I found this blog through her other blog Walk Beside Me. She has Montessori info on there that I find helpful and inspiring. I was also excited to learn that she is a member of the church. I hope I win.

Burp Rags, Thai Food & The Black Plauge Song

I made these burp rags for a friend. I gave them as a gift at her shower. I am going to try to give only handmade gifts from now on. It makes me feel good and accomplished. Plus I plan on recycling as many materials as possible. My next projects will be to make Brian some slippers and Mikey some bibs and blocks.



In our culinary adventures, I tried to make Pad See Ew. It is a Thai dish that we like to order when we go out to a Thai restaurant. It turned out alright. I would love to go to Thailand and have someone teach me how to cook some of their dishes.






Ellie was playing Ring Around the Rosey with some friends earlier in the week. She loves this dance song. She can get some pretty good air on her falls too. This was this evening while Brian was out and about doing his Priesthood thing. I sang the song over and over and over and over. Brian had a good giggle when he watched this. I hope you do too.

From Friday to Today...Hooray!!!

On Friday while Brian was gone the kids and I built a fort. I was thinking to myself "you know, I haven't built a fort in ages" so I did. Ellie loved it!!! I called Brian (I don't remember where he was) and asked him to bring home some pizza and to have his camera ready. He so good. He did and started a new tradition. Once a month we will have Fort Friday.





For Family Home Evening we talked about how Jesus loved us so much he created the Earth and all it's creatures (lesson from Behold Your Little Ones). Then we made bird feeders. I cut out cardboard letters. I had everyone spread the letters with peanut butter and then we dipped them in a bird seed mix. We also made feeders by emptying orange peels and then putting seed inside of them. I hung the feeders up the next day on the clothes line and in the tree.


Ellie was compelled to grab handfuls of seed and drop it on the table and then swing her arms fast so that the seed went everywhere. When I decided to this activity I knew it was going to be a mess, but Ellie really got into it. I think that in the spring we will take a bin outside for a sensory activity that both Ellie and Alexis can enjoy (I guess the birds and squirrels too).




Today marks the halfway point of winter. We are so much closer to Spring now. Brian invited Justin Torrence and Eric Petty (my former Seminary students) over to play the Wii and to jam out to Weird Al's Greatest Hits.



So to celebrate us getting closer to Spring I made Melting Snowman Soup. Really it is just Potato Soup. I also made banana bread using this recipe.



Also today is my mother's birthday. It is so hard to be away from family. I am so grateful for the technology that has been made available to allow us to talk over the internet. Alexis looked forward to this all day. I made a Better Than Anything Cake, we got Nana on the computer and then we sang to her. It was great!!! We love you Nana!


Alexis and Ellie enjoying the cake for Nana.