we had snow- real snow. A snow day in December!!!! Teachers love snow days!!! William loved the snow. I could not find my gloves so we did not play for long, but it was fun. I also got 100% completely caught up on my sewing- unbelieveable!!!! It is so nice to be busy, but will be so nice to have a break!

WDP showing the sign for cold.... "smart kid" :-)

Cutting the grass...not so smart , but equally as adorable
dear wyatt and gus, will and babyjack, playdate soon please.... love, wdp

ohhhh, so this is snow.....

It "snowed"...and by snowed I just mean there were a few flakes- but it was enough to get WDP super excited...which we needed because he had the throw ups Saturday afternoon and night. Anyone have tips for getting the smell out of your sofa? I've tried my Bissell Steam Clean Machine- better but it's still pretty bad. The cushion was outside most of yesterday...hmmmm He was such a trooper once he figured out what was going on he would walk to bathroom and puke- oh buddy! Talk about a sad, sad momma when you can't do anything but hug on him and tell him it's Ok....

He has started saying the funniest things. I pulled out my Fisher Price Nativity set and after we talked about some of the peices and I showed him Mary and said she was Jesus' mommy he took her, looked at her, then said "Mary need brush teeth or go to back yard"...what??? so we brushed Mary's teeth and then she was welcomed back into the manger....you can't even see her teeth! Who knows! Maybe I have a future dentst on my hands.... He still drinks milk out of a bottle- I know, I know , it's bad.... well he threw his bottle the other night during stories. I took it away and told him if he didn't want it I'd give it to another baby. He went ballistic- screaming, kicking...typical 2 year old behavior. I put him in his room, said night night and he continued to wail. Then 5 min later or so he came out told me the babies could have his cups, not his bottle...hmmmm, not exactly the response I expected....I may need to change my tactic on losing the bottle.....

My sweet little buddy ..he brought Mickey upstairs to "help mommy sew"- could he be any cuter???? He wanted to make a big train so we took all of the track and made a huge railroad going from the kitchen to the den. Lots of fun for a Friday night :-)

WDP loves birthday parties- "More birthday parties, cupcake" He associates cupcakes with birthday parties. It's so cute. We had one this weekend and it was so fun! My friend Melanie does the best kid parties. This was a county fair theme. I think I gained 5 pounds. Hotdogs, chili, nachos (with the yellow/orange cheap cheese- yum!) peanuts, a popcorn maker, apple pie, cotton candy, etc. So fun.... So yummy.... Pants won't button today...sigh.... They also had a bounce house- in the bonus room. Talk about a good time!!! I made whoopie pies to take....delicious!!! so easy!

Cookies

box cake mix...I used chocolate for this, red velvet for work on Monday

1/3 c oil

2 eggs

a little bit of water - 1 T or so...just so it's not sooo thick

Scoop out- I use a little ice cream disher- Bake at 350 for 7-8 min. Each cookie was exactly the same size! Perfect for stacking with icing in the middle!

Icing

1 stick real butter

1 box powder sugar

pinch kosher salt

1tsp vanilla

1 T milk- more or less depending on thickness

Mix well- really well. Put into an icing bag with a fat star tip. Swirl on cookie. Top with the other cookie. I refrigerated mine until the party so the icing would not squish out when you bite into it. Not at all to toot my own horn, but these were yummy.

OK- back to the party. She had the bounce house ....games - Pony races (stick horses)- WDP didn't do to well with these...everyone else loved it!

hay rides (husband on the mower)

Face paintings, Guess the number of pickles, etc. It was so cute. You had a card and had it "punched" after you completed a game and turned it in for "prizes" at the end. What a fun idea! Happy 2nd birthday sweet Joel!!!


On another, more personal note...WDP is now spending Sunday at 6pm until Tuesday at 6pm every week with his dad. I like the consistency- makes more sense than every other week, a mid week afternoon the weeks in between, etc....but it is so hard to be away from him. I am purposely trying to stay super busy. I miss my little buddy when he's gone. I find myself giggling at something he's said recently (this weekend he pulled out a pool noodle, held it like a megaphone and said "attention, attention" over and over). I can't wait to see him tonight!!!!

The Zoo...again

I know, I know- we go to the zoo a lot, but he loves it. The park/ playground there is awesome... We fed the birds this weekend and hit up the Tot Lot for some jumpy fun. Good times were had by all! And by all I mean my sweet friend Becky and her son :-)

Halloween gifts for teachers

I had such great plans ...and then the last Friday before Halloween was here and I was giftless. I know, I don't "have" to do something, but I am so lucky that WDP is at a school where everyone loves him and he is learning so much, and has so much fun. His teachers this year are awesome! We are lucky to have Miss megan back for a second year and now have Ms. Trisha too. He calls them "trisha-meg-ann"...as if they are just one person. Sometimes I'll tell him we're going to Target and he'll randomly ask "Where Trisha- meg-ann?" It amazes me that anyone can work with 2 year olds all day every day....so....I love them and wanted to do a little something. I decided on a Howdoesshe? caramel dipping sauce. You HAVE to make this. EASY. Delicious. Yum. Did I mention Easy??? What a great Christmas treat for a neighbor or friend. And seriously- 2 batches 5 cups of yumminess in about 30 minutes!!!! Less had I not been unloading the dishwasher and looking for my measuring cups (WDP had them in his kitchen)

Caramel dipping sauce

Put into saucepan

1/3 c butter

3/4 c brown sugar

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c corn syrup

Stir on medium until it boils (5 ish minutes). Remove from heat. Wait 5 min. Whisk in

2/3 c whipping cream...I used heavy...not sure what the difference is, but heavy was on sale, so heavy whipping cream it was!

1/2t vanilla...she doesn't say do this, but really, isn't everything a little better with vanilla????

Pour into cute leftover jam jars. Refrigerate. Use within 2 weeks...as if it will last that long. Makes 2 1/2 cups. It gets thicker as it gets cold. Yum!!!!

I almost made a bag out of candycorn fabric (thank you for talking me out of it MelMel)...which we think WDP may be allergic to- huge hives outbreak this week- but went for the cellophane bag and bow. I use these treat bags from target for everything. I need to buy them wholesale :-)

Enjoy...any good teacher gifts you can share with me a "new mom of a schooler" I would love you!!!!

slide hair

wdp and I were at the zoo again last weekend with Aya and her sweet daughter and she got a great shot of him with his slide hair- I love slide hair.... and the tongue in this one kills me :-)