Snow!

Ugh! All it's done mid-week....EVERY week...for the last few weeks is SNOW!

A LOT.

To be honest, I'm pretty sick of it.

But...there are others around here who don't mind it too much :)

For those of us that aren't as fond of the snow as my crazy girls....scroll to the bottom of the page :)

Rock On!

The back story:

Several months ago Hubby got back into playing guitars and looking around for other people to jam with on a semi-regular basis. Not anything serious but just for fun with the potential for a gig here or there if the right situation came up. Recently he met up with a couple other guys and they've agreed to get together every week or so. Last night was their second get together and yesterday afternoon I reminded Iz that it would be just us girls for dinner because Daddy was going to band practice.

The FUNNY PART:

When Jimmy got here yesterday Hubby was doing a bit of last minute practicing in the spare room.

Iz: Jimmy, did you know my Daddy's in a band?

Jimmy: No.

Iz: Do you hear that? He's playing right now....it's like he's a ROCK STAR!!!

Tee hee hee! That kid cracks me up!

Happy Birthday!

To my BIL P :)

Hope you have a great day!

Another Cake?

So, I'm decorating ANOTHER cake this week...whew! Two in a month? That's definitely my quota for the year :)

Here's the inspiration:

Pictures coming soon....

Dinner Conversation

Me (to Hubby): Wow, The d-o-g is being really good right now.

Iz: What's a d-o-g?

Me: (whispers) Dog.

After all, saying the word dog aloud alerts Callie that we are talking about her and sends her into immediate ridiculous-ness...

Iz: Oh.

Me: How about l-o-g? What does that spell?

Iz: Log!

Me: H-o-g?

Iz: (thinks for a second) Hog!

Me: How about c-a-t? Do you know what that spells?

Iz: (with ZERO hesitation) Cat!

Me: Very good! H-a-t?

Iz: Hat!

Me: R-a-t?

Iz: Rat!

Me: Okay, I'm going to trick you now. What does r-a-P spell?

Iz: (thinks for a second) Rap?

Me: Yes! How about c-a-p?

Iz: Cap.

Me: T-r-a-p?

Iz: (thinks...and thinks....asks me to spell it one more time) Trap!

Me: F-r-o-g?

Iz: (thinks for a mili-second) Frog!

I was shocked that she knew frog after we had spelled so many other words after we did the "og" words. I'm telling you what, people...she's a smarty pants :)

Birthday Party

Around here a birthday party is all about presents...we don't mess around....we get straight to it :)

Rapunzel Doll from Mommy & Daddy...

Squinkies from WW and her gang....

Zhu Zhu pet stuff from SnL and Ellie...

A little cutie in the mix :)

There was also money from the grandparents, legos and Barbie clothes from Auntie D and the BIG one.... (remember when I bought this?) ....

The COMPLETE set of Princess Dolls!!!! Wahoo!

Present opening was over in a flash. Time to move onto other things!

A little silliness from Ellie...

Then CAKE and ICE CREAM!!!

Very fun birthday party for my two favorite people! All done planning/hosting birthday parties for another year :)

Let Them Eat Cake!

Did you miss me?

Iz was sick last week..well, it was only technically one day that she was sick (Tuesday) but it threw things off the rest of the week. Tuesday ended up being all about her comfort, Wednesday we had a huge snowstorm plus Iz was still recovering from her terrible stomach bug, Thursday & Friday Jimmy was here before/after school and Friday Iz had a friend from school over in the afternoon for a play date.

Needless to say, I never got the chance to post party pics. BUT, after HOURS of cake-decorating fun I did manage to make her Rapunzel's tower for her party and here it is :)

Okay, so I know it's not perfect but Iz loved it and that's all that matters to me!

We're back on track now - no school today and a busy week ahead but I promise PROMISE I will post party pics tomorrow!!!!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: The Best Way to Eat Soup

Auntie D and I are pretty sure that L will LOVE that we taught Ellie this last week :)

Happy Birthday!

To my two favorite people in the whole wide world!!!

