Cravings

I was craving chocolate BAD this week.

So, I whipped this up.

Chocolate almond bark-covered pretzels.

Yum.

And so easy.

Melt almond bark in the microwave, add pretzels, mix up, spread out, let cool.

Again, yum.

In the Middle

I love this girl.  She's my favorite middle child.

She's also a little bit weird at times.

Because I Was Told To

M loves it when I get out my camera.  In fact, he gets rather demanding.

He insisted I take some pictures of his "favorite" toys--"favorite" actually meaning "those within close proximity to him."

His John Deere tractor, minus a few key parts.

His Melissa and Doug steam roller.

Louis, the alligator. (Name that reference.)

The helicopter from his train set.  He used to call them hawcapooters (phonetic spelling).

And, once again, Finn McMissile.

I Spy

Talking about obsessions, this boy is all about all things Cars.

All things.

And Finn McMissile is his favorite.  

He goes everywhere with us: grocery shopping, car rides, walks.  

These two are pretty much inseparable.

A Girl and Her Pig

This girl is obsessed with pigs.

Obsessed.

Sodor

M got this ginormous monstrosity of a train set for Christmas from his grandparents.

It reminds me of the island of Sodor:  it's a completely self-contained table with city folk, a construction site, a river, a tunnel, etc.

M plays with it daily.  Sometimes for hours on end.

The Eegl Hant

This is what E made for Mr. Einstein for Christmas:

Yes, I know the spelling is atrocious.

BUT, she planned it, sewed it, and wrote it all by herself.

And it will always be treasured.

All Boy

This little man is all boy.

(And "little" is a relative term: 90th percentile height.  Good grief!)

He loves trucks and trains and boats and construction vehicles and Cars.

We found a series on Netflix called All About (insert boats, helicopters, farm, etc.), and, obviously, it is his favorite series.

His absolute favorite in the whole cheesy series is All About Monster Trucks, as evidenced by his face.  He gets just a wee bit excited about watching it.

Going Green

We don't own many houseplants.

Well, many that have survived.

Between the cats and the kids, most of the reachable plants ended up shredded (and regurgitated) or picked bare.

We're good with cacti and actually had a hanging fern for a number of years, but the fern is no more.  So, off we went to wander around the store and home we came with a few new plants.  This one is in our bedroom:

It's a beauty, no?  I love having plants in the house.

What This Is

"What is this, mommy?

"It doesn't dig very good holes."

"What is this, mommy?

"Is it a sword to protect you?"

"What is this, mommy?

"Does it spin?"

"What is this, mommy?"

What it is is simply a boy having fun being a boy.

Bored

During the last day of break, E was bored.  Bored.  Bo-red.  So, I relented and let her play on the iPad.

Know what game she chose?

Monopoly.  My almost-8 year old was playing Monopoly.

Almost-8.  Gah!   How did that happen?

Back to Normal

After two weeks off (split-week break, Wednesday to Wednesday), today will finally be looking more like this:

and less like this:

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view.

Artistic Endeavors

The girls wanted to paint, so of course the boy wanted to, too.

And here's a little-known secret: Mr. Einstein is quite artistic, too.

New Winter Perspective

Edited to add:  I won!  I won!  Thank you!!!


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One of the local real estate agencies in town sponsored a photography contest during the month of December titled A New Winter Perspective.

Of course I entered.  And, thanks to many of you, I am a finalist!

Here's my entry:

I have to wait a few more days for the results, but I'm really please with this shot!  It's a winter hawthorn in our back yard during the three days of heavy frost we had in December.  I love photographing frost!  It's so intricate and delicate and makes even the mundane look ethereal and magical.

A New Year

Happy New Year from our family to yours!