Birthday Eve

It's true, it's true -- tomorrow is my birthday!  I'll be turning the big 3-4.  Quite an accomplishment, right?  Haha.  I decided to start the celebrating a little bit early and stopped by two of my favorite thrift stores this week and then went and got my hair did this evening to really jump start the festivities.  The result?  I got a ton of really nice, new clothes for super cheap, thus negating the amount of money I spent on my hair.  Because that's how that works, right???  Haha.  In all honesty, though, I was very excited about my thrift store finds this time around because I found a bunch of really nice, name brand skirts and purchased them for a mere 2 bucks apiece!  Score.  Total score.  We're talking Banana Republic, Gap, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, and a couple of from Old Navy for only 2 dollars each.  And lest you think that is a crazy {unnecessary} amount of skirts for one person to wear -- who will really only be wearing them to church -- I'll let you in on a little secret.  I actually purchased all of these as external motivation to help me lose the last little bit of weight I need to reach my ideal goal.  They're sized incrementally smaller and smaller and I'm hoping that the idea of wearing some of my favorites of these will help me to make better choices when it comes to eating all those treats that inevitably get left lying around the house.   {And even if I never make it to the very smallest of these sizes, it's not really a big deal because the skirts were dirt cheap.   And I can always sell them on eBay for a profit.  Hahaha!}

Roughly half of these were purchased at St. Vincent dePaul's on a day when all skirts were half off, and the rest were found today at the Goodwill where I also received 50% off because it was my birthday week.  Woo hoo -- I love me a deal!  My solo shopping spree today was made possible thanks to Ethan and Sophie being home sick.  Ish.  Ethan woke up this morning complaining of a sore throat and stomach ache, and Sophie was quick to jump on that bandwagon as well.  It was certainly nothing very serious, but I figured they should probably stay home just in case and once I got the breakfast mess cleaned up, I left Ethan in charge while I made a quick trip to the store and totally lucked out with all my finds.

The rest of the day was spent with me folding loads and loads of laundry and the kids watching lots and lots of TV.  Jane's asthma has been flaring up this week, and she was needing pretty regular breathing treatments throughout the day, so I kept her home from school, too, and she joined the couch potato crew in trying to win a world record for least amount accomplished in a single day.  Hahaha.  Once Grace got home from school, all 5 of them were certainly gold medal contenders.

My day was finished off this evening with a leisurely trip to the hair salon while Scott had the honor of feeding the kids dinner and getting them all in bed.  I think I'd like to make this a Birthday Eve tradition.  :)

 Before

 During

After

And that's a wrap!  Stay tuned for a recap of the actual birthday itself.  In a first, Scott is taking the day off of work in order to spend it with me!!  Now if only, there are no sick kids in the morning...

Another Recipe Round-up

No-Bake Cookies

Ethan's favorite treats in the world {I think.  Probably.} are No-Bakes.  He asks me ALMOST on a weekly basis to make them for him and usually I say no.  Mainly because the last thing he needs is a sugar infusion to add to his already extreme tendencies, but also because I really like them, too.  And as I've said before, when it comes to delicious goodies laying around the house, I have ZERO self-control.  Hahaha.  A couple of weekends ago, I finally caved and made a batch and in the process "trained" him on how to do it, too.  So, on Sunday -- when he was begging for some more -- I told him that if he wanted them he'd have to make them himself.  Mostly because I didn't want to get up.  And I'm lazy like that.  Hahaha.  I scribbled out the recipe, handed it over to him, and fully expected him to complain about not wanting to do it or simply lose interest in the prospect, but I was wrong.  On both accounts!  A little while later he proudly brought one to us to sample, and I have to say I was pretty impressed.  It was REALLY good.  Not so good?  Probably the fact that he ate several that evening, one for breakfast the next morning, and packed the last one for his lunch at school. I'm really out of the running for mother of the year, aren't I?  Haha.

