Valentine's Day and Showshoeing

We had a good Valentine's Day.  The kids enjoyed making Valentines for our family and Kimball was more than thrilled with his Valentine party at preschool.  It brought back memories to see him looking through all of his Valentines.  He was so excited about each one and had to tell me who they were all from.

We always try to make Valentine's Day a family holiday and not just a couple holiday.  The kids were so excited about their pending presents that we opted to open the Valentine gifts before dinner.  I love that the kids are happy and content with gifts that don't cost a lot of money.  Hopefully they are learning that we can express our love for each other through small gifts and homemade Valentines instead of having to spend a ton of money so we look like we love each other.  

We had a nice dinner and then I made a new cake recipe for dessert.  It was a dark chocolate cake with a ganache frosting.  It was really good and it is always nice to have the intense chocolate flavor of ganache.  

Last week Joseph was on overnight call so during the day he and Kimball went snowshoeing together.  Kimball was SO excited to go snowshoeing with Joseph.  Kimball loves his dad and since Kimball knows Joseph thinks snowshoeing is awesome Kimball naturally thinks it is as well.  Joseph said Kimball was a "natural" when it came to walking in the snowshoes. They did a mile loop together and had a lot of fun.

Kimball was a little cold so Joseph let Kimball wear
his balaclava (hat) to help Kimball stay warm.
He is smiling underneath.

Snow Day

Friday Kimball had a snow day at preschool.  About 3 inches of snow had fallen overnight, but for Syracuse that isn't a big deal.  We were in for a surprised when we pulled into the EMPTY parking lot at preschool.  Joseph used his phone to verify that school had been canceled and then we tried to smooth things over with a VERY disappointed Kimball. 

To help smooth everything over, I had the kids do a groundhog craft since Saturday was Groundhog's Day.

Putting together their groundhogs.  You can see the snow out the window.

Finished product.  At least here the groundhog did not see his shadow.

Last weekend we took the kids sledding.  We thought for sure that Kimball would be scared and Rebecah would be excited but it was the exact opposite.  Kimball loved sledding and he had great form and went really far.  Rebecah did one run with me and we both ended up covered in snow spray so she wasn't willing to make anymore runs on the sled.

Joseph and Kimball sledding.  Rebecah in the background waiting to go to the car.

It took all week, but we were finally able to persuade Rebecah to give sledding another shot.  I stayed home because I was busy in the kitchen, but Joseph took both kids.  Rebecah did better this time, but still ended up in the car after an hour.  After sledding, Kimball and Joseph went out to the mounds of snow in the parking lot of our apartment and they dug a snow tunnel.  They had a great time.

Rebecah didn't help but still wanted to be pictured.

The tunnel went the entire length of the mound which was
probably 10 feet long.  Pretty impressive. 

We haven't had as much snow as we hoped or expected, but we are making the most of the snow we do have.

Cooking with Kimball

I hope it comes as no surprise that I enjoy cooking.  Since we are currently living in an apartment that comes with 3 flat screen TVs and cable, I admit to watching a few Food Network shows once or twice a week.  The kids love it when I have one of these lazy afternoons because they like to watch with me and they think it is great fun that I'm watching TV. 

Today we watched 2 shows and when I told the kids it was time to turn the TV off, Kimball told me we needed to go cook something...a dessert.  I was on board instantly so we decided on cranberry nut dessert since it was a dessert that could be eaten warm or cold and it was already 3:30.  I didn't have any nuts so I decided to substitute 1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate for the nuts and it was a brilliant idea.  It was SO yummy.  

Kimball helping with the chopped cranberries.

Rebecah was in on the action too.

Ready for the oven.

After we got the dessert in the oven the kids proceeded to continue their cooking at the toy kitchen in the living room.  They played so nicely together.  I love it when they do that!

The finished product.  Not the best presentation, but it was delish.

                           

Rebecah's 3rd Birthday

Today we celebrated Rebecah's 3rd birthday.  She has been very excited for her birthday.  She never really told us what she wanted for presents so we bought things that we thought she would like.  I made a "Happy Birthday" banner since our other one is in storage.  I thought I had brought it with us to the apartment, but I couldn't find it the night before her birthday when I went to decorate so at the last minute I threw a new one together.

We are so blessed to have Rebecah as a part of our family.  She is spunky and has an infectious smile.  People always comment on her smile.  She gives great hugs and she is always willing to help in the kitchen, do chores or play with us.  We can't imagine our family without her.

Here are some pictures of Rebecah's special day.

Standing under her banner with her presents.

Here she is hugging Daddy's Ricky Raccoon.

For breakfast I gave Rebecah a few choices and she chose muffins.  I made blueberry yogurt muffins with an orange glaze and I tinted it blue at her request.

Singing at breakfast.

Blowing out her breakfast candle.

