Snow Gem

Brett found a "snow gem" today while playing outside! Pretty neat piece of ice! We had to put it in the freezer to save it. This is related to the mining game on Webkinz. He likes to mine and see what kind of gem he gets and we always have to run and look (and read to him what he found because only a message pops up).

Sweet or Salty?

Today we did this activity for our opposites theme. I had the kids close their eyes and taste what I put in their mouth, either a piece of a chip or an M & M. Brett was 2nd to last so he was expecting the M & M the 2nd time! He looks a little disappointed. Everyone got some more candy afterwards so they were happy! They really liked this activity because it involved eating & candy I'm afraid. All the girls had their turn already but poor Brandon was last and getting impatient! I heard him but didn't realize he was so anxious until I watched the video! LOL I also had them try tasting sugar and salt after they guessed which was which.

Dot Art

I like this dot art painting Brett made yesterday. (with Handy Spots from Handy Art)

It's not even close to spring yet

so it was a good excuse to buy some flowers tonight. They're just from the grocery store but pretty even so. It's a great mood lifter, I'd recommend it! We're getting more snow tonight but it looks like we're getting less than originally forecasted which is OK! **We got about 4". Still plenty to shovel at 5:30am!

Sunday night miscellaneous

My M&M candy jar. It's great for all kinds of candy but M&M's are what I usually put in it. Perfect for pouring out a handful or just a few! My Grandma has one of these so I was glad to find one at Goodwill or a garage sale. I have two actually-one for regular M&M's and one for peanut or dark chocolate!

The berry pie I made today with the extra pie crust from a few weeks ago that I froze, Triple Berry blend from Schwan's and a crumb topping. Not the prettiest slice here but really yummy! Brett said he was dressing his Webkinz RikRac for meeting! RikRac said "I like the new threads." Here's Brett showing me the "stretches" we should do this morning. Isn't he so cute?! : )

How about these cupcakes Julie? Really cute ad (for Ranch)!

Hope everyone had a great relaxing weekend!

Irish Hollow Inn

Stonewood Stonewood The new Gardner's Cottage

This is such a neat place in Galena-The Inn at Irish Hollow. We got a newsletter in the mail on Friday that says they have two new cottages. They look amazing from the little pictures on their site. I'm sure they are gorgeous because the other three are. The food is unbelievable as well. I'd love to go back there sometime but it's sooo expensive. Nice to think about though! We stayed at the Stonewood last time. One night is not enough!

Florida Trip

We've decided finally. We're going here: Tradewinds Island Grand Resort in April! We're going Friday, April 11-Friday, April 18th so we have a while to wait yet. (We want to miss spring break & early March is too short of notice for work. This was the week Damon could be off.) I bought Brett some new summer clothes today! We had to get some luggage too since we didn't have anything rolling. Now that we have it settled, we can look forward to it!

Wednesday

Nothing really to blog this week it seems. I'll just put a few notes on about what I've been thinking about:

