Baking cookies

Valentines cookie making- our favorite Valentine's Day tradition.

Our dinner tonight!

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines prep

Georgie making his valentines this weekend...

Super Bowl 2012

We held our annual Superbowl party this year with a new addition- a stadium constructed from guacamole, chips, salsa, and goal posts made from slim jims.
If only I put this much energy into more productive, worthwhile endeavors...


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Future Sheldon Cooper?

One of the interesting differences in boys and girls is the books that they read. When I was Henry's age, I could not get enough of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and any fictional series like Sweet Valley Twins or the Babysitter's Club. When Henry learned how to read I was so excited to share some of these with him - I bought copies of SuperFudge, Ramona Quimby, and a host of others in preparation of the reading fun that we would share. Unforunately, no one told me that boys aren't really into that kind of book. You know what Henry likes to read? COMIC BOOKS. And comic book style books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, etc. When I picked him up from school the other day he was waiting in line with his friends and they were all crowded around another one of these books, giggling and reading. (I had a flash forward to Henry and these other boys' futures as extras on the "Big Bang Theory". But you know what the most important thing is? That he's reading. And he remembers and comprehends what he reads in these books (perhaps a little too well). So I have shelved the Judy Blumes and Bevery Clearys for now. I'm going to try to trot them out again in the future, but for now I'm going to accept that Greg Heffly, Captain Underpans, OOk and Gluck, and Lego Batman are here to stay.

Rex vs Bambi

The deer in the backyard usually scurry away when Rex comes at them barking. They must have realized that he is not a real threat because yesterday he was yapping away at one and the deer just stood there, like "Who is this crazy squirrel and why is he all up in my business?" It was only when Rex actually started jumping on the deer that the deer decided to walk away to a more peaceful spot. The picture is terrible but it was 6:30 in the morning and I had neither the speed nor energy to go running for my nice camera. You get the idea.

Obsessed with Webkins

Henry told me that I should put his Webkins on the blog, so here they are. Both he and George are very into Webkins right now.

This year's valentines

I found out about this idea last year when our friend Lorinda over at Fishin Fields posted the one she made for her daughter. I filed that information away and made some for the kids to hand out this year- they turned out so cute!
Kodak going under is sad for me, especially since I have used their site for all of my pictures the last 7 years, but it may be a blessing in disguise because it introduced me to Picasa and the photo editing awesomeness that is Picnik (you access it through Picasa). That's how I got the text and hearts on the pictures. You can do so many awesome things on there and it's FREE! Then I just saved my new picture and uploaded it to my Walgreens account to take advantage of their 50 prints for $5 deal.

Meditation

Henry participates in an exercise program after school one day per week. They do all kinds of different fitness activities like yoga, martial arts, jumprope, and they are also learning about meditation. Henry demonstrated this for us the other day.
We've had a busy couple of weeks around here - this month is busy for me for work and I feel like we've had a million other little activities to do. I am co-chairing an event in the community called "Celebration of Women" that is monopolizing some of my time as well. I checked my email the other day and let out an audible sigh. Henry said, "What's wrong, Mommy?" I answered, "I'm just a little stressed out." Henry thought about this for a minute and said, "I can show you how to meditate. That helps with stress." So we meditated a bit. It was kind of nice. Then he went to bed and I made myself a martini. Because some days, meditation can only get you so far.

Finally, some snow!

Don't get me wrong, I am not missing the arctic temps we usually get this time of year but I did miss the snow! We got a little last week so we busted out the snowshoes on Sunday for a hike. Rex comes along as well- he always gets lots of laughs from those we pass on the trails.

They're coming...

I blame Mike for the zombies.

Last summer he brought an iPad home from work that had the "Plants vs. Zombies" app already loaded on it. So began a now 9 month saga of this family's obsession with this game, and with zombies in general. Mike had to give the iPad back, but then we found the app for our iPhones. George really took to the zombies, and walked around the yard chasing neighbor kids while uttering such adorable phrases like, "I'm coming... I want BRAINS... I'm gonna eat your braaaaains...." I'm sure the neighbors were less than enthused with us over this behavior.

While Mike, Henry, and George all got sucked into the zombie obsession, I steered clear. Oh, I got a giggle out of some of the zombies but never played the game myself. (I do, however, religiously watch "The Walking Dead" on AMC. Great show). Then we got the iPads from my parents, and I made the mistake of "I'll just play one game to check this out."

And now I'm also hooked. My evenings are spent planting pea shooters, sunflowers, walnuts, mushrooms, and any other plant that will kill the zombies. I found myself driving around town today plotting a strategy to get through the next level. It's pathetic. I am looking into 12 step programs for all of us.

To demonstrate the power of Plants Vs. Zombies, Mike bought the game for George for his Nintendo Ds. It was easily George's favorite Christmas present. He even wrote Mike a special thank-you note for it. (I do all of the decorating, shopping, wrapping, prepping, and he walks in with a $15 DS game and is the king of Christmas. Not fair). Anyway, here is a picture of George with his beloved game.