The next recipe for the round-up was made the very next day for an FHE treat.  And since we'd already consumed more than enough sugar for the entire WEEK with those no-bakes, I decided to re-vamp that browned butter chocolate chip cookie recipe from a few weeks ago to make it a little bit "healthier."  Haha.  As if, right?  Can any cookie truly be called "healthy"?  As far as treats go, though, I thought these were REALLY really good, and certainly less bad for you than a regular old cookie recipe.  The original recipe was found here, and for the record, they really are aMAZing.  But also for the record -- my re-worked version was pretty dang delicious, too.  With the added bonus of making me feel MUCH less disgusting after stuffing my face with cookie after cookie.  The major changes I made to this recipe were to eliminate refined sugar, reduce the amount of overall sugar, and add a bit more flour to compensate for the substituted ingredients.  I also used my Blendtec blender to make sure that my addition of pitted dates was completely pulverized and pureed so that the unsuspecting children would not notice there was anything "off" with the cookies.  Mwahahahaha.  {Oh and p.s., I had some sea salt on hand when I made them this time and I loved the addition of it sprinkled on top.}

{I clearly am not a food photographer.  Hahaha.  It didn't help that I was just using my phone to snap the above picture.}

Jessica's "kind of almost healthy" brown butter + sea salt chocolate chip cookies

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ingredients
1 cup (2  sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 c. molasses

1/4 c. {real} maple syrup

1/2 c. tightly packed dates
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt for sprinkling

directions
1. To brown butter, heat 1 stick of  butter in a pan over medium-high heat until melted. Continue cooking and stirring until the butter is dark golden brown with brown flecks on the bottom of the pan, and you can smell that heavenly, nutty aroma.  Pour it into the Blendtec and allow to cool completely.
2. Add the maple syrup, molasses and pitted dates to the browned butter, then blend using the "syrup" setting.  This was enough for me to completely pulverize the dates so that there were no chunks at all.  It really did create a syrup-y texture.

3.  Add the other stick of softened butter to the mixer then add the blender mixture slowly, along with the vanilla.
4. Mix until well blended, scraping sides of bowl if needed.
5. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low until the flour is just incorporated.
7. Add chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds.
8. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, then cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
9. Line cookie sheets with  parchment paper and place dough 2 inches apart.
10. Sprinkle each ball with some sea salt.
11. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through.

The last recipe I'll post for the day is, ironically, the one we START most of our days with --  my tweaked and perfected, whole grain blender pancake recipe.  Mondays and Wednesdays are our pancake mornings for breakfast, but this recipe makes enough extra that there are usually leftovers for things like afternoon snacks, or breakfast the next morning if they don't want the oatmeal.  I make these in my Blendtec using whole wheat berries and steel cut oat groats.  Mmmmm.  Hearty.  Hahaha.  They actually taste really great, though, and the kids love them and I love that they ARE hearty and filling and hopefully enough to stick with them all morning and get them through the day.  I've been making these regularly since the start of the school year, and I've finally perfected the "regular" recipe.  Sophie's version, however, is never quite the same each time I make it.  I'm still trying to get it spot on, but for the most part I've tweaked it enough that she thinks they taste really good and the other kids think they taste fine enough as well.  So there you go!

Jessica's Whole Grain Blender Pancakes {the regular version}

2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 big spoonfuls yogurt {full fat plain yogurt or Greek yogurt}
2 T. oil {I use sunflower oil}
2 T. {real} maple syrup
1 t. salt
3/4 c. wheat
3/4 c. steel cut oats
1 T. baking powder

I add the ingredients to the Blendtec in that order, and then blend them on a speed of 9 -- twice.  I've found that one time is not quite enough to get rid of the "grittiness" from the grains, but second time's a charm!  Then I just ladle them out onto my hot griddle and flip when they get all bubbly and cooked around the edges.  Voila!  Breakfast. 

And there you have.  A few more recipes for the record books.  Happy Eating!  Hahaha.

Culture Club

Because nothing says class and culture quite like us, right?  Hahaha.  In reality, what this weekend succeeded in doing was highlighting the contrast between the kind of family I'd like to think we are {one inclined towards the finer things in life}, and the family we actually are.  Cue a Boy's Choir performance from son number one and a trip downtown with the family...

"A Treasure of Youth and Song" -- and YES, this is the best shot I could get of him.  He was ready to go home.

A few months ago, Ethan came home from school with a note for a one-day Boy's Choir invitational type thing.  He really wanted to do it, so we signed the permission slip, paid the dues and promptly forgot about it until an email came this last week filling us in on all the details for the day.  By Friday night, Ethan had decided he was over it and didn't want to waste a precious Saturday on something as unfulfilling as singing, but after convincing him he had to do it nonetheless, Scott dropped him off bright and early yesterday morning while I stayed behind with the other kids and eventually gave up on trying to get them to do their Saturday chores. 

