the white house at the right time

People around here are glad not to have snow. Crazy. That is what winter is. Not the fakey stuff on Snowflake Lane. The stuff that is cold. That freezes your ankles till they are red, because you didn't pull your boot straps tight. The stuff that makes cheeks rosy and red. We love the snow. We had to go find some. Yup, we like to eat it too. Plus we had some new sleds to test for speed. We ask a guy, "Are there any good hills around here to go sledding?" "Sure, about a 1/2 mile up it gets real steep." He points. We walk for about 1 1/2 miles. I carry Makenzy bundled in her snowsuit. Heavy. Refuses to ride in sled. Then we find IT. Lame, lame sledding hill. Everyone around us confirmed this was it! We had to push to get going. Finally, found a little place OFF the path, that some other family had worked to build up that had some umph and speed to it. "Good times, baby, good times," as Cayden likes to put it. Cade has great b...

Thanksgiving company - Roos family (minus their twin girls who were off playing), White family, and Julie's parents, the stand in photographers. The meal was delicious, the ambiance wonderful, the company enjoyable, clean up committee a breeze, and conversation great. The kids had a great time playing and jelled very well. Thank you again Roos family. In the next few years, I expect to cook less and less. Why? Because my kids will doing most of it. I hope. I really hope. Already, they have perfected some pretty tasty bites. Pancakes, eggs, fudgies , shakes, and more recently egg nog . This is Makayla's signature drink so far. Madalyn helps, but Makayla is head chef on this one. Homemade Eggnog Recipe 6 fresh eggs 1 cup sugar, divided 2 cups cream (or substitute with 2 cups whole milk, also makes it a bit lower in fat) 2 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg (or just the nutmeg in the bottle) Separate egg yolks and whites. In larg...

Nothing beats your daddy tickling and "eating" up his baby girl.

On December 29 th we celebrate her birthday as a family. But for anything else, my little artist has a roving birthday party date. I urged January she wanted November. Theme? P ART Y . Artist - Madalyn, Gallery - Our house, Art Show - November. Dinner, paint, brushes, colors, smocks, crafty stuff, googly eyes, lipstick = Art Party Fun! We made penguin water bottles . To expedite the project and minimize paint, I painted the bodies ahead of time. We were so crazy busy, I didn't get a pic of the girls, but this is how they looked. Cute idea from Family Fun. Created dry-erase frames for the girlie's rooms. Custom paint job on these! Hot cocoa anyone? Painted edible one of a kind masterpieces on a sugar cookie canvas. Universal idea for lots of occasions . Edible paint - 2 egg whites 1 tsp. water food coloring Presto! Friendship . A fine art form indeed. Friend picture keepsakes. Afterward, we gave a copy to each girl. Classic " face art ". Close...

As a kid, I remember my parents saying they didn't really need or want anything for their birthday. Rather all they really wanted was for us kids to get along, to make our beds without being asked, to wait our turn for the bathroom instead of pound on the door, and not leave fingerprints on dad's car windows - simple stuff. When we really pressed my dad for birthday ideas, he would say new socks or black combs. Liar, I thought. Deep down I knew they wanted some grand gift. A trip. A spa retreat. An exotic and expensive dinner with 50 of their closest and best friends. Something big. Now that I am a grown up, my kids think I am a birthday liar too. (Sometimes I really do, lie, but then I call it stretching the truth and there is a good reason for doing it but my parental hypocrisy is up for discussion another time). When they asked me what I wanted, I really didn't want any thing. A nice day that created a memory. And that is what I got. Belgian chocolates all over my nig...