Four!!

Happy birthday to Lillian!! We love you so much and can't believe you are turning four!! We look forward to another year. Thanks for all the laughter, smiles and kisses you bring to our family.

Braids

Lillian's friend gave her this doll named Lilly for her birthday. Lillian insists on having braids just like her doll Lilly!

Three almost four

Not quite four, but we celebrated and had her party today. Thanks everyone for coming, we had a lot of fun!! I have 2 more days to enjoy having a three year old!!

Lilly making sure Ms. Shortcake's hair is perfect.

Strawberry Shortcake

Lillian loved her cake, and I loved the fact that it was super easy to make!

Girls just want to have fun

Fun at the Beach

Today we headed to the beach, well sorda. The local mall had this great play area full of sand, shovels and buckets. The kids loved playing in the sand and it kept them occupied for a couple of hours. I was really wishing I had brought a book!! (I have no idea why this is underlining, I can't get it to go off!)

Make A Wish

"Another year older and wiser too, happy birthday to you!"

There is a cake underneath it all

Decorating Dad's Cake

I let the kids decorate dad's cake. Lillian wanted to put a Barbie on it. I told her probably not. So we went with the boys idea and they decorated it with army stuff.

It's my birthday!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!

Baptism Preview

Tonight we had our baptism preview. Grant loves his scripture bag and journal. He was very particular in making sure all of his papers he received got put in his special bag. He cannot wait to be 8. The missionaries even gave him a tour of the font. Grant was able to walk through the font, and check it all out. He thought that was pretty cool. Not only is he excited to get baptized, but he can't wait to be a scout just like his dad. Grant especially got excited when they talked about how as a scout you will learn to make a fire. I think all the boys eyes lit up at that moment! When tucking Grant in for bed, he shared his plans on how he is going to make his car for the derby!! I told him he needed to slow down and enjoy being seven!! As long as you are 8 this ward allows you to choose the day that you are baptized. Grant has chosen to be baptized on his birthday Friday, October 24, 2008. He is pretty excited about that!!

Takes after his dad......

"Mom, will it stick?"

Thank goodness we didn't need to go get hot water.

Niagra Falls, Canada

We woke up this morning and Jeremy said, "why is there light shining in our window?" We looked outside and sure enough a gorgeous blue sky! This is very unusual for a Buffalo winter. We knew we needed to get out of the house and enjoy. We headed to Canada and viewed the falls from the Canadian side. As usual it was breathtaking, and the rainbow made it that much better.

All day Lillian was pretending to be a fairy. She enjoyed waving her pencil and turning the boys into toads.

Lillian insisted on sitting on this red ball because it matches her dress!

I have no idea why this is sideways. It wouldn't let me rotate it.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Raspberry Bitter Chocolate

Tonight we had a family fondue dessert party. Monte's favorite was the strawberries, Grant's favorite was the oranges, Jeremy's favorite was the bananas, Lillian surprisingly didn't like the chocolate, and my vote goes for the strawberries. Yummy!

Delicious

Everything tastes better dipped in chocolate. We dipped angel food cake, strawberries, oranges and bananas. I forgot to get some cinnamon bears. That would be really good too.

Making Fondue

I can't believe how fast these pots heat up!

Not a Healthy Heart Party!

Unlike Grant's class that encouraged exercise and healthy foods, Monte's class was definitely not a healthy heart party! It was full of sweets, ice cream sundaes, and more sweets. Monte really liked playing heart bingo and listening to Valentine stories. He learned that Cupid can shoot an arrow and make people fall in love. He is convinced that dad got shot by Cupid.

Party Party

Lillian loves going to Grant and Monte's class. Lillian is content playing with Ms. Kowalcyzk's little blocks and Mrs. Battaglia's Polly Pockets. It is very nice to be able to bring her when I help out. The teachers are wonderful to remember her on special holidays. I swear these teacher's must not see tiny kids very often!

Best Buddies

Grant and his friend Nick.

1st Grade Healthy Heart Party

Grant would not look at the camera for anything. Lillian and I had so much fun at Grant's Valentine party. It was especially funny watching the kids play charades. The kids usually guessed the action before any of the adults!

Decorating Cards

Grant's class enjoyed making Valentine's for a local children's hospital.

Miss Lilly

Strawberries and Cream

We started off the morning with strawberries and cream. It was more of a dessert than breakfast. It tasted so yummy!

Valentine's Party

My friend Eliza was very brave and hosted a Valentine party at her home. There was a huge turnout. Lillian had a blast! It was nice to have some adult conversation while the kids played. Lunch was delicious!! As close to Cafe Rio as you are going to get out here. It was nice to not be eating mac and cheese for lunch. The kids had fun playing, making cookies,decorating there Valentine sack and exchanging treats and Valentine's. Thanks Eliza for all your hard work! Hey Eliza the way you were whipping out your homeade tortillas, have you considered opening a Cafe Rio? :0) New York could use some good Mexican food!

Decorating Heart Cookies

Lillian liked her cookie with LOTS and LOTS of sprinkles!

Decorating Valentine Sacks

Lillian had lots of fun decorating her Valentine sack. You can never have too many stickers!!

Mona Lisa

I laughed so hard when Monte brought this picture home today! Monte loves art, and his class is currently studying the artist, inventor and scientist, Leonardo Da Vinci. Today they learned about Mona Lisa and then they painted her. They used a monochromatic color scheme. This is when the artist uses one color and adds white to make the color lighter. So that it why Mona looks so pink! Why her hair is wavy, I am not quite sure. Oh man I will be laughing over this one for awhile!

Grant's Trees

Grant had fun painting these trees. He began with a straw, moving paint across the paper with the use of air. On the other tree he used markers to create a stipple tree (the use of tiny little dots).

Homework

Tonight Grant was complaining about the homework he has to do every night. So Jeremy showed Grant the homework he has to do every night and asked Grant if he wanted to trade. Grant was happy to stick to his pile.

Lillian is working on learning her Articles of Faith. I love her little voice!

Tomato Bruschetta

If you like bruschetta this recipe is fantastic! Jeremy and I love love love it! It is delicious!!



Tomato Bruschetta
6 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 French baguette
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (fresh mozzarella can be used as well just cut to fit)

Preheat the oven on broiler setting.
In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
Cut the baguette into 3/4 inch slices. On a baking sheet, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly brown.
Divide the tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices. Top the slices with the shredded mozzarella or fresh slice mozzarella.
Broil for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Watch carefully it cooks fast!!!

Enjoy! This recipe makes a delicious and easy appetizer or late night snack.

Winter Fun

Lillian thought it was so funny to see Grant fall on his breakfast buns.
Monte searching for some form of life in the snow.
Bobsledding
Bean loves her daddy.

The snow here is definitely different than Utah's! It is the texture of an icey snow cone. No powder here, but it doesn't stop the kids. However, getting hit by a snowball has an entirely different meaning.

Sorry Tweetie

With rifles in hand, all the boys thought it would be fun to go bird hunting. They sat at the back window and watched the birds in the trees. Grant and Monte say they shot at least 100 maybe 101.

Arrr Matey

The boys were playing on the bunk beds today. Grant was Captain Hook and this handsome pirate invaded his ship.