Once Scott was back, we had a couple of hours to kill before we all headed downtown for the concert, but by noon we were ready to roll.  I should have realized that things were not going to go as smoothly as I would like, however, when Grace immediately proclaimed that the concert sounded boring and she didn't want to go unless we were going to get a treat afterwards on the way home. 

Grace's face says it all. 

 The beautiful stairway.

 The cool stage.

An attribute of great importance.  Hahaha.

For the record, I love going to these kinds of cultural/performing arts type things.  Seriously love it.  Walking up to the beautiful and historical building where the concert took place gave my heart a little thrill.  Not so thrilling?  The fact that we were a good 20 minutes early and any patience Grace might have had flew out the window before the performance even started.  So, even though the actual concert itself was only 30 minutes long, its enjoyment was tempered by Grace bugging me the whole time to leave, Alex climbing back and forth from person to person, and Jane causing her own set of distractions as I tried to juggle the camera and listen to the singing.

The end of the performance didn't bring much relief as Ethan was tired and grumpy and wanting to go home and Grace had reached epic melting down proportions as well.  No one was on board for a family photo shoot on the front steps of the building and rather than stay a little longer and explore the building and check out the park across the street, we hightailed it out of there and tried to calm things down while Ethan and Grace went from bad to worse on the car drive home. 

Things finally mellowed out when we agreed to a Sonic run on the way home and everyone got themselves a treat, but complete peace and harmony proved elusive still as the day wore on and on and on.  Oh well!  What can you do?  I'm hoping that their early bedtime last night and then again tonight is enough to ensure happier hearts and and more cheerful countenances in the morning.  A mother can always dream, right???  Hahaha.  I'll close with a few more classy pictures and then I'm out.

Alex kept this empty and beat up band-aid box on his hand for an entire day last week in his enthusiasm for all things superhero.

I printed out HUNDREDS of questions for a get-to-know-you activity the other night and put them in a big bowl to help as conversation starters.  Since bringing it home, it has been hilarious to see the kids get really into asking each other the questions as well.

 My kids are "teaming up" with some friends from school/church to do a Hunger Games Minecraft Parody for the school talent show in a few weeks.  Here is a picture of them before their "audition."  It was a riot.

And finally, one last valentine.  This time inspired by -- you guessed it -- Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  I guess that "bff/best father forever" thing is from the books?  I don't even know anymore.  The level of Greg Heffley infiltration in our household is so complete these days that I can't even distinguish it from reality anymore.  Hahaha.  

And that's all folks!  Until next time, we'll try and keep it a little classier.  Hahahaha.

Still Making the Bread -- One Year Later

As you may recall, one of my new year's resolutions from the beginning of LAST year was to start making our family's bread.  Since I'm sure everyone is DYING for an update on that, I thought I'd oblige.  Hahaha.  {If only because I just made a batch yesterday.} 

Since I started making the bread (while still buying the butter), I have discovered a few things.  First of all, the consumption really does taper off after the initial novelty of homemade bread wears off.  In the beginning, it seemed as though I was making more bread every other day.  Fast forward one year later, and I probably make it twice a week.  Second of all, our switch over to homemade bread has made bread snobs of the girls.  Grace in particular will not eat store bought bread at all and thinks it's so gross.  Granted, the whole wheat/multi-grain kind of store bought bread I will occasionally buy really does taste like cardboard and I'm sure if I were buying more sumptuous style loaves or WHITE bread, she'd probably be perfectly fine, but still.  I did not see that one coming.  Third, bread needs time to "rest" before being cut.  It makes it SO much easier to cut and the loaf stays a lot softer and moist.  That being said, there really is nothing like a slice of hot bread right out of the oven slathered with butter.  For sandwich-making purposes, though, the bread really holds up better if I don't even cut it until the next day when it has obviously completely cooled.  And finally, my kids can't slice bread evenly to save their lives.  It took me a while to come to the realization that the simple solution was for me to slice up an entire loaf at a time, but since I have a lot less bread is being wasted and thrown in the trash.