• It seems like I always have 50 million things to do & either: 1. I don't have enough time to get basic things done around here or 2. I have no motivation when I do have the time.
• This week my outlook is much different. I was able to get caught up on a lot of things and life seems more in balance and under control. THANK GOODNESS! My health was starting to suffer after having several very busy weeks & weekends without any extra time. Especially me time....
• I've been in denial. I really need to go to the grocery store *again*. But when before Saturday unless it's after mtg tonight? Another late night..... Yeah, should have thought of that last night I guess.
• I have another paper due tomorrow. Why am I always so last minute when I've been thinking about this for weeks? I should know by now there's never a perfect time to do it so what have I been waiting for?
• The group project/event for my online class is frustrating me! The group I'm working with is strange. Or they think I am? Not sure. I greatly dislike group projects but really trying here!
• Laundry is caught up! Damon helped me put it all away last night.
• I have a couple of busy days ahead. Special needs 14 yr old will be here all day tomorrow & Friday due to no school and I'll have two extra kids here on Friday at 6am.
• M & D are now full time starting Monday! Wasn't it just two weeks ago I was upset they went part time?
• Damon's working lots of hours again this week because his boss is training somewhere.
• We're trying to figure out where to go in FL in April. Clearwater? Sanibel Island? Not sure yet but we're going! April seems too far out...
• I'm thinking of going to all natural homemade cleaners. Other than bleach. I use that for disinfecting.
• Looking forward to no plans again this weekend!
• Cleaned out the hallway closet on Monday. What a bunch of junk taking up space in there!
• Brett finally got a new bookcase for his room. Much better.
• I'm tired of the silly non-sense fooling around bathroom humor, rough housing, loud, horsing around Brett & E (both 5 yrs) participate in daily non-stop. You'd think I didn't plan multiple activities for them daily and that they are bored. They probably still are.
• I've been working with 3 yr old B during meal/snack times. He crams his mouth, uses his hands, makes a mess, drops food, gulps milk with food in his mouth and eats really fast. It's ridiculous. He used his full 1/2 hr for lunch the last two days while I managed his every move. What are parents doing with their kids at home? Anything? She's a good mom too, so maybe it's really that she doesn't know what to do with him. He's very patience trying (I shouldn't say annoying)
• Trying to end on a positive note: I'm not overly sick of winter. Lots of people are complaining about it & I'm normally so anxious to get it over with. At least we have snow & it's not just cold! The sun has been bright & beautiful!
• I loved looking at some old pictures of Brett today. When he was 3. So cute! I'm so glad I have them and for the feelings I felt when looking at them again. Trying to enjoy him *today*.

Quote of the day

All women should know how to take care of children. Most of them will have a husband some day.

LOL! Sometimes it's true...... : )

UGH! Taxes!

Can't wait to get this all done! Our appointment is tomorrow night in Madison so this is what we've been doing this weekend. Well, we haven't been as dedicated as we should have been so now it's rush rush... This is the first year Damon has helped me enter receipts so thankfully I haven't had to do it all myself. We have the application downloaded on both laptops so we can both work on it at the same time. Big time saver! That big pile of receipts are some of the finished ones! I did try to keep up and had a lot done already maybe half? Everything gets to be a lot to keep up with but we need as many deductions as possible so we look through every receipt. So many things are touched by day care and considered at least partial write offs. I still have to create a log of hours worked when children were not present, fill out the client worksheet and look it all over to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. Nothing like the last minute!

Some day he's not going to like this

But yesterday he thought it was hilarious to dress up like a girl! LOL

Valentine Projects

What we've been doing the last few days & why I'm nearly crazy (might have to do with 5 potty trainers too!!) Also-red glitter playdough, rice & red macaroni in the sensory table, red & white balloons, flower shop dramatic play, post office day, etc, etc, etc.

Drizzled hearts - sweetened condensed milk w/food coloring Love Bird magnetic clip Cookie Dec Very Sweet Treats! Brett's heart hanger (Melissa M's idea - THANKS!) Fist (thumb side down) handprint roses - cards the kids wrote & drew pictures inside Tissue paper suncatcher with contact paper Valentine boxes - oh what beautiful fun! K's handprints & picture collage. I helped the little ones do the handprint hearts since they were too small for some of the other activities. Moms melt! : )

Dinner Tonight

Brett's picture of his parents

Brett has orange banana juice with strawberry heart shaped ice cubes!

ValMail

Thanks G & G Ransom! Loved the gum!! Valentines from G & G Great up North "Card from the Dog" Spirit, who even stamped her paw print for a signature!

Another toy for Damon

We had a valentine dinner at home. I like to make an extra nice dinner for us on special occassions especially when it falls in the middle of the week. Gives us something to look forward to and enjoy! And quite honestly, we go out to eat a lot and while that's really nice, for something special, it's nice to be together at home. I get sick of hearing screaming kids & all the noise in restaurants (one of my pet peeves is the birthday yelling & songs when we go out to eat)! We didn't want to go out without Brett and have to get a babysitter. Tonight we had tenderloin, baked potatoes, buns, salad & jello-cherry with pureed strawberries (really good!) I made a Red Velvet cake too but too full for that and it still needs to be put together so maybe we'll have it tomorrow. I just didn't have time to get it completely made earlier in the day. We opened our Valentine mail too. Thanks for all the cards and letters family! Damon got an iPod shuffle and well, my Valentine is still in the mail....

