Can I do it by myself?

Can I do it by myself and I can do it! Are phrases that we hear quite often around our house. Usually they come from Zj and usually the requests refer to scissors and glue. Tonight it was K's turn to "Can I do it by myself?"
By the way Z was watching K make her lunch I'm sure Z will want to make her own lunch tomorrow. And yes, given the choice, Kayleigh would wear spaghetti straps and skirts 24/7. Boy, I can't wait until the Summer. Everyday it's: Can I wear short sleeves, are those capris, where's my skirt, can we go swimming? She is in so many ways her father's daughter.

She was pretty proud of herself and so were we!

just to pass some time...

This week has been totally upside down. Thank goodness it's almost over. This morning Kayleigh suprised us with a sick day. Acutally, I thought this day would have came sooner; she's had breakdown after breakdown, she slept in yesterday, and had a crying fit with a few of her friends at recess.

Zoe and I had a nice day out and about yesterday. The electricity was cut off in the neighborhood for a good part of the day so we had to keep busy somehow. (Our condo can be a bit cave-ish with out lights.) After a quick trip to the dentist we ate brunch then headed to Imagination Aveune. I was suprised how well she did the entire day. She even made it through 2 trips to the grocery store and 2 trips to pick up Kayleigh from school (I had a brain fart and forgot she had jump rope after school).

Last Sunday we set out to go on a hike in search of petroglyphs. We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up hiking Cloudview instead. It wasn't as kid friendly as we had wanted, but the kids were great troops. What are the chances they will always want to go hiking with us?

Chocolate Chunk Bread Puddings

Valentine's Day wouldn't be complete without a little chocolate. These chocolate bread puddings were a whole lotta good. I followed the recipe to a tee and it was good, but next time I will add more Kahlua. The recipe also says to top with "fat-free frozen whipped topping." Eww. Not only does it taste bad, it's so bad for you! I topped ours with some vanilla fro yo.

Ziti with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Sauce

Mmmmmm. This pasta was pretty tastey and a snap to make. Some grilled chicken would make this a great main dish. Thanks Cooking Light for the recipe.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know what it looks like. That I bought special dishes for Valentines day. They are actually Christmas plates that I picked up for 25 cents each and the ramikens were around the same price.

I love Valentine's day! It's a great excuse to shower the people you love with extra love and eat decadent foods!

It's also a day that my husband really out does himself with gifts. He's a great gift giver. This year my gift was a bright red (my favorite color) dutch oven! I'm over the moon about it! I've wanted one for years.

Our little darlings were tickled pink when I told them we would be dressing up for dinner- even daddy.

Look! Zoe made it through dinner and got dessert. I guess we have to have rib-eye and asparagus every night so she will eat. That kid loves herself some asparagus.

Cheers to Kayleigh! She is so sweet. At dinner she said, "Next year, I don't want to celebrate Valentine's Day with everyone that I know. Just you guys that I know." Meaning her family. After, she quickly added, "I wish Grandma was here celebrating her birthday with us." Little did she know that Gma and Pa were comming after dinner :)

Zoe's turn for a post

Sigh. A post on Zoe... We went through the terrible two's and now it seems we are going through the trying three's. Her and I just aren't on the same wave length most of the time. It takes us a while to figure each other out. She loves repetition and knowing excatly how the next thing is going to go. She has a really hard time adapting to changes. She freaks out and throws a fit if the things aren't the same. It's really hard for us to do anything extra during the day... We haven't been able to find other SAHM's with kids her age. It seems that most moms work... I was hoping to meet other SAHMs by enrolling Zoe in classes. We are on our 3rd class. Miss Zoe is the annoying kid in class. I hate to say it, but it's true. She whines, cries, throws fits, pouts.... But we keep going... I really wanted to enroll her in gymnastics or ballet like K was in, but the going rate for 4 classes a month is $75!!! That is so much money! Is it worth it? Hmmm. It's the great debate. And daycare?! YIKES. I would have to work full time to pay for part time daycare.

I'm going to buck up and check out a MOPS group. It's not really, how do I say it... my scene, but we will try it.

Sorry if I made Zoe sound horrible. She isn't! She's just Zoe... Loves sugary and salty foods. Doesn't eat dinner (even if she has little to eat during the day and I'm serving pizza for dinner), Loves to help in the kitchen and set the table. Says "oopsie" when something spills or gets dirty (its really cute). She has the best little giggle and gives the best hugs in the whole wide world. Looks up to her big sister. Enjoys coloring (in the lines), drawing stick people, spiders, the sun, her name, and letters H and I.

Sorry Zobug for not writing a glowing blog about ya, I've been trying... and so have you! ha!