Since my original bread-making "how to" post back in February of last year, I've made a few changes and figured a few things out that make the whole process a lot easier.  Which has made it possible for me to keep up with and is why I'm still making the bread a whole year later.  {Having the recipe memorized was the biggest factor in making the process "no big deal."  All the other changes have more to do with my laziness than anything else.  Hahaha.}

Homemade Bread

5 c. warm water

2 T. yeast

1 T. salt

3/4 c. olive oil

3/4 c. honey

1 c. flaxseed meal {I buy a big bag from Costco}

10-12 c. whole wheat flour {I have a Nutrimill so I grind my own}

I essentially add the above list of ingredients to my Kitchen Aid mixer (in that order) and let it mix away, adding the last few cups of flour in a half cup at a time just until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and the motor burns out -- as it inevitably does each and every time.  Hahaha.  Poor little Kitchen Aid.  Once that happens, I plop the dough out onto the {oiled} counter top and knead it just a bit more, before leaving it there to rise for about 45 minutes.  If you compare notes with my original posting you'll see that I no longer bother with dirtying up a whole other bowl {when the dough doesn't even stay contained in it anyway} and instead simply leave it be after rubbing a little bit of olive oil all over the top to keep it from getting dried out.  Or at least that's why I do it in theory.  I have no idea if it actually does anything at all, but since I don't put a towel over it while it's rising I figured I needed to do SOMETHING in it's place.  Haha. 

 Pre-Rising.

 Post-rising.

 A close-up.

Once the dough has roughly doubled in size, I punch it down and divide into 4 pieces, knead each one a bit more before putting them in bread pans (which have already been oiled or sprayed with Pam), cover with a dish towel this time, and let them rise for another 45 minutes.  After they've risen, I bake them at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  And I'd just like to say for the record that our oven here in our new house SUCKS.  I hate it so much.  But obviously not enough to fork over thousands of dollars to replace it with something else.  But seriously, everything has to be switched around regularly otherwise the bottom rack will ALWAYS burn on the bottom and the top rack will be burned on the top and dough-y on the bottom.  Harumph.  First world problems.

 Freshly sliced loaf from lunch time.  Alex enjoyed himself a butter and jam sandwich.

 Although what he was really enjoying was that jam.  Caught red-handed dipping into the jar.  Not caught?  A shot of him DRINKING the jam from the jar after I had gone to put away the camera.  Hahaha.  Oh Lover Boy.

So, there you have it.  The new and improved Bread Tutorial.  Hahaha.  Just in case anyone cared.  And although I am still buying the butter, I am now up for learning how to make my own jam.  The strawberry freezer jam that young Alexander is sampling up above there tasted really good, but wasn't very jam-like.  Probably because it used chia seed in place of pectin.  In my quest to reduce the amount of refined sugar consumed in this home, though, I am now on the hunt for the perfect recipe!  Let me know if you've tried any that you really like.  :)

I Love You Because

Apparently we're not quite done celebrating the holiday of Love.  Or at least documenting it.  Haha. Yesterday, after church, we ended up having a belated Family Home Evening lesson that never happened LAST Monday.  Grace was in charge of the lesson {and actually pulled something together that was really great} and Sophie planned the activity.  For Grace's lesson, I suggested that she do something to go along with the ongoing Family History project I'm trying to get the kids on board with.  {Which -- in case you're wondering -- is not really capturing their interest.  Haha}.  In the end, she threw together a pop quiz, featuring questions from all the information we've gathered so far on our immediate family members plus a few extended family members, and then had us pair up in twos to practice "interviewing" each other for future family history info gathering.  Aside from a certain number one son doing his ABSOLUTE best not to cooperate with anything or anyone, it was really fun and a good little lesson.  Sophie capped the evening off with a really cute activity of cutting out hearts for secret admirer notes and all of the girls got really into it.

Some of the notes that were put on Grace's bed.  Everyone got a few, and Jane was really cute about wanting to hang hers up on the wall right next to her bed.

 

 Cute little Jane on her Valentine for us from preschool.  It was originally wrapped in tin foil to look like a Hershey's kiss and this little gem of a picture was inside.  

  I found this little gift on my nightstand the day after Valentine's Day.  I'm pretty sure it was in response to Grace's finding out that Ethan brought me breakfast in bed the day before.  Hahahaha.

  A packet of notes was clipped together inside.

 My two favorites were, "Your so funny!" and "I love your hair! {heart}"

This weekend has been an interesting one of contrasting experiences and emotions.  On the one hand there have been MULTIPLE meltdowns and full-on trips to crazy town from each and every child in the family, while on the flip side, there have been moments of real sweetness and tenderness that leave me thinking I have the most wonderful and amazing children in the whole entire world.  It is quite the roller coaster ride up in here.

