sugar vs. television

This girly is sick.

not really, really sick. Just an annoying runny stuffy nose which leads to little sleep for her (or her Mom) and makes for some whiney miserable days.

best remedy I could come up with? Rice Krispie Treats.

I felt like such a good Mom as I tried to combat whining and boredom and tried to distract my daughter from her current stuffy situation.

She took one long look at them and decided right away that she didn't like them.

No amount of pleading from me ("they're yummy!") would get her to even take a little bite.

so I gave up and we watched an hour of Max and Ruby

and I tried not to feel bad that my efforts had been rejected

(it helped when she layed her head on my knee)

We did practice our counting while I was measuring rice krispies.

That counts for something right?

a stroll around the neighborhood

In other news: Our house is going to be a little chaotic this afternoon as my 10 eight year old girls will be here from 4:30-5:30 for activity days and then Justin's 11 year old scouts will be showing up right after them at 6:00. We're ordering pizza and crossing our fingers that all goes well.

This is what happens when I'm in the kitchen baking,

my husband and daughter have an impromptu parade and drum circle.

in other news: I was making snickerdoodles and coconut marshmallows for Justin's office party and my trusty dependable little handmixer broke. I am devastated.

To Justin

(even Java mexican hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles)

Thumbing through the February issue of Martha Stewart and a few other things that are going on around here have got me in the Valentine-y mood.

posting could be sporatic this weekend as a few of Justin's cousins are coming to stay with us. Hope you all have a great relaxing weekend!

{images via 'I love you more than blank'}

Up to

Organizing the Pantry

Becky: organized cans of soup, baking items, glass vases etc.
Audrey: says "oh wow!" at everything her Mom pulls off the shelves, grabs a roll of wrapping paper and swings it around in the small space, whacking her Mom multiple times. Picks up an arm full of paper plates, cups and plastic silverware and runs as fast as she can to the living room, laughing when her Mom tries to stop her.


Becky: makes 5 or 6 trips from the den to the pantry, moving my beloved Martha Stewart magazines to make room for more books.
Audrey: steps very gingerly on every magazine and book lying on the floor and then crawls into the empty shelf.

Making Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

oh my gosh, the best cupcakes ever.

Becky: puts the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the sugar in another.

Audrey: puts her finger in the bowl with the flour, licks it and makes a face. Puts her finger in the bowl with the sugar, licks it and say "Mmm!" Proceeds to stick her finger in the sugar and lick it 10 or so more times.

Becky: opens the oven to check on the cupcakes.

Audrey: does a jiggy dance next to the oven and says "hot!" over and over and over.
Becky. Mixes up the frosting and begins frosting cupcakes.

Audrey: licks the beater and gets frosting all over the shirt she was going to wear to the hockey game.

Going to the Idaho Steelheads Hockey Game

Becky: stands in the suite and talks to Justin's co-workers.

Audrey: takes a drink of her Mom's soda and then tosses it on the floor.

Becky: runs to the bathroom to get paper towels

Audrey: charms everyone there with her jumping and dancing while her Mom is mopping up soda.

Becky: cheers for the steelheads

Audrey: rummages through the diaper bag and pulls out 4 books, a bag of goldfish crackers and her backyardigans memory game. Scatters the memory cards all over the floor. Dances to the music during time-outs. Points at the zamboni machine. Tries to climb over the seats to get to a little boy 4 rows down that has a blue balloon.

Becky: talks to Justin about the game on the way home.

Audrey: kicks her feet in the backseat for awhile, then almost falls asleep.

Going to bed

Becky: puts on Audrey's pajamas, brushes her teeth and combs out her hair.

Audrey: laughs at the funny noise her Dad is making by moving his finger over his lips.

Becky: holds Audrey on her lap and says the family prayer

Audrey: puts her finger on her lips and makes the same noise her Dad was making while her Mom's eyes are closed and she's trying not to laugh through her prayer at her funny baby.

She keeps me on my toes, but oh, I love that little girl.

Have I mentioned that Justin is such a great Dad?

Audrey's bedtime got put off for at least 20 minutes tonight so she could ride in a cardboard "car" all over the living room
and he let her bear come along too.

Ringing it in

{photo via Martha Stewart}

One of my favorite traditions that Justin and I have started for our family is to make a list of "fun" new year's resolutions every New Year's Eve. Instead of the typical "eat healthier" or "get out of debt" resolutions, (while we'll still be working on those) it's a list of things that we've been wanting to do, or learn, or try. It's a list of fun things to look forward to accomplishing together over the next year. It sort of happened on accident two years ago- a last minute list written on scratch paper that I pulled out of the glove box as we were sitting in our car in the foothills above the city, listening to the countdown on the radio and watching fireworks explode all over the valley. To me, it's just a little romantic.

