Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy New Year Peeps...

happy new year y'all...
christmas was officially celebrated well here in the house of bob... santa made his appearance...

leaving lots of goodies for all...

even mimi was excited... here she is trying to figure out where the most delicious smell in the world is coming from... CATNIP! She od'd and passed out for the day

littlest bob had all of her wishes granted... of course ;o)

little bob with our adorable nieces and two of her most favorite people ever... have you ever seen such a bevy of beauties?

lb got her snow on... she's 5 and has already traveled to three continents and had a white christmas. i, on the other hand, had to wait until the ripe old age of 40 to post those stats...

another of lb's most favorite people in the world (uncle d) spent the day with her...she's missing her uncle d!

snow santa... you can tell from the other side

so we're all thawed out now and i've been scurrying around trying to do all that i wanted to do over the last two weeks of houseboundness. i'm glad to see that ssg and predo and all are able to get out and about too!

we don't have any real plans for new years so will probably spend it watching movies and cleaning up the rest of the mess left over from house guests and christmas etc. i usually like to go out on new years but as i get older, and now have a little one that depends on me, i don't like to be out on the roads with the rest of the revelers. one of these new years, i want to get a bunch of people together and go rent a cabin in the mountains for night sledding/skiing, playing games, etc. and ringing in the new year. would be fun and nice not to have to worry about who's driving home, etc.

so next week it's back to school for two of us and getting back into the swing of things. i have enjoyed my time but will be nice to get back into a daily groove. somehow, the more free time i have, the less i seem to get done. funny how that happens...


Monday, December 22, 2008

Regaining composure...

just in case you think I'm being dramatic with the snow.... we got more last night

we have over a foot... other places around the state have much more.

my honey cleaned off the sidewalks, walkways and cars yesterday...


but it came right back...

we're going to try to get out today and see how it is... i think we have a day or two with no snow in the forecast but it starts again on Christmas eve.

little bob got to sled with her good buddy yesterday...

and her most favorite person in the world...

more snow shots...





see earlier shots of this a few posts ago and compare...

here's a member of the family that hasn't gotten any blog time yet... meet molly... aka: mimi or "chubs"


don't think i'll be heading out today


i'll just sit and be the usual eye candy around here...

you know it...

what i should be doing today instead of complaining...

i love our little string of delicious christmas goodness...each year i think there is no way any of these kiddos can get any cuter but they always prove me wrong... this year was no disappointment.

so it's a new day and new projects are calling... i'm sure i can find something better to do than laundry!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

To Whomever will listen...

Enough already with the snow... I know it's beautiful and all but I have things to do and places to go and you, SNOW, are making it very inconvenient for me. Not to mention, I have been entertaining a 5 year old non-stop for almost two weeks since she was sick and home from school the week before she was home from school another week due to you...SNOW. Mama is done.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Getting out...

my jam thumbprints from ina garten's recipe... yum...coconut!

plus a little jam...i used cherry, raspberry, and apricot. i don't usually care for apricots but the jam works great in these cookies.

all toasty warm out of the oven...so pretty for christmas too

at this point in the week, after being cooped up together for several days, we are all feeling a little cabin fever. you can go outside for only so long and then it's too cold. little bob was working on the 40th project of the day and didn't really want to smile anymore. we're working on snowflakes...

the biscotti were dipped... everything's better with chocolate!

my balls were dipped ... tee hee... the very first time i made these was hysterical. the recipe calls for you to use a toothpick and dip them into chocolate leaving a small round spot of peanut butter showing. well that little round spot of peanut butter had a hole in it from the toothpick and they ended up looking like penis heads. then my solutions was to pour mor chocolate on top so then there was a little nipple on top of each and they turned into breats... now i just throw them in and cover them all up. works so much better.

my little boxes of goodies for the neighbors...

these boxes are too cute. i found them marked down at the craft store...they are martha stewart christmas boxes. i have extra so am going to use them for valentines day...

my fridge getting full with treat boxes...notice the tonic water in the back..it's almost gone...must get to store today to replenish supply... my "emergency kit" for the storm tonight!


thankfully, we are getting out today... visit with family, a little lunch, a little shopping, a little walk to deliver goodies, mabye a geocache or two. all before the next storm heads in later today.
can't believe that Christmas is 5 days! this year has just flown by...

have a great weekend whatever you are up too!