In church yesterday, I taught a lesson in Relief Society that happened to be on "Strengthening and Preserving the Family."  It's always so ironic when I'm assigned to teach something and then everything in my life conspires against me during that time to prove that I am the LEAST qualified person in the world to teach the subject!  Believe it or not, we do NOT have this on lock down over here.  I'm most certainly not a perfect mom {as my kids most certainly will attest} and I know that I make mistakes on a daily basis.  What I do know, however, is that it is my heart's desire to strengthen and fortify my family as best I can so that we can weather through any storm or challenge that comes our way.  The quest to be a better mom and a better woman is at the forefront of my mind and heart every single day.

When I hung up our family picture over the fireplace a few weeks ago, I hung a picture outtake on either side over which I wrote what I hope will become our family motto.  I took the following sentences from "The Family: A Proclamation to the World":

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

 I believe this is a recipe for happiness.  I have hope that even though the children are not always cooperative when it's time to read scriptures, or say prayers, or go to church, or even just get along with each other -- as long as we are doing our best to build our foundation on the Savior and His teachings, things will work out for the best.  Life can be trying and challenging and difficult and all kinds of hard things, but it can also be joyful and full of light and love.  Sometimes all in the same day.  Like today.

With another day off of school and Scott home from work as well, we tried our best to make it a "fun family day."  And I think we were mostly successful.  Even though we had our low points -- with mega-fits from certain firstborn children -- we also had a lot of highs as well.  The Lego Movie was our morning destination and it did not disappoint.  We braved the outing with all 5 children and were pleasantly surprised when all of the kids made it through the movie without having to be taken out once.  Of course, they did wear us down into making a mid-movie run to the concession stand since they were "starving," and lover boy only made it through because he fell asleep in my lap about 20 minutes in, but still.  All in all, it was a big hit -- even if the sensory overload of the animation did give me a pounding headache that lasted for the rest of the day.  Hahaha.  After we got home, the kids pretty much did whatever they wanted until dinner time and then it was Family Home Evening and off to bed.

  Everything is Awesome.

Life is good.  And sometimes, everything really IS awesome!  Like when I'm able to corral the children into "circle time" and convince them to play "I Love You Because" for the umpteenth time that week.  For those whose lives have NOT been entrenched in the world of Greg Heffley and company, this game is in one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and believe me when I say it is hilarious to hear Alex parroting the older kids and quoting the line from the book each and every time the bottle spins to him :  "I love you because -- you help me keep my body clean!"  Hahahahaha.  {Although, technically he misquotes it as "I love you because you keep my body clean."  It's still hilarious, though.  Then again, we're all really biased.}  Whatever the reason, it's always nice to hear that they love each other -- especially when their actions prove otherwise so much of the time!   Until next time...

Smorgasbord

I feel like this has been a loooooooong week.  Most likely because I've been taking care of sick kids while being sick myself, and also because Jane has decided to start waking up in the night again and keeping me up with her.  Boo.  She's been doing so good {relatively speaking} since we got back from Indiana at Christmas time that I was REALLY hoping she had finally outgrown her night-waking tendencies.  Apparently she has not.  

But anyway, the beginning of the week saw a brief fever and sickness for Alex along with a cough and runny nose that left him out of the running for anything fun.  Tuesday was the worst of it and unfortunately it was also the night that the Pinewood Derby was FINALLY able to take place.  Seriously, the poor leaders had to reschedule this event two different times thanks to the lovely wintry weather we are experiencing these days.  Ethan was really hoping that his final run in the Pinewood Derby would have him coming out on top for once, but sadly that was not to be.  Scott ended up taking the 4 older kids to the church for the race while I stayed home with Alex to try and get him to bed on time. 

 Pre-race -- So full of hope.

 Can you spot Ethan's?  I'll give you a hint -- its colors are an accidental nod to our barely there Swedish roots.

I think his face says it all.  Don't you?

