Sledding day & Field Trip!

Happy Balentine's Day!! (That's how Chloe says it)

Chloe loves to bake and decorate, so my mom was so great and had her go over there for a sleepover/bakeover. They made a TON of valentine's sugar cookies! When she brought them home, I was so impressed with them and especially how anatomically correct some of them were!
This is a cookie of me and her. I'm guessing that the one with the blob of pink frosting is me since it looks pregnant? I'm not pregnant, but she still talks about when I was with Jake.
The thing that made me laugh so hard I started crying, were these. They're called boobies, and Chloe is very aware of them and is so excited to get her own. She even wears her little hot pink with polk-a-dots bikini top as her "boobie covers." We're a little nervous about all of that, but she breaks down in tears when I suggest that she not wear them under her church dress (since the straps show sometimes!!!). I admit that I am not aware of how I am supposed to deal with this whole situation. Maybe I'll figure it out someday.


This is one of the boy's cookies.


And this is the box they came in. I just love her!
After the cookies were devoured, the boys saw an opportunity to use the box as a target for their BB guns. It's their favorite thing to do.


I also made "Homemade Tootsie Rolls"! Since I believe that Tootsie Rolls should have their own food group on the food pyramid (it's the perfect combination of chocolate-y and chewy), I found a great and easy recipe. I have some fabulous friends that asked for the recipe, so here it is:

TOOTSIE ROLLS
(I double this)

1 oz. Square unsweetened cocoa
1 T butter
1/4 c. dark corn syrup
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar
6 T instant nonfat milk powder

place chocolate & butter in a large glass bowl
microwave on high for at least 1 minute, stirring during the cooking until it's all melted
stir in corn syrup & vanilla
microwave 1 more minute
mix in 1 c. powdered sugar
add milk and stir until it's all blended nicely

sprinkle some powdered sugar on wax paper, and when the candy is stiff, mold small sections of it into little "turds" as my kids call it, and wrap them each in the wax paper. Yum!



Colten won first place in the photography competition for the reflections contest at school! He's so shy, so it was fun to watch him up on stage when they gave him the medal and put his picture up on a big screen! Congratulations, Cole!
Some of his friends were right there cheering him on.

basketball, chocolate balls, & brownies

Colten's doing awesome with basketball these days. It's so weird how you start having kids and then you turn your head for one minute and the next - they're almost all grown up. Since he's my first, I'm constantly surprised by what he can do!

Chloe and I have a secret. We're in love with those chocolate-mint balls. We don't share with anybody - it's our little secret!
BUT . . . I make sure Jake gets his fair share of goodies. We got the "perfect brownie" maker and after 2 ruined batches, I've learned that it requires some serious PAM application into each little square if you want it to ever come out of the pan. Maybe one day I'll get it right, but until then Jake can enjoys "brownie crumbles" - great for ice cream, shakes, or even squeezing in both fists.
It's what winter's all about.

Chloe got a new "lessoner"

Chloe and Jake are so cute together. I don't know why I was worried when I found out I was pregnant with Jake! Don't get me wrong - Jake is obsessed with farm animals and cars and stuff, but he's not opposed to playing in Chloe's pink playhouse and her picnic things and even with her babies! He's a well-rounded kind of guy.

Geddy is now trying my patience with his hair. I have to sweep every day just to make sure hair doesn't accumulate in the corners and all I can say is that I am IN LOVE with my vacuum! I brush him almost every day, too. I don't even think this is his "full shedding" time - so I'm kind of thinking I'll just shave him down when all that starts. I bet he'd like it anyway - he's always so hot in my house. The blizzards are his favorite thing to play in!


Jake and I got to watch Chloe get some ski lessons at Wolf Mountain the other day. I was so happy that the weather was warm and sunny - she was so excited! It was perfect to go on a Thursday morning because it wasn't really crowded. One of her best friends, Indie, came - so it was just the two of them with a really great "lessoner" named Bo.
Jake cheered and clapped for her!
Magic carpets are the only way to go with 4-years-olds!




Her handed-down airplane gloves were her favorite thing, but they kept falling off.
Sometimes her legs got tired. So she rested . . . . . . . a lot, and poor Bo would pick her up. I think she did it on purpose just for his attention!
When we were outside, eating lunch, I noticed that the lodge is actually an old barn - no joke!
Jake has fun!
Chloe even got some candy! It was a perfect day.