Is it Spring yet???

No, apparently not, 

but at least it has warmed up to just barely past the freezing temperature level for the past few days!

Now if this nasty air inversion would just blow away!

This has been a LONG winter!

I'm looking forward to my Fri. night date night with my hubby though.
It will be our early Valentine's date.

A local church babysits special needs children and their siblings once each school semester,

so the parents can have a date night.  It is an awesome ministry!

Finding sitters for a special needs kiddo, busy 5-year old, and almost toddler  
takes so much organization and about breaks the bank---
so we just don't get  to do it often.   

But the kiddos manage to keep us entertained and busy!

Bubba is trying out walking a bit...

And we got an interesting phone call the other night from a 

classmate in Lil' Miss Mae's class...

Anyhow, HE wanted to talk to Lil' Miss Mae, not me! 

 (Keep in mind she's in 2nd grade...

and seriously....who is letting their kid call

members of the opposite sex on the phone in 

second grade?....if you are...Stop It!  

...it freaks the rest of us parents out!) 

But apparently, little Miss Mae has fallen in love...

and not just love, but.....

oh boy....we have our hands full!

I love how our girls are best friends

and love dressing alike and spending time together though.

Finding the matching outfits is harder now than

it was a couple of years ago, 

but the little girl twinsie look is still my favorite!

I really don't care for most of what I see for Lil' Miss Mae's age in stores now.

I will NOT have my seven year old dressing like she's 17! 

Come to think of it, won't be letting her look like that when's she's 17 either... 

And there is no shortage of music in our house...

 If you ever feel like your house is too quite,

just come hang out here for a couple of days..

we can solve that problem real quickly!

On the other hand, if you're hoping for a peaceful get-away, probably should head somewhere else!

Valentine's are in full swing here...

since there are almost almost 30 kids in

each of the girls' classes, 

homemade Valentines have to start early!

And the "dog-dog" as Bubba calls him, is not having a food shortage...

Yes, eating takes up a lot of our time....
I LOVE these new pouches of baby food though...so much easier!

Cooking takes up its fair share of time too...
with lots of helpful observation tips!

This marinated pork tenderloin paleo dish I pulled together turned out really tasty!

We're not on a true paleo diet though...

Our diet is: Eat what doesn't make us sick! It tends to work out quite well!

And Bubba is trying to learn to feed himself....
and yes, that is a "tattoo" on K-Rae's forehead in this next video...
she got it at MOPS that morning, supposedly that was the "craft" for the day...
not being real big tattoos, I can't actually say that was my favorite "craft" ever!  

 
Well, that's about it for this week! 

January....Brrrrr!

So how are we passing these COLD 

(I mean REALLY COLD)  

days of January....?

We're staying cool....

and jamming out....

here's Third Day's Newest Fan...

And by the way....I'm LOVING my new Third Day Miracle CD (Christmas gift from B&T---thank you!)

and dancing a little...or anytime there is any sort of music!

This little guy sure loves music!

Baking some yummy food....

and the biggest dilemma about baking,

 is deciding which apron to wear.....

We have quite an assortment of beautiful choices made by Grandma Tree....

and the cute little vests (the girls have deemed these their "dinosaur exploring" vests)

were made my Meemaw.

 These are my current favorite treat....

Pineapple-coconut muffins, oh yeah, they are gluten-free....

Send me a message in the comments if you want the muffin recipe.

Another yummy dish....veggie/sausage breakfast casserole...

Sorry....no recipe for that one...just a hodge-podge of what we had in our fridge...

and it turned out really yummy!

Bubba turned 10 mos. old a couple of weeks ago....my how these months have flown!

Little Miss Mae is like another little Mama to him....

 One night when it was time for him to go to sleep, 

so she went in his room, turned on his music CD, 

found him a little pillow and started reading him a Bible story....so sweet!

K-Rae is never one to let herself get bored...

even if she is stuck inside for weeks on end.

One day she set up a whole float and sink experiment:

She's great about playing with her little brother too,

and being stuck inside has its perks of more time to practice violin--

and Bubba is always a willing audience, especially if he is contained!

 And Bubba has acquired a new growling "skill..."

K-Rae may turn into a country singer...

.....or a T.V. news anchor...

and can I just say....I'm pretty sure this is why I'm crazy....

I dare anyone to try being stuck inside this many weeks

with all this cold weather and NOISY toys and not go crazy!!!! 

And I would just like to note along those lines, 

any toys making noise and/or requiring batteries, 

 will be returned to sender this coming year,
along with the child, until Mom regains some sanity!

Stay warm!!!!

A little slice of heaven on earth....

Shhhhhh...it is quiet in my house---for the first time in about 2 & 1/2 weeks actually.

Oh yeah, everyone is BACK to SCHOOL! 

Except this cute little munchkin, who happens to be a good little napper,

as long as he has his "Ellie" within reach.

And I'm sitting in the dining room, (really the only room that gets any sun,) 

and drinking coffee and eating chocolate, and lots and lots of chocolate.  

Yes, I told you....a little slice of heaven on earth! 
 Thank goodness, I'm not allergic to chocolate! 

And as I sit here, I'm contemplating turning our sunny dining room into my office...

...shhh...don't tell my hubby that!  I really do miss having an office space though!

