Happy Fat Tuesday

One of the yummiest days of the year, in my opinion, is Fastnacht Day. According to Pennsylvania Dutch folklore, the tradition of serving fastnachts - hearty, doughnut-like pastries - comes from the tradition of "using up the fat in the kitchen" before Lent. Today, thousands of the baked goods are deep-fried and served plain or with a sugar topping on the day before Ash Wednesday, also known as "Fat Tuesday."

I have been really trying hard to watch what I eat, and get into a good routine of exercising, but today - today, my friends, this is all going out the window. Every year, my boss brings in the best fastnachts I have ever eaten. I tried to be strong, but I just couldn't do it. When I caught a whiff of their lard-soaked yumminess, I just had to eat one ... or two. Mmmm... who cares if they are 1000 calories .. I'll make it up later. I prefer mine without the sugar, so technically, I am cutting calories ... right?

My Valentine's

Besides my hubby, I have two very special Valentine's in my life.

Owen - My Silly Valentine

This little man makes my heart sing. He is kind and generous, with a big heart. He has a one-of-a kind smile, and a twinkle in his eye. He loves to make you laugh, and gives the best hugs & kisses ever. I love you bubba!

Evan - My Snugly Valentine
I could sit and snuggle this little peanut all day long, and still not have enough. He is such a pleasant little guy with an awesome, happy personality. I love it when he gives me that big toothless smile when he hears my voice or sees me walk into the room. He lights my world. I love you my little snuggle buddy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since my parents had both of the boys on Saturday night, Jeremy and I decided to go out for a nice dinner together. We went to The Olive Garden and ate entirely too much! But it was so yummy! After dinner, we did some shopping at Target and BJ's, and then went home to watch My Sister's Keeper, which we rented. It was a good movie, and a great Valentine's Day (eve). It was so nice to have some time to ourselves with no kids to worry about.

Snow Fun

(Warning-Picture heavy post!)

I love the look of new-fallen snow. This is the view out our dining room window on Saturday morning, looking at our pine trees.

We were way overdue for a big snow in south central PA. The last big snow we had was way back in 2003. I have to admit, I was so excited when they started hinting at the possibility of a big snow storm. I guess I get that from my mom. Most people hate the snow, but my mom just can't contain her excitement, even when we just get a few inches. For me, I was just looking forward to being snowed in with my family for the weekend. It forced us to stay home and not make any plans for the weekend, which is a rarity for us. It was truly wonderful, and what a relaxing weekend we had as a result! The icing on the cake was the second 20-incher on the way for Wednesday! I could hardly contain myself!! Thank goodness my dad dropped off a snow blower for us to use. I don't think I'd have been nearly as excited for this snow if we had to shovel 3 feet of it the old-fashioned way :)

Owen's swingset on Saturday morning - the snow is up to the bottoms of the swings!

Jeremy clearing a spot for the dog to do his business :)

Owen & Bailey getting ready to go out and play!

Daddy & Owen


We have no hills in our neighborhood, so this is the best sledding we've got!


Evan's first time out in the snow. He wasn't sure what to think.


Owen's swingset Wednesday morning - the swing seats are completely covered & the snow is halfway up the slide. Amazing!


This was taken from inside our garage. I think there is 2 1/2 feet of snow here ...


I bet if we still had the Civic, the snow would completely have covered it. The CR-V sticks out a little bit :)

Owen sitting in the fort that Daddy dug out forhim


Owen & Daddy sledding down the snow pile in our front yard


My little snow buddy. It's hard to see, but his eyelashes are covered in snowflakes.

Of Rice and Evan ...

The 4-month mark is about when we decided to start Evan on some solid foods. He was showing all the signs of being ready, so we figured we'd give it a shot. We had decided that I was going to try my hand at making most of Evan's baby food for him. We first tried the traditional rice cereal, and he absolutely hated it. This happy, bubbly little baby turned into a screaming, rice-spitting little bugger. He tolerated a few spoonfuls, and then he was done. I thought maybe he would like the store-bought rice cereal better, so we tried that, but to no avail. The next choice was oatmeal. He seemed to tolerate that a little better than the rice, but still only swallowed about 1/3 of what I was giving him. Most of it came flying back out at me.


Finally, as a last resort, I started mixing in some fruit with the cereal. Much to my relief, he actually ate his cereal!!! So far, he loves apples, pears and bananas, and will eat either rice or oatmeal as long as one of these fruits is mixed in. We're going to work on peaches next. Then we'll move on to the veggies. I'm a little nervous because my little pumpkin seems to have a sweet tooth.


Owen has always been a great eater. He was never picky, and I can honestly say, I don't think that there is anything this child won't eat. I think we're going to have a picky eater on our hands with this little munchkin.

Bowling

We took Owen bowling for the first time this past weekend. He had a blast, and did pretty well for his first time.

Daddy showing Owen how to hold the bowling ball

Owen all smiles

Owen cracked us up with how he was rolling the ball. He did a great job!


The final score: Owen-66; Mommy-116; Daddy-171. He cheated!

Our cheerleader! He was so good and was content to sit in his car seat most of the time just watching all the action.