Hello, Goodbye

Hello..... new carpet in basement! What a difference this makes. Just like our dining room light fixture that we recently updated - why didn't we do this years ago? The basement is now a nice play area for Ani. She's good at going up and down the stairs too.

Goodbye.... beautiful, shiny Guerciotti! Probably Monte's most attractive, but least ridden bicycle. I think he was sad to let this one go but does feel good with the money he got for his investment.

Hello..... new family-owned, bilingual day care for Ani! She starts March 1. It's closer to our home, less expensive than our current day care, and a very environmentally- and organic-friendly operation. They do cloth diapers and offer locally-grown food that's prepared on-site.

Goodbye.... 4-day weekends for me. Switching day cares also means a change in my work week from T,W,Th to M,W,Th in order to adhere to the school's policy of having a Mon or Fri in your schedule if your child only attends part-time.

Twang Twang

Ani plays with a guitar that is actually just a piece of paper printed on foam core and die cut (thanks, Thorson!). In one of her Sesame Street books, Grover is playing his guitar and it goes "Twang Twang". So instead of saying "guitar", she says "twang twang".

Here's a clip of Ani and Meggie playing the twang twang.

Brownie Cutters

Who knew that you could successfully use cookie cutters on a pan of brownies? I wanted to make some little Valentine's treats for Ani's classmates but didn't have a lot of time. (Not a big fan of V-day as it is, so I kept thinking I had all weekend to make something, when in fact V-day is Sunday) I knew there was a box of brownie mix at home and I figured if I made cut them in heart shapes and made a cute little tag, it would suffice. So here's my creation.

Girls Weekend

One of my best girlfriends, Karen, and I live about 10 hours apart - she's down near St. Louis. In the past, we've flown to see each other, but now since we both have kids, it's a little harder to do that. So last weekend, we decided to meet in our hometown for a little girls weekend along with our 3 other good friends from high school.

We brought the kids back for a play date at Ann's house and then enjoyed a nice pedicure (even though it's not sandal weather yet, it felt nice!), dinner and drinks. Girl time with these girls is always the best! And of course, I got to see some of the girls in my family too - my mom, sister, niece and sister-in-law.

Ani, Meggie, me

Grandma reading to Ani

Lovely pedis

Tug-of-war with Addy.... Mine! Mine!

MiCayla and Ani

The two oldest kids, Austin and Lexi. They were going to a "party" upstairs with Daddy because they wanted to get away from the littlier ones, I think

Shadow

I didn't hear, but apparently the groundhog did indeed see his shadow last week. 6 more weeks of winter for sure.