Anyhow, where was I?  Oh yes, Christmas "vacation" 

was about a week too long, in my humble stay-at-home mom opinion.  

This "vacation" seemed like an awful lot of work!

I do get spoiled a bit by having a hubby for a teacher though...

who also happens to be home on school "vacations...."
he lets me sleep in......and I LOVE to sleep in!

But, I don't think being at our house on "vacations," feels much like a vacation to him either actually,
or anyone else that comes to visit for that matter---
keep that in mind before you book a stay at our B&B!!!! 
Such is the life with 3 kids,
who get up REALLY early, even if they go to bed REALLY late!
Little Miss Mae has quadriplegic ataxic cerebral palsy (for those of you interested)
  and requires LOTS of extra care, doctor's visits, therapies, case management type details...
and just basic planning for "normal" activities takes on a life of its own for her to participate.....
she sure does have a great sense of humor though!
And our 10 month old Bubba is trying his hardest to be an early walker to keep us with his sissies, 
and our 5-year-old K-Rae is going on 15-and-a-half most of the time...
Yes, they keep us on our toes....and in the E.R....but that's another story! 

Anyhow, I decided to do one little last day of vacation "hurrah" activity 
with the girlies yesterday. 
Sugar them up and send them back to school was sort of the theme, I think.  

That, and gingerbread houses!

I've been making gingerbread houses since I was about their age.....

But I have to say, this year's was (and still is, as I'm eating it now!) my favorite.

Pure chocolate....yeah baby!  

Gingerbread houses have taken on a new meaning at our house. 

We may have to make one once a month!

So I actually made the house from scratch...rather unexpectedly.  I thought I was buying this nice little kit that we could quickly assemble.  God bless Wal-Mart, I opened the box and it was pretty much just bags and bags of candy, including small disks of chocolate to melt, and pour in the molds and freeze and then remove from the molds without breaking.....and then assemble. 

I started this project Sunday night about 10:00.  Finished it about midnight....wondered if the girls would be disappointed they didn't get to actually assemble the house, only decorate it.  Found out I shouldn't have been worried about that at all, when K-Rae piped up as "we" were decorating the house, "Mom, you can finish decorating the house, we only like eating the candy!"  Fortunately, as much work as the silly project was, the chocolate was a kind that Little Miss Mae can actually eat, and that is hard to come by, with her 120+ food allergies, and the cotton candy, which was supposed to be "smoke" worked out well for her too.....but the house ended up with very little "smoke" when she got done with it!

Oh, and don't forget the marshmallow Gingerbread Peeps....

those were a fun addition to this year's endeavor...

and much quicker than making gingerbread men from scratch!

At least that part of the project was manageable!

I'm thinking Hershey bars and Peeps for next years project?!?!

And now everyone is back to school...

and has left this nice chocolate house here for Mama to munch on--
and lots and lots of laundry for me to put away!  

Glad I haven't made any New Year's Resolutions, yet!
But I think my main resolution will be to just keep hanging out with these little ones,
who are growing up way too fast, 
teaching them about God and Jesus and how to show love and kindness,
and enjoying being at home with them, 
for just as long as we can possibly pull it off!

 

.....more Christmas & family!

Yeah, so we celebrated Christmas quite awhile at our house!

Even though the decorations 

(well, the inside ones anyway!)

are put away, 

we're still reminiscing on our fun times with family.... 

My sis humored me by being my twinkie 

for after Christmas sale shopping....

one of my very favorite holiday festivities!

 The scarves were a Pinterest idea I created for gifts.

The loom was a gift for K-Rae from Santa.....

and it entertained Uncle Johnny quite well!

 

 This little man was sure happy to see his Auntie Sara and Grandma Tree again.

 Here he is posing in a little Christmas outfit from Auntie Kara....

 and playing with his Uncle Johnny...

 and he certainly does think his Auntie is awesome!

Ww enjoyed some pretty desert winter scenery

near Moab:

 Sunset photo credit to my hubby........who got some great photos.....

 ....while I was touring around with the munchkin 
(or hanging out in the van where it was a little warmer!)

Grandma tree and the girls near Balanced Rock...

And even though it was very brief, 

glad we got a quick visit with my grandparents.
Wish we got to see them more often....
miss you Nanny and Papa!

 And now, on we go about our days...

you should really get one of these new "unitards".....

they're all the new rage, at least at our house!

Christmas Morning at our house

Yes, it's a magical place! 

Gifts appear under the tree,

 and the stockings are filled by Santa, 

or St. Nick, as the girls have taken to calling him lately.

Here's a video clip  

(a LONG one....mostly for the aunties and grandparents' sake!!!!) 

of our Christmas morning:

Santa leaves such endearing notes, 

and obviously has too much time on his hands by the number of notes left...

Sammy was at such a fun age this Christmas.

 and reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas 

amongst the craziness of all the gifts.

 as did K-Rae:

The science kit was, and continues to be a hit with everyone.

But what I find ironic,  

is this video clip taken after all the gifts were opened:

 

...they really don't need all the "stuff."  

Their imaginations are WAY more fun than any of the toys!  

Kozy, however, always needs more treats and bones!

 and he must really like Reeses cups!

Maybe as much as I love Via...

And my doggie...who is probably asking,

 "Since when do I like snakes???"

And it's very exhausting being so cute!

Just ask these cute munchkins!

Happy 2013 everyone!