Kimball went to preschool in the morning and Rebecah enjoyed helping with her cake, playing legos and hitting the balloons around.  

Kimball told me on the way home from Preschool that he wanted to make a card for Rebecah; he only needed a plain piece of paper.  I gave him the paper and he did a good job.  I thought it was so sweet that he wanted to make a card for Rebecah to help her feel special.

Dear Rebecah, Happy Birthday Love Kimball.  The bottom says "Look, Look" so she would turn it over.

On the back of Kimball's card he traced Lego mini-figure shapes and then colored them.  How sweet!

Present Time!

Starting with her cards.

Doll feeding set.

                           

Feeding Jenna, her Christmas doll.

Next Present.

Fur Real Dog to go with her Fur Real cat.

Opening her Raspberry Torte play dress.

So excited for her new dress!

Dress up shoes.

Dressed up and looking like a Princess.

For Rebecah's birthday dinner she has been very consistent over the last month when I would ask.  She always told me she wanted saucy onion meatball hoagies and a blue cake.  I tried my best to give her a blue cake.  I used a lot of food coloring!  It was a french vanilla cake and frosting.  Rebecah was very happy with her cake.

She also wanted a star on the top.

Listening to us sing to her.

Watching the flames.

Her blue cake...it is blue, but not bright blue.

BIG Bite!

Legos with Daddy

It has always been fun for me to see Joseph building Legos with Kimball, but it is even more heart warming to see him building Legos with Rebecah.  I love her excitement for Legos and how she basks in the Lego attention Joseph is giving her here.  Kimball was at preschool so Joseph took the opportunity to build with just Rebecah since he was home today.  She is so excited to have Legos of her very own.  

Joseph telling Rebecah the part he is working on.

Rebecah and Joseph discussing the creation.

Showing me the creation Rebecah and Joseph built.

The creation was our living room/dining room where we were eating Rebecah's blue birthday cake.

So proud of her legos!

Christmas 2012

We had a nice Christmas this year despite all of us suffering from colds and congestion.  At least we were all miserable together!

On Christmas Eve Joseph worked about 4 hours in the morning and was home with us the rest of the day.  We broke a little with Johnson family tradition and we didn't have seafood bisque for dinner.  We did have cheese, crackers and a spinach artichoke dip.  The kids didn't care for the cheese ball or dip, but they made up for it eating Christmas treats after our Christmas program. For our Christmas festivities we moved our small tree to the middle of the floor so we could have more room to enjoy the presents.  

Kimball and Rebecah enjoying their treats.

Kimball with scissors and glue stick in hand to finish the last day of The Best Christmas Gifts from the Friend magazine. 

 The kids had a first this year.  They woke up at 2:30 and thought it was time to open presents.  Since we were all sick Joseph and I were less than excited about the early morning wake up.  We made the kids go back to bed, yes we were party poopers, and once the kids finally fell back to sleep they slept until 7:30.

Santa did find us in Syracuse and he brought presents for everyone.  Kimball got a Transformers mask that makes sounds and Rebecah was given a Princess tent. He also left watches in the stockings.  Kimball has wanted a watch for a long time and Rebecah enjoys her new "bracelet".

Kimball modeling his new transformers helmet from Santa.  It makes wonderfully loud noises!

Kimball in a fighting stance.

Ninjago Pajamas

Kimball modeling his new Ninjago pajamas and Cars slippers.

More Legos for Christmas.

Rebecah emptying out her stocking from Santa in her tent from Santa.

Rebecah showing off her watch from Santa.

Joseph helping Rebecah with her new Hello, Kitty purse.

Rebecah's very own Lego set.  She was SO excited to have her own mini figure.

 Rebecah is always wanting to play with Kimball and his legos and he frequently would just tell her no.  Well, when she got her Legos Kimball was so excited about them despite the girl colors of bricks.  He asked if he could play with Rebecah's new Legos and she needed no prompting to say "NO!" without hesitation.

Playing with her new Legos.

Rebecah with her new Jenna doll.

Christmas dinner was so colorful this year and I didn't even plan it that way.  We were going to have a guest for Christmas, but when we all got colds we decided to postpone hosting a guest.  We did have ham, potatoes and gravy, asparagus, butternut squash, and cranberry salad.  For dessert we had a chocolate peanut butter chess pie.  We also had special "juice" at Kimball's request.  I mixed orange juice, cranberry juice and Sprite together.  I was glad dinner was colorful because it tasted a little off since I was sick.  It was much more enjoyable to eat the Christmas dinner leftovers because my tastes were returning to normal.

Christmas Dinner

We did get our wish for a White Christmas.  We got about 8 inches of snow the weekend before Christmas and then we got another foot two days after Christmas.  We are not without plenty of snow.  It is a good thing Joseph and I got snow boots for Christmas, we need them!