I love you both more than I could ever put into words :)

The Tower

Iz's 5th Birthday is Monday (*gasp* How did THAT happen?) and the family is coming up Sunday to celebrate. Conveniently, Monday is also Hubby's birthday so, though I have to buy & wrap double the presents and make & decorate double the cakes, I only have to plan one birthday event and then I'm done for another year :)

Iz and I went out last week for party supplies and she decided on a Tangled theme for the party. Though it's also Hubby's birthday he has no say on the theme and has, in the last few years, had a princess party, a Backyardigans party, a Tinkerbell party and a Strawberry Shortcake party. Unfair? Yes. But, I make him a carrot cake and he could honestly care less what kind of plate he eats it off of :)

Anyway...Iz and I picked out Tangled plates, napkins, cups, favors and even a little Rapunzel toy to put on the cake. After purchasing all this stuff I asked Iz what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday. In my head, I was referring to chocolate or vanilla but that's not what she heard. Here's what was said.

Iz: Rapunzel's Tower (though she pronounces it Reepunzel which, I think, is adorable!).

Me: I meant what flavor cake

Iz: Oh, I don't care as long as it's Reepunzel's tower.

Me: You watch too much Cake Boss!

So, I'm temporarily retiring as chief cook and bottle washer and starting a new job. Architect. Wish me luck!

Here's the inspiration for my first project...

The Tower

The 4th Day of Christmas - Pictures!

The 3rd Day of Christmas - Pictures!

The 2nd Day of Christmas - Pictures!

The 1st Day of Christmas - Pictures!

Happy New Year!

Wow! I had no intention of taking a vacation from my blog last week...it just happened. We were so busy - between playing with all the new toys and all THREE of us fighting colds - that I just never sat down to blog. Back to the old grindstone today, though and I'm actually glad to get into a routine again and, as much fun as it was to have Iz home for almost 2 weeks, I'm glad to get her back to school and ballet so she can be around kiddos her own age!

Here's a quick rundown of what you missed...Thursday, December 23rd was our first day of Christmas :) We made the trek up to Grammie and Bumpy's to celebrate with them. They spoiled Iz (and us!) rotten, of course, but what are grandparents for? Iz got great gifts including a cool Polly Pocket house, Tinkerbell and Silvermist dolls, a Littlest Pet shop carrying case, the new Tinkerbell movie and much more! Hubby and I got great stuff too - a new birdhouse, wooden cutting board, indoor/outdoor thermometer and some greenery :) Bumpy made an AWESOME pork roast for lunch, the weather was in our favor travel-wise and we had a wonderful time visiting!

The second day of our Christmas was Christmas Eve spent down at Auntie D's. The whole gang was there - lots of food, family and FUN! A perfect night! Iz received Zhu Zhu pets from Auntie D and her gang, a window art set from WW and her gang, watercolor pencils and paper from SnL and a new Barbie movie and $ from Nannie and Papa. We were home with plenty of time to get things ready for Santa's arrival :)

Christmas morning, much to my surprise, arrived much like every morning around here. I really expected this to be the year that Iz got up at the crack of dawn (or earlier!) all excited to open gifts but that was not the case. My girl likes her SLEEP and this mama is thankful for that! Hubby and I got up around 6:30 or so and got the coffee flowing and Iz strolled out a little after 7, sleepy eyed, but smiling and saying good morning. She rounded the corner and the light bulb went off - It's Christmas! She glanced at the tree and exclaimed, "Santa came!" Priceless :) We took our time opening stockings and gifts...taking things out of the packages as we went to be played with a little before moving on to the next thing. Between Santa and Hubby & I Iz did VERY well this Christmas - a dress-up box, new snowpants/boots/jacket, pillow pet, play-doh, books, cd alarm clock. board games, movies, a Wii and much much more!!! Cinnamon rolls were on the menu for breakfast and then Nannie and Papa came up for lunch. I made a ham, green beans, mashed potatoes and pecan pie....yum! The day was spent playing games and Wii and enjoying our new things.

That wasn't the end, though! Sunday, the 26th the big kids came down for lunch and we had a blast with that crowd!!! They were very generous with gifts for Iz - barbies and fairies and coloring books - and we were thrilled just to be able to all be together for Christmas. Plus, those kids are silly and FUN to be around!!! Iz loved having her big brother and sister around to play with and a good time was had by all :)

Whew! That was it. Sunday night brought the blizzard of 2010 which, honestly, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It brought several inches of snow, an extra day off for Hubby and a chance for Iz to give her new snow clothes a try!!!

NYE was a pretty low-key event - a couple friends came over to hang out, we stayed up way too late and it took me a good 2 days to recover from my lack of sleep....I'm not as young as I used to be!

It would be nice to reminisce about the past year or think about all the possibilities for the coming year but, with TWO birthdays coming up in this house THIS WEEKEND, there's no time for that!!!! Maybe next week?

Happy New Year!!!