Friday, December 19, 2008

My Snow Day... A Report by Frita

What does one do when they are home on a cozy snow day? Clean out the junk drawer of course...
And the spice cupboard...

How else does one determine that they have 5 bottles of cloves? (In my defense...my m-i-l brings things over when she babysits and shoves them in my cupboards)

A nicely organized shelf...

Lots of baking... first time i made biscotti and it was super easy. I think I will dunk a side of these in chocolate because they are a little bland.

Dough made for today...Ina Garten's jam thumbprints.

Buckeye balls to be rolled in chocolate today...

A little wine to help take the edge off... stuck inside with a 5 year old that hasn't had school all week? Yup, gonna have to get to the store to buy a little more wine.

Lot's of this in between sledding brakes...

My little helper and her sassy new haircut...

enjoying our pretty tree...


More of the same today. I'm hoping to be able to get out sometime between today and tomorrow before round 3 hits. Next week it warms up and we should all be able to get out and about again...we hope...because we are all going a little crazy...

Thursday, December 18, 2008

December Storm 2008...cue the ominous music

I haven't ventured out yet to take any pictures so this is courtesy google images...

The weatherman predicted it... just about 24 hours late is all. Wednesday night and Thursday morning were to be the days of the continued "December Storm 2008!!!" All the schools were closed for fear of having trapped kiddos mid-day... visions of school buses sliding off the road... you know how the news can get you wound up. So no school and NO SNOW! Thankfully, I didn't have to call in sick anywhere to stay home with N but I know lots of people who did and they weren't happy. I guess we're a hard bunch to please because if they hadn't closed the schools and it did snow and kids were stuck, then there would be hell to pay as well. What can you do?

So about 4:00 yesterday afternoon it finally did hit and it hasn't let up. Life has come to a standstill around these parts. People in the Pacific NW just don't know how to get around in it. If this is an indication of how this winter is going to proceed, I think we all need to learn pretty quickly. Life can't cease to happen just because it snows... Thankfully, there has been a 2 day break from snow and ice and I was able to get out and finish Christmas stuff, grocery shop, etc.

I lived in Estonia while in the Peace Corps and it snowed there all winter. People were out and about and life continued on. I think the difference here is we have lots of steep hills in the Seattle area and, out here in the burbs, our resources are really spread out. You can't walk easily to schools and other things that you need.

Has anyone heard of a winter thunderstorm? I hadn't until last night... it's pretty rare. Apparently just like regular thunderstorm but with snow. We had one last night. There was lots of noise and flashes of light. I didn't hear it but my sis further south in Seattle did.

My daughter hasn't been to school all week between late starts at school and preschool being cancelled. I'm sure she won't tomorrow so she is having a nice long Chirstmas break. I'm thankful that daddy is home today. Mama is running out of things to do to entertain...plus I need to finish my baking.

Hoping SSG, Predo and all of the rest of you in this as well are safe.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Cozy Day

It snowed... I have never seen my daughter so motivated to get out of bed and get dressed...sick and all. First words out of her nasally, scratchy little voice were "did it snow?" and pitter patter down the hall she ran to the window to check. She ran back in and started pulling off her clothes and yelling about her snow suit. This is the girl that I have to ask at least 10 times before I have to start yelling in the morning to get dressed. A morning person she is not...that is unless it snows...









Signs of the season at our house... SSG this is for you. This is the star that Annette gave us at Les Mas... I miss France!

I love these deocrations... Bob's great grandma passed away about a year and half ago. She was 98 years old. She had amassed years and years worth of decorations and these are a few that were passed along to my honey. They are very sweet.


Ok... I just had to post this. Does anyone else think peanut butter and cheese is a tasty treat? What about peanut butter and ham? My husband does... Yuck is what I say! :o)

Plan for the day???

Hope you have a cozy day too...!