Parties

 Olive started walking the last week of January. Almost 15 months old. 

Here she is with cousin Boaz who is almost as big as her and stinking cute.

I stole this from Dorcas' Instagram. Super cute.  Love these boys.

Dad and his birthday cake. Tres Leches. 

 Nate's family here for his birthday.

 Gender reveal. Just our family. 

Stuart said, "I want a boy but it is probably a girl, because God picks." 

Ladies Lunch and Painting Class

 Nate's Aunt Carolyn planned a lunch for her sisters and as a surprise activity she had me come and teach a painting class. This was held at Grandma Minnie's house. Grandma had fun watching, she was quite chipper.

 They were such willing students and it went much better than I imagined. When I taught 5&6th grade art the scared students would just sit there and do nothing, hoping I would do it for them I guess. These ladies might have been nervous but they went for it, no one lagging behind. 

Aunt Carolyn in the middle. Happy Birthday! 

Don't Steal the Joy

Picked up this t-shirt dress for Olive at a thrift store. 

Made me want to sew one like it. I don't particularly enjoy sewing knits or small things so.... I was really hoping it would fit over her head. 

Mia playing dress up with Olive. 

Nate's Mom dropped off fastnachts. As you can see I was feeling hopeful for some filling in the glazed line. 

We are slightly addicted to the Eagle Cam. 

I knew it was bad when I texted Nate an update one day. 

So many snow days. 

The youth group gave us some balloons so Nate was on Youtube making stuff for the kids. Fun.

Longing for Spring.

Way to Go Mom

A post I loved by one of my favorite bloggers. Thoughts about Pinterest and the way we react to cute birthday parties and stuff. If you love to be creative and Pinteresty then go for it! and if you are not that type of person, or in that stage of life,  embrace that as well. 

Don't be haters. Don't steal the joy.  

How I Feel About Valentine's Day This Year

I've kind of gotten over wanting to go out on a hot date on Valentine's Day. I would not be against it, but ever since reading the book "Waiter Rant" I just feel badly for the waiters and wish to be out on a more normal night. That and the babysitter problem.
So the past few years we have been doing a fun meal with the kids and getting out a tablecloth and some sparkling juice in goblets type of thing.
Now this year it falls on a Saturday night. Great if you don't have children yet and can just go out like usual. Not great if you just want to hang out with your friends, Valentine's or not.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't feel like cooking. Surely Chick Fil A would be a safe place to go as a family, right?

Last year Nate got me roses from Pro Flowers and they were guaranteed for Valentines's Day. There was a big snowstorm and he walked in the house empty handed and so sheepishly that day. I smiled pretty big when flowers showed up 3 days early this year. I thought he was overcompensating. Turns out if you wait too long to order they have to bring them early.

Plantain and Chicken Curry

1 ripe plantain, cubed

4 chicken breasts cooked and diced

1 onion sliced

1 medium apple, peeled and cut in cubes

4 T butter

2 T coconut flakes

3 tsp curry powder

3 T flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

1 c cream 

* I like mine with hot pepper flakes

1. In a saucepan saute onion and apple in butter. Add coconut flakes and curry powder. Sprinkle with flour and saute for 3 minutes. While stirring, add broth. 

2. When sauce is smooth, add salt and pepper to taste. Add cream, plantain and chickens. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Serve over rice and garnish with coconut flakes. 

The First Jam & Slam

Jam (stuff I am loving)

Avacados. 

Having a second family car.  Although along with this comes the realization that we must be middle aged. May it pass inspection in the spring. 

Ladies Bible study. So good to hang out with the ladies from church.

Keeping a Clean Fridge. This is not a blog post that I could write but I can aspire!

Funny stuff on Dorcas Smucker's blog. The kind of crazy that I love.

Birthdays are fun.

Slam (sad things)

Sales people that follow you around the shoe store asking more than twice if you are doing ok. I have been since wondering how to let sales people know that, "I am shopping by myself and it's amazing, do not bug me today!"

Huge disappointments in others lives, Stuff that has the potential to make them bitter and I'm standing back watching and holding my breath wondering, are they going to make it? Will they let this make them a more beautiful person? Please God, yes. 

Bench hoggers. Let the back benches at church for the families with little kids, I plead with you. 

The Haircut

At the barber school the other day Nate asked for a fade. 

Now usually haircuts at this barber school take very long. Like an hour. Well this time we were walking back out in 20 minutes. The very new barber that Nate got, he took off like a bandit. Before we knew it the teacher guy came running over saying things like, "You went too high" and "There is nothing left to fade." So I'm sitting there smiling and I can't stop. Nate taking it like a man. 

Winter Living

To replace couch cushions yourself...

Open the cushion and measure the thickness of the old cushions. We failed this step and shorted ourselves an inch. It works for now but I'm dreaming of that extra inch. Ha.

Take a 50% off coupon to Joanne Fabrics and purchase foam in correct thickness.

This piece cost me about $50.

Cut them out using an electric knife (cuts like butter). Hold that knife as straight as possible when going around turns. You don't want to cut too much away on the backside. 

Insert in zippered cushions sleeves. Yay! This was a 40 minute project from tracing to back on the couch done. 

I sat on the yellow couch all afternoon with a friend and it sat nice so I think it will be replacing the very sat out orange couch. I hate to send it to the basement but 3 sofas in one room seems a little overkill. It was fun for hosting but I am missing my single soft chairs in there for daily living. 

Whole Wheat Honey Bread

I made this bread last week and while it seemed awesome, I could not taste anything at the time. Terrible cold that lasted for 12 long days. Today as I was slicing the bread  for supper I said to Nate, "This bread!" and he laughed at me for obviously I had just gotten my sense of taste back today.

This Pond

 Aunt Mary's pond is looking fine. 

A few weeks into our married life Nate and I came over here skating. Never told anyone. It was dark outside. We were happily skating around the pond holding hands even, when I remembered that the pond does not always freeze evenly. Just like that we went through. I was swimming for all I was worth, thinking "that was a short married life" assuming we were about to die. Nate informed me that we could stand. It was about waist deep. We managed to climb out and drove home thankful that it was only a mile away. 

The pond seems to freeze more evenly these days but I make Nate go over it very rigorously before the children may skate on it.

Martin Christmas

I asked Nate to crush the candy canes. He took care of it. 

The following pictures are from Sam's family gathering. 

 Nate and his cousins. Only 3 missing. 

 2nd cousins

 Sam, Mary Ellen, Mervin, Marlin... all with dimples. 2 brothers gone on before.