On a completely different note,  I thought I'd feature a few goodies for you tonight in a Recipe Round-up of sorts for the blog.  First up, are the Gooey S'mores Bars I made for the cancelled Pinewood Derby from 2 weeks ago.  I pinned the recipe a while ago from my good friend Karissa over at her food blog, Dish Up Delish, and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make them once No Junk January was over.  They did NOT disappoint.  Unfortunately for my waistline, I cannot have these bars lying around the house ever again!  And while the kids were SUPER happy we didn't end up having to take them to share at the Derby, I was really, really torn.  Because when it comes to delicious baked goods hanging around the house, I have absolutely no self-control.  Like at all.  So, really -- it would have been for the best if they would have made their way over to the church that night like they were supposed to!  :)

Gooey S'mores Bars

{picture taken from website.  sorry karissa!}

You can click here for the link.  I didn't manage to take any pictures, but Karissa's are much better anyway, so go ahead and drool over that deliciousness above and make them as soon as you dare.  Hahaha.  The only changes I made to the recipe were due to what I did (or didn't) have on hand.  So for instance, you'll need a jar and a half of marshmallow fluff when putting the bars all together, but I didn't read the fine print before going to the store and only bought one.  They were still really good, but I would have liked that little bit of extra oomph from the marshmallow if I would have had it.  Also, I forgot to buy chocolate bars and figured I'd just use chocolate chips instead, but lo and behold I discovered we were all out after I had already starting making the dough.  Luckily, I discovered some leftover Dove chocolates from the kids' teacher gifts for Christmas and they were the PERFECT addition to the bars.  In fact, I think I will always use them in the future.  But then again, I really love those milk chocolate Dove pieces.

Next recipe is also a dessert and is one that I discovered via Pinterest on Sunday when I was trying to decide what to bring to our friends' house who had invited us over for dinner.  As I was looking through various cookie recipes, these basically had me at "brown butter."  I'm a huge fan in case you didn't know. 

brown butter + sea salt chocolate chip cookies

{not my picture either.  sorry!  but don't they look to die for???}

These were SOOOOO good.  I think Ethan swiped half a dozen himself, and everyone else seemed to love them as well.  I followed this recipe to a "T" except that I didn't have sea salt, so that crucial component is missing, and I was still out of milk chocolate chips, so I used a combo of semi-sweet choco chips, butterscotch chips, and white chocolate chips in the hopes that there was a little something for everyone.  Hahaha.  I'm probably an anomaly, but I usually prefer more cookie to chips and in the future, I will most likely reduce the total amount that go into them.  However, I do want to try the ACTUAL recipe's call for milk chocolate and semi-sweet chips before I decide exactly what to do with them after that.  Either way, these are REALLY good.  And what I like the most about them (other than the brown butter, obviously) is that the recipe uses whole wheat flour which tricks you into thinking that they're not that unhealthy.  For a cookie.  Hahahahaha.  Again, these are some more baked goods that I can NOT have lying around the house.  

With Valentine's Day today, I resisted the urge to bake anything more, and instead spent the day being a "fun mom" {at least for the morning} and trying to minimize the fights.  Because for some inexplicable reason, the kids have a scheduled 4-day weekend EVEN THOUGH they've had 8 snow days so far this winter.  I think today is a teacher in-service day and Monday is President's day, but seriously!  Couldn't they just eliminate holidays for the rest of the year so that we don't end up going to school until the middle of July????  Oh well.  What can you do?  

My Valentine morning was started off today with a sweet surprise from Ethan!  Okay, scratch that.  My Valentine's day was actually started EXTRA early this morning with a wake-up call from Jane who had wet the bed and came into our room around 3:30 AM.  Unfortunately, after I changed her and tried to get her back in HER bed, she would have none of it.  For the next couple of hours she kept us awake as she laid on the floor in our room next to our bed {I had to kick her out because she was twitching and itching all around and driving me insane!}, and kept trying to convince me that it was time to get up for the day.  Finally, around 5:30, I managed to convince her to go back to her own bed and there she she stayed and slept while I went back to sleep in my own bed for another hour or two until Ethan came in with some breakfast-in-bed and woke me up.  It was really very sweet.  He brought me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, along with a giant card and a tall glass of milk. 

The love fest continued as I went downstairs and was rewarded with more cards from Sophie and cheerful moods from everyone.  As the morning wore on, I decided what we all needed the most was a chance to get out of the house and do something fun!  Knowing that Scott could probably use some peace and quiet since he was working from home, I took the kids to a giant indoor playground and let them run around until lunch/nap time then headed home and put Alex down to sleep.  An added bonus for the kiddies was a stop for ice cream and treats on the way home, and an added bonus for ME was an almost empty house for the rest of the afternoon as the 3 older ones went to play at a friend's house in the neighborhood as they practiced for an upcoming talent show at the school.  

 Ethan's art work that he created last night.