Here's what we came up with last year, goals accomplished are in blue

2008 FUN New Year's Resolutions

• spend a weekend in McCall - March 28-30, 2008


• teach Audrey to dance- she dances all the time now, although I'm not sure that it's good that I'm the one teaching her


• fly somewhere for vacation- Oregon Coast, April 30-May 3, 2008


• grow a flower garden


• learn to make thai food, three dishes


• use our fine china


• move to a bigger house- moved here July 28, 2008


• spend more time outside- farmer's market every Sat morning, park trips on Sunday afternoons, excursions to the hills


• attend Boise events (farmer's market, Hyde Park Festival etc.)


• buy a pair of funky colored high heels


• eat at Chandlers or Asiagos


• take an exploritory vacation- Baker's City, OR

We didn't do everything. (I just couldn't find the right pair of shoes!) But we did get quite a few things crossed off our list and had a lot of fun doing them, which was the whole point. We'll be making our list for 2009 tonight, but not until around midnight at Justin's insistence. I guess that's part of the tradition. He's also being pretty tight-lipped about what he'd like to do next year. I have a few things in mind as well that I'm pretty excited about.

Bring on 2009!

You gotta earn yer keep round here...

Here's my helper-girl.

She helped me clean the bathroom yesterday by scrubbing the shower.

Then, while I was scrubbing the tub, she made three or four trips from her bedroom to the bathroom to dump all her clean shirts on the floor. So helpful that I had to take a picture. Yes Lauren, I take my camera everywhere.

Well that's a new one.

Recovery

I'm wearing my glasses today. Letting my eyes rest from wearing contacts and staying up too late talking, or working hard searching snowy roads for icy patches late at night.

My hair is in a ponytail to give it a break from the blow drying and styling it receives daily.

I'm wearing my old jeans because all my nice pants are in the washer.

Speaking of clothes, the laundry room is piled high with stacks of clean laundry waiting to be folded. The washer and dryer have been going all morning and they're not done yet.

Our bed is un-made and stripped of it's linens, waiting to be made up with fresh clean sheets.

The baby is clean but her hair isn't done and she's wearing a purple monkey t-shirt with her sweat pants that are just a little too big.

We're recovering.

Justin had a mini-vacation and was home from work all last week. It's been great for him to have a break and Audrey and I have loved having him home. The only problem with that is that I don't like to clean while he's here. That's why I clean my house on Friday instead of on the "special day", Saturday, like the primary song says. I don't like to take time away from hanging out with him to scrub the bathroom.

So I don't.

I prefer to let the house go to chaos and spend time talking and watching movies and cooking and shopping and dreaming up whatever else we're going to do. A week of that, plus Christmas, means my house is a total mess.
Justin went back to work today. Walked out the door this morning looking dapper in his new shirt and tie. He's only working Monday and Tuesday and then has another long weekend for New Years, so today and tomorrow I'm rolling up my sleeves and getting to work. I need to vacuum and sweep and mop. I need to dust and wash and scrub. The bathroom towels need a bath themselves and the oven needs to be wiped down inside and out. I need to catch up on laundry from our trip and find a place for the kitchen set and stuffed animals and all the other toys from Santa that I've been tripping over all weekend. I need to do some wholesome cooking and get something in the fridge besides the leftover fudge and coconut candies that are sitting in there right now.

I'm a little excited. A clean house makes me happy.

So, if you knock on my door anytime during the next two days don't be offended when I don't answer. I'm either upstairs in the bathroom on my hands and knees scrubbing the tub and can't hear the doorbell or I'm hiding in the kitchen because you've caught me mid-sweep in my old jeans and glasses and ponytail.

The Loot

This is the obligatory post where I show how much fun we had and all the great stuff we got. (and we did have a lot of fun and get some really great stuff) This post is obnoxious because I'm totally showing off and I'm not even putting half of the pictures I took on here. Thanks so much to our families for all the thoughtful gifts and the food and some great times.

Christmas Eve at the Farm

Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa Vipperman's

I got some terrific cooking stuff

Audrey's jewelry collection got bigger

We found out my sisters-in-law are incredibly creative and should both start etsy shops

Justin will be looking smart at work

and now he won't have to borrow a pocket knife from one of the boys when he goes to scouts

Audrey was flooded with "her backyard friends, the backyardigans"

but I think her favorite was her new puppy (she says "poppy!") but maybe I should explain to her more about puppies because...

when we got home she tried to ride him like a horse. Hmmm.