Brett's Valentine Pictures

Happy Valentine's Day! Never a serious picture but at least this one turned out. Making one more Valentine project this morning. This idea was from Melissa. Brett made his for Daddy's Valentine. He's taking it to work tomorrow. Brett's Valentine Box (we made them yesterday) Brett is always holding up conversation hearts & asking "what does this one say?" It's really hard to stop what I'm doing, focus on this little piece of candy in his hand that's waving around & read it. I've read so many that now I just look in that general direction & say "Luv U" or "Kiss me" or "Email Me" or whatever comes to mind! LOL He doesn't care (or know the difference)!

February 14th

Hope you had an extra special day! I like this holiday that brightens up a long cold winter.

RicRak Found!

Brett has been missing his Webkinz, RicRak for a couple weeks now. It frustrates me because I go through this house daily putting things were they belong. So I look & look in every imagineable spot. Every toy bin, under the furniture, everything is fairly in it's place & not much goes unturned with all the day care activity around here. Today I finally found him. I pulled down the light bulb bin from the top shelf in the laundry room. We have a shelf that's about 2' down from the ceiling so things go up there that we don't use very often. I pull it down & there's RicRak! I knew he would show up like that eventually. Last time Brett lost Little Doggie, I found him on top of the computer desk behind picture frames. I always get this weird strange feeling when I find things like that, like it's so bizarre finding it where it eventually shows up! Brett's got to stop tossing around his toys....Happy ending!

Snowman

We (I) made this snowman with the kids on Friday. Finally we had perfect snowman snow. I really need to make a snowman kit so I always have the supplies to decorate one with. This time he (or she?) has cranberry eyes & smile for lack of anything else. The kids put clumps of snow on his head because he "needs" hair! I don't have a hat for him so they think he looks funny. Nice-this snowman is wearing my like-new scarf & mittens from Old Navy because, well, I hardly ever have used them so someone may as well! It is nice to look out the back window & see this friendly little snowman!

Every Minute

I had to use this cute valentine Smilebox template!

What I'm making for dinner tomorrow

This recipe is from Mary D. It's nice to make these ahead & freeze (without the sauce). I'm making cheesy potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls & salad to go with it. Christina & Lynae will be here with us so this will be an easy meal to have ready in the oven when we get home from meeting.

More snow pictures from tonight

1. left side of driveway, 2. Our next door neighbor's house, 3. from the street, 4. No mail!, 5. Front snow drift, 6. Down the street

Snowy Walk

We just got in from taking a walk down our street. The snow in the street is at least shin deep (for me) and worse in areas where it's drifting. By our mailbox it's above my knees. In front of the house there's a drift that's up to the window. It felt good to get out for a bit and fun to see what it's really like out there. K's mom called & she said K is not coming tomorrow-she left here at 3:45 & got home *2 miles away* at 5:15pm!! She got stuck several times and their street & driveway has 5 ft drifts. She said she walked through waist high snow! Damon had to dig E's mom out at the corner on our street but she made it home after that. I'm sure tomorrow we'll have lots more delays & closings.

Big Snow Storm!

Here's some pictures of the snow & Brett playing outside today. I wish I could have uploaded it bigger but that wasn't working out so just click on it to go to the full size. Pictures can't really show how bad it is here. It's been snowing since yesterday at 2:30pm! It's been snowing hard for the last 3 or 4 hours now and very windy. Looking out, the wind is blowing the snow straight across. We have huge drifts! Damon just came in from snowblowing for the 3rd time today. E's mom got stuck at the end of the road so he shoveled her out. Our street hasn't seen a plow yet so once it comes through, we might not be getting out for a while! Our snowblower won't be able to handle it so I guess it's good we have two shovels, cause I'll be helping. It says on NOAA that we have an estimated 12-16" here already. Crazy, we haven't had this much snow since ?? Kinda fun but then I haven't had to go out. The city streets are bad and I've heard the ramps to the I90 are blocked with cars going nowhere. We're going to enjoy a quiet night in & before we know it, it will be over. Damon's been working all day downstairs, lots of phone calls. All his loads are being rescheduled but no break for him, he's got plenty to do to make things happen for the next two days. ***Correction - Damon's been out 5 times with the snowblower!!

Valentine Pictures from 2004

I'll always remember how cute he was at this age & in this little sweater!