 The card that the kids picked out for Scott when we were at Target the other day.

All in all, it was a good day.  :)  The only real downfall is that yet another snowstorm has come through and Scott and I had to cancel our plans to go out for the evening thanks to the roads being bad once again.  This winter is SERIOUSLY never going to end!  And on that note I'll leave you.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Golden Girl

Sophie, Sophie, Sophie.  So much personality housed in such a small little body.  As of yesterday, the daughter formerly known as the super muppet is officially seven years old.  And since her birthday is on the 7th, she's been begging for weeks and weeks to PLEASE have a party since it's her GOLDEN birthday and she'll never be turning 7 ever again.  Haha.  I don't know where she even discovered the concept of the golden birthday, but I was unfortunately unable to oblige her request.  At least for a friend party.  A family party, however, was always in the plans. 

 The birthday girl on her way to school.

 This is her "Mom, I'm going to miss the bus!" pose.

 Followed by a classic "Can we please be done???" look.

The two big things she was excited about on her big day were: changing out her earrings for the first time and getting to take a picture with the birthday bear in her classroom.  Having her hair put up in a bun was just the icing on the cake.  Even though her actual birthday was on a Friday, we had decided a while ago that we would celebrate with cake and presents on Saturday so that we'd have more time to throw everything together and not cut into bedtime.  Especially since the Mustache Bash was on Friday night as well.  So, after the requested birthday meal of chicken nuggets last night, Ethan and I headed out the door for the dance, while the girls settled in for a double feature movie night.  

 Chicken Nuggets!  Yay!

 "I mustache you a question."  Hahaha.

Cuttin' a rug!  It was a lot of fun.  Even Ethan admitted on the drive home that it was a lot better than he thought it was going to be.  Hahaha.  I'll take it!

For Sophie's celebratory Saturday today, Scott took the girls to see Frozen this morning for the second time and Ethan joined them as well.  While they were getting their movie on, I was finishing up Sophie's felt flower disco ball {the coffee filter one from a couple of years ago was dismembered long ago} and trying to get a cake made.  Since Sophie is allergic to most cakes, I stumbled across a genius idea on Pinterest this year for a Rice Krispie Treat cake that would work perfectly for the Golden Girl!  At her request, I used a heart shaped pan to make the treats in and then whipped up some chocolate "butter" cream frosting using Blue Bonnet Light margarine (which is dairy free) and a little bit of soy milk.  {Too much and it makes her tongue itch.}  After frosting the "cake," I topped it off with the sloppiest bit of icing writing you'll ever see and a few leftover felt roses from various Valentine projects that were lying around the house.  And a single solitary candle that was the only one remaining from the stash that Alex and Jane got into while I was frosting the cake. 

 Ta da?

 Oh Jane.

 

 There's that disco ball!

 Those felt flowers took a deceptively long amount of time to create.  I probably wouldn't have even started this had I known how many hours it would take to finally complete it.  But at least it looks really pretty.  Right???  And Sophie really loves it, so I guess that makes it worth it.  Haha.

 I think this is my favorite shot of the bunch.  Isn't she a cutie?  

 Or maybe this one's my fave.  It's hard to choose!

Despite the fact that there were a paltry number of presents for her to open this afternoon, Sophie was excited and happy about each and every one.  Always nice to see!  After having Sophie ask me yesterday to please buy her a rainbow loom for her birthday, I thought to myself -- heck no, we will NOT be adding a 3rd rainbow loom to this household mix!  So, upon consulting with Ethan he agreed to give her HIS loom and extra rubber bands for a birthday gift and I agreed to slip him some money under the table to reimburse him for part of the price.  After all, he did buy it all with his own money.  {And to be honest, I think he was happy at the prospect of making some money off of it since he hasn't really used it since way before Christmas.}  Rounding out her selection of presents was a Kidz Bop CD from Jane, earrings from Alex, a necklace from me and Scott, and another pair of earrings from Grace.  All in all, she was pretty stoked about her loot.

 I was surprised at how excited ALL the kids were about this addition to the household music collection.

So there you go -- a golden birthday for the ages!  Haha.  When Scott asked her at bedtime what she likes best about being 7, she responded that the best thing about it is being an inch taller.  I don't think that's even accurately true, but we'll let her think it anyway.  :)

Happy Birthday to the Super Soph!!!  We love you!

Okay, just kidding.  THESE are my favorite pictures of the day.  :)