for the love of...

for the love of birds. we got together with our neighbors to stir up some treats for our feathered friends. they didn't exactly turn out so we improvised and next time i think we will try this recipe.

if only they would have set up. they stayed crumbly and would not hold together. we got out of the house and enjoyed ourselves.  it has been a little harder to get out the door lately. sometimes it is nice to just stay in a nice, cozy, warm house and it seems as if we all have different agendas. i have found myself repeating and repeating what i need them to do from getting their coats and shoes to stop bouncing off the walls. i find it so hard to comprehend how there energy does not get used up.

since the birdseed ornaments did not work we used a little peanut butter (mix will oil....birds do not have salivary glands), spread it on old bread, pressed into the birdseed, folded them in half and put a piece of ribbon on them to hang. note to self.... next time be sure to place highger than the dog can reach. she tried to sneek away with one!

it was a lovely day to treat our friends and to explore the world of creatures outside our door. so hard to believe that this is a february scene. tomorrow the world is going to look a little different. they are big and fat and absorbing every sound so that the world seems calm and restful.

only in wisconsin

totally not convinced that winter is over. heck, it is only february and last year we had snow in may! but, 2 days of temperatures in the 40s makes you want to bring out some spring like things and do a little cleaning (or a little more unpacking....it never ends!).

a drew a fancy shcmancy mr. silly and wrote his awesome, can't be pronounced, took up half the driveway name. amazing how her writing is just taking off.

we also did a little spelling and sounds work with the alphabet. we picked a name, they found the letters and i wrote them out. education outside....who knew.

and, totally not to embarass him but, only in wisconsin??? no, only a man!! he likes his privacy! but, here i caught him, doing his duty and scraffing a snack!



how sweet it is to be loved

v day love and cookies

this year a and i decided to stitch a little love into each valentine. we added denium hearts to colorful paper....some for the boys and some for the girls.

a worked very hard on the lettering. somehow she has already gotten to the stage of embellishing her handwriting with little circles on the ends of her letters.

 

the next day we added candy cane hearts and heart bracelets to the cards.



of course, we also had to have some sweets to enjoy ourselves so, we made some peanut butter cookies with dove dark chocolate hearts in the middle.

 it is best to taste them when they are all chewy and melty.

this little guy has a thing for just the chocolate hearts! i {heart} my babes!

peanut butter cookies

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
About 1/3 cup sugar for rolling
1 package Dove dark chocolate hearts
Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Roll dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar if desired. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for about 9 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate into the center. Let sit for about 3 minutes, then carefully remove to cooling racks to cool.

sometimes you just got to move it

 a while back we pulled out the kleenex boxes i saved and created some dinosaur shoes. in all the glory of painting, taping, and gluing....(yes, i said glory.....kids love sitting down to do these things although they may truly not enjoy cleaning up afterwards and i sometimes take on that chore just so i don't have to listen to the whining) we ended up with some cool cool kicks!

we used some clementine art paints for this project. next time i think i would opt for something thicker like acrylic paints.

winter really instills this craziness into my kids. i am not sure if it is the desire to be confined by 4 walls and avoid the cold or the lack of daylight hours but, these 2 can drive a mom up the wall. it seems as if they are 2 decibels too loud for me to handle most times or they get into each other's space just a little too much. and, not like there are not other rooms in this big old house of ours but, it is just comfy cozy to be close because in the end we really do love each other and the joys and frustrations we bestow on one another.

once the kids got to rock out in their new kicks, i thought it could definitely be a little loud and rambunctious. but, they surprised me! they were calm and moved a tad slower and tended to be rather quiet dinosaurs. ahhhh! that was a good project. check out laurie berkner's we are the dinosaurs song to stomp to.

these 2 also seem to be a little quieter when outside as well and when they are concentrating so hard on not falling. the rink did not get filled in this year because of the mild weather but, there was just a big enough patch to give ice skating a try.
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 once our toes and noses were chilled, we headed back in for some comfy cozy snuggling and hot chocolate....always made with milk, it makes a world of difference.

winter days

i don't exactly dread winter but, winter without snow is kind of hard to handle. making it all the way to 2012 without any real snow this winter as something. now we are all about the frozen noses and rosy cheeks.

i had some great helpers to clear the driveway. our neighbor has fired up his snowblower 3x this year....just to make sure that when this day came he would be ready!! i on the other hand was so grateful for the gifts of wheelbarrows from gramma and grampa. i loaded and they hauled and dumped.

of course, they tried the snow all crisp and clean and fresh.

and, when the cold became too much we retreated to a nice cozy warm house and footie pjs. i really need to get a pair and i know daddy would swoon for a pair. we made snowflakes that sparkled with glitter because any and every project is better with glitter and scissors, and glue.



and, warm banana bread with dark chocolate chips. the recipe is from anne getty's easy green organic. it called for buttermilk, we substituted a little sour cream and milk. so yummy. next time i think i will make muffins though. it might just help me pace myself!

it is going to be a cold winter and i have lots of warm hearts and goofy, giggly people to share the times with.

fall farm visit....yes, visit.

obviously i am a tad behind....to say the least. we had a wild end to the year 2011. we sold our home at the end of may, daddy accepted a new job at the end of june, we searched for 2 months for a new home, did the rig-a-ma-row closing documents for a month, moved to a brand new town, did some crazy settling in, celebrated a's 5th birthday, trick or treated, did a little more settling in (tried), celebrated h's 3rd birthday, thanksgiving, and a's first day of 4k, and started the rush of holiday cheer. i am exhausted, the kids are too! there is no easy way to settle in after all your stuff has been packed for a year in a pod and in storage. we also took some trips.....it is nice to enjoy a weekend at the farm. the kids miss it so.

that girl is crazy for horses. you know she is saving her pennies!

ta da! the reason we were so late hitting the road and getting back to the chaos we left behind.