Finally--Birthday Video!!!

Beef Lentil Stew

Okay, I'm finally getting this posted while I'm thinking of it and H's splashing around in the tub!

1 lb beef, diced

1 lb lentils, sorted & rinsed

1/4 c. barley

10-12 c. beef broth

1 onion, diced

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

Toss together in large pot, bring to boil, and allow to simmer 45 min. as you dice the following:

1 onion

3 carrots

3 stalks celery

2 potatoes

Add the veggies to the pot during last 10-15 mi. of cooking time. (Sure, you could add them at the start as well, crockpot style--or leave everything in a crockpot all day too. I just like my veggies minimally cooked.)

Thanks, Tina & Stephan!

Cute toy for Baby Brother

Checking out the hour glass toy that came in one of the Kindereggs

We asked H to choose one last candy for the night. Of course, she pointed at the stack of chocolate bars. Here she and Papa are discussing the various yummy choices!

They did it! (Cabinet install)

Yay!!!

S and our good friend M removed a 3-foot section of cabinet and replaced it with a 1-foot section. We're halfway through our first major project! (Well, major for us!)

Up next: installing the dishwasher!
It's pushed into its new home under the counter, but S had to work this afternoon, so we'll have to tackle the rest of this next week.

We found this on Craigslist for about $80, which was less than Home Depot and Lowes would have charged us by about $50. It's not a perfect match--not that HD or L would have been either--but we're quite happy with it. We're expecting baby's arrival in 6-8wks, so it's more important to us that this project is DONE.

Thanks, S & M!!!! :D You two are awesome!
(I love you, S!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!)

(I guess including some actual action shots would have been better than only taking thinking shots, huh. . . . oops!)

Once there was a snowman. . . .

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman,

Once there was a snowman, tall tall tall!

In the rain he melted, melted, melted,

In the rain he melted, small small small!

I think H would cry if she saw him looking like this. . . .

Maybe I should remove the umbrella and let him die in peace.

Birthday Vids

Discovering the house



We cracked up when we caught her doing this!

More Birthday!

(Click on it to see it bigger.)

G&G Shaw also sent along the playhouse S and his siblings played with as kids. S & H had lots of fun putting it together last night.

Ta Da!

Happy Birthday, H!

It's official. She's now four years old!

After realizing a couple days ago that she really could have whatever she wanted for her birthday breakfast, H excitedly declared, "Pancakes!" Then, morning of, what of all things does she ask that her pancakes be shaped like? No, not a snowman.

"A Christmas tree with a star on top . . . and a heart!"

Huh-WHAT???

I'm grateful S had just shown me the night or two before the picture of a man using a squirt bottle to make pancake art. (Did he show that to H, too?) Well, here are my results, using a couple medicine syringes. I'm glad they passed the test--albeit the star on top nearly didn't! I was pretty proud of myself, considering this was my first try.

Although my family customarily saved cake and present-opening for after dinner, I knew H wasn't going to make it that long. Besides, cake AND presents right before bedtime just wasn't a good idea if H was involved. So, I told her she could open her presents when Daddy came home to take her out to lunch. It was a challenge to wait even that long, but she did it!

Here she is in the princess dress Santa brought her. She thought it was the perfect thing to wear for her birthday. (I wish I got a pict of her when we went out later today: princess dress, pink flamingo flip-flops--yes, amid the cold and slush!--and pink and purple sunglasses. What a star!)

Presents from Mom & Dad included a clock (funny story here...keep reading) to help with bedtimes and mornings, a new drawing pad for her church bag, and getting to eat out for lunch. (She loves eating out and has been waiting for the past week for her birthday to come just so that she could eat out again!)

Here's the story: When we stopped at Target last night, S took on the assignment to find, purchase, and hide H's presents while she and I went through the month's shopping list. Beforehand, he asked me what kind of clock, and I couldn't help but smile slyly and say, "A pink one with princesses on it!" For the past year or so, H has apparently had this belief that it's possible to get everything "pink with princesses on it". (Of course, we had to back up this faulty, or so we thought, belief by encouraging Santa to get her a "pink backpack with princesses on it".) She even told us months ago that when she grows up (she went through a whole slew of careers at one point), she was going to fly a plane--one that was "pink with princesses on it"!

Anyway, when it came time to wrap presents last night, S showed me the two clocks he'd found for us to choose between: a Target digital that was pink and, of course, a hanging analog that was "pink with princesses on it". I couldn't stop laughing. Apparently, these days anything really can be made "pink with princesses on it"!

(Disney is making so much money right now!!!)

Sweet book from G&G C

We read it for nap time and just loved it!

A doll and a book from G&G S

Love at first sight

Last night at Target, H found one of their talking dolls that another parent had snuck from their shopping cart and abandoned in one of the departments we had the luck of perusing. (May I insert that this is the second time H has found one of these dolls abandoned in such a manner?) She carried it around the store the rest of the night and cried (of course, we hadn't had a decent dinner and it was probably about 6:30 at this point, if not 7) when I returned it to its shelf. This morning, when she realized this doll G&G had sent her was a talking doll, she quivered with delight! When Daddy removed it from the box, she couldn't help squealing and jumping up and down!

After opening presents, we took H out to eat at Cici's Pizza. S had asked his co-workers for pizza place suggestions, mentioning that we were thinking of Cici's, and they agreed it was probably a good place to go. So, we went. It was our first time, and I must admit I'm actually impressed; it was much better than I had expected it to be. The employees were really helpful (even made me a cheese-less pizza! Yay!), and the pizza was actually pretty tasty. (Boring sauce/crust is hard to hide when it's not buried in cheese!) We'll just have to go there again sometime!

H, 80% of the time we were there.

Her comment on the way home?

"I'm glad they had movies there that I liked!"

Putting candles on the cake and awaiting the flames!

(Quite unlike years past, H's been waiting for the "fire" all afternoon long!)

Sorry, you'll have to wait for the videos. They're pretty cute, but of course they're just over Blogger's 100mb minimum, and my brain isn't working well enough right now to remember how to save them as smaller files.

Saturday is a special day. . . .

Washing dishes w/ Daddy

"My baby was just born!"

Getting out into the snow

Ready for bed

Snowmen

It's so nice to see this place covered in white!