Forest Dreamland

Need something fun to do with your child on a cold, snowy day? Why, create your own board game, of course! When I was little, I used to love to make up my own games. I would spend a whole day creating the game, designing the box, writing down the rules, then testing it out with my mom or dad. So a few days ago, I suggested this idea to my Banana and Bee, and they happily agreed that we our game closet could use a new addition.

After a good hour at our dining room table, we are proud to introduce our newest game: "Forest Dreamland." The girls designed and colored the board to look like a path that winds through a forest (hence the name). They colored the squares to look like Candyland. The goal of their game is simple: to be the first person to reach the end and win the gold coins. Along the way there are two squirrles: one good. one bad. The good squirrel has placed a rainbow and a pegasus on one of the squares. If you land on that square, move ahead two spaces. The bad squirrel has placed a black dot on one of the squares. If you land on it, you have to go sit in the bad squirrel's dark blue cave and lose one turn. Just roll the dice and see who will be the first person to make it through the Forest Dreamland!

Leah and Hannah proudly showing off their creation (which we have played about thirty times already)

A closer look. The bad squirrel is on the bottom, the good squirrel is on the top. Hannah made sure the bad squirrel had "mean, squinty eyes." The yellow circles at the end are the gold coins.

40 Years

Tonight Mike and I went out with my parents to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. My wonderful friend, Jacquelyn, came over to babysit for us while the four of us went to see Up In The Air and then went our to eat at Red Rock Canyon Grill. The last time the four of us went to see a movie was last Christmas when we saw Slumdog Millionaire. So this was a real treat. We always have a nice time together. They reminisced about their wedding day: what the weather was like, that my dad wore brown shoes with his black suit with highwater pants, and how my grandmother made my mom's wedding dress. They remembered how they brought me home from the hospital on their 7th wedding anniversary (my birthday is Feb. 3rd). I pointed out that they have now been married as long as the Israelites wandered in the desert, and that my mom's cooking has been their "manna from heaven." And my mom explained how my dad had hidden his anniversary card for her to find in this morning's newspaper. He's clever like that.

My parents have a great marriage. A marriage full of respect, friendship, laughter, and of course love. And I sure love being their daughter.

Loved

This shirt says it all...

I also love that the top of his shirt is completely slobber soaked. He has been drooling like a maniac lately! Maybe there are some teeth ready to pop out soon. Who knows? What I do know is that he can drool on me anyday! :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

CSI: Barbie

This week's victims were two young Barbies. They were discovered Friday night in Hannah and Leah's closet. It was an open and shut case as the cause of death was quite clear.....

It was a Killer Whale attack.

A Contrast Between Inside and Out

Outside......

snow is softly falling, a blue haze is quietly forming, a stillness is gently settling

Inside......

dishes are filling the sink, children are loudly talking, the minutes until bedtime are ticking

dinner is finally done cooking, mouths are busy chewing, two sweet voices asking, "dessert, please?"

Outside.....

icicles are precariously hanging, the snow beneath my feet is crunching, hands are now freezing!

Inside......

children are bathing, dinosaurs and ponies are playing, hopefully no splashing!

a bedroom needs a good cleaning, books are ready for reading, and sheets are ready for snuggling

Outside.....

the air is crisply chilling, in the distance a dog is barking, a sense of peace is calmly filling

Inside.....

the fire is warmly glowing, a baby is sweetly cooing, chubby hands are always discovering

Inside LIFE is fully LIVING!!

The Best Laid Plans

Do the weathermen/women in your city get really, really excited when a storm is approaching? They do in here in our city. They start talking really fast and waving their arms around, and use phrases like, "winter ice storm of 2010", "catastrophic power outages", and "locked and loaded to the jet stream." It really makes me giggle. But, in spite of all their weather induced hyperactivity, they are right. Today we've seen freezing rain, sleet, and snow. All of these things equal a snow day at home. Woo hoo!

Now to the point of my blog post......what to do on this lovely day at home?

Read? check

Laundry? check

Movie? check

Play games? check

Build a zoo with wooden blocks? check

And BAKE! I always go into super baking mode when snowed in for the day. After looking through my Southern Living cookbook, I decided to make this.....

Chocolate Pound Cake. Sounds good right? I thought so. After gathering my ingredients, I called for my two helpers. And all started off well.
My smiling assistants stirred, mixed, cracked, poured, and measured happily. All the while wondering what this delightful concoction would taste like when finished.

Lucas supervised the whole event from his baby papasan chair (which he is obviously getting too big for). Yes, his shirt reads "The Godfather." Mike's nickname is The Don, which is a story for another blog...Ok, back to baking.

Licking the beaters was a sweet reward for all their hard work.

The batter looked yummy and chocolatey and ready to pour into a pan.

And after an hour and fifteen minutes, I have to say that I was really proud of the final product. Oh and the smell....so divine. My whole home was perfumed by its sweet aroma. I even resisted the urge to dive right in, and let the cake cool completely before running a knife around the edges to loosen it up. Then came the only dreaded moment. I had to flip the cake over and hope it came out in one beautiful piece.

*Insert drumroll here* Annnndddd......

Disaster. Here's the final product. About half of it looked normal. The other half looked like a dinosaur decided to chomp on it for awhile. If you had been in my house when I dumped it over, you would have heard a loud, "Noooooo!" escape my lips. Mike came in to see what I was yelling about, and when he saw the sadness that was my cake, he said, "I'm sorry." Then the two of us started laughing.

It may have looked terrible, but....

it still tasted delicious.

CSI: Barbie

Today I'm introducing a new weekly series here on my blog. I've titled it CSI: Barbie. Now that my girls are completely obsessed with playing Barbies, we often find them strewn about the house in strange and comical positions. Mike and I began making up the scenarios that might have led to these poor dolls' demise. It's become such a fun passtime, that I thought I'd let you in on our shenanigans. Just imagine the intro music to CSI: Miami as Mike and I waltz up, slowly remove our sunglasses, and bend down to investigate the scene before us.

Here is victim #1: Aladdin

He was discovered Sunday afternoon on the floor of our bathroom. Arms removed, cape thrown to the side.

After a thorough investigation, it was determined that he suffered a fall from his magic carpet. In a jealous fit of rage, the Genie pushed him off. Turns out Genie was also in love with Princess Jasmine.
Poor guy. He never saw it coming.