8

Today was all about Eight!

8 Family members.

 8 balloons.

8 dollar bills.

 An '8' cake.

Today Duncan turned 8!

He is my special,

crazy, 

imaginative,

energetic,

huggable 

boy.

The day was all about Duncan.

He picked pancakes for breakfast.

Indian food for our 'birthday lunch' out.

And crepes for dinner.

After Brian and I took him out for lunch, on the drive home he said to me:

"Mom, I must be the specialist boy ever! This is the best birthday!"

I was so glad.

He is the specialist boy ever, and I can't believe he's 8!

Happy Birthday Duncan!!!

President's Day...

Brian and the kids had the day off, and it was GORGEOUS outside.

We decided to go for a hike through the woods.

Wonderful time.

 As soon as we were inside the trees, the kids were off!

This is the environment they LOVE to be in!

 We really didn't hike too far.

We took our time and enjoyed everything we came across.

Stopping when the kids wanted to explore more of what was there.

 We came upon this field of tall grasses.

Which instantly became the Serengeti.

The girls were lions and tigers, and the boys sticks became guns.

 In the end we spent most of our time by a small creek.

 An endless supply of entertainment.

 I wish this was my back yard.

Wonderful afternoon!

Thank you President's Day!

Heart Day!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day!

Duncan said we should of called it 'Heart Day', because hearts were the them of the day!

First off it was the family in conversation hearts:

 Brian, Sara, Hayden, Ronan, Morgan, Duncan, Ashlyn, & Madelyn

Some of the 'hearts' were so spot on, I thought they made them just for us!

(If you know my family well, then you'll know which ones I'm talking about!)

 Next up came our fun heart plates for breakfast!

 And our traditional heart shaped biscuits.

I attempted to make a 'heart braid' in Morgan's hair this year.

 Didn't turn out as I hoped, but I promised her we'd have it down for next year!

Ronan came upstairs in a tie and suit coat:

 When I asked him why he was so dressed up, his response:

"It's Valentine's Day! Gotta look nice!"

This floored me, especially since he has NEVER worn that suit jacket to church (always claims it's too uncomfortable), and just getting a tie on him on Sunday is a trial!

Where did this come from???

For lunch, the girls and I had 'heart' sandwiches.

 And heart-shaped pizzas (with heart pepperoni's) for dinner!

(Thanks to Jeri & Maggie for the idea!)

Actually, I didn't have the pizza for dinner.

I came home from Duncan's fencing lesson to find that Brian had got me take out from my favorite restaurant! (We had talked of going out earlier, but this cold keeps slamming me)

He also showed up with my laptop (which was in for repairs)!

Yay!

We all finished the evening with our heart cake!

Definitely a Heart Day.

And a good one!

God Save the Queen!

Don't know if you were aware, but yesterday marked the 60th anniversary 

of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

While she was declared the Queen in Feb. 1952, her coronation didn't take place until June of the following year (June is a much better month to hold such a celebration anyway).

Only one other monarch has reigned for longer than Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years & 7 months. Personally I'm hoping Elizabeth sets a new record.

Anyway, with 2 British-born children, and parents who still hold a love of that beautiful country, we couldn't let the day go by un-celebrated!

 So, we hung our flag,

Sang God Save the Queen,

and Rule Britannia.

We made some of our favorite British foods for dinner.

Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings.

Roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, 

and of course a trifle! 

 We ate ourselves very full!

Yorkshire puddings have been a family favorite for years....yum!

 I even found some old Christmas crackers.

So we popped them and wore our party hats!

We talked of British monarchs of the past.

Historical places we visited.

Reminisced about the things and people we missed.

And just had a grand 'ole time celebrating the Queen's 60 years on the throne!

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Hair

I have been very lazy in recent years with doing my girls hair.

It's basically brushed down, or pulled back with a pony tail.

Anything to quickly get it out of their face, and then out the door.

Well.....I've been trying to spend more time and effort on it recently.

And since Morgan wants to try new things, Ashlyn is willing to do so as well!

Madelyn dosen't really care so much.

Anyway, here's something we've tried recently for curls:

It's called 'headband curls', and it was SO easy!

 I watched a tutorial here about it.

We just twisted the hair around the headband at night....

 And got cute curls the next day!

 I doesn't curl all the way up to the scalp (which I like-I always seem to end up with such tight curls when I  put sponge curlers in the girls hair, but I love the soft curls this makes).

We then put Ashlyn's hair up, and the curls cascaded down her back!

Morgan wanted her's down.

Honestly, the first night we tried this with Morgan's hair it didn't work.

Her hair was still a little wet, and since it is SO thick, it didn't dry at all that night!

So, we tried again with completely dry hair, and it worked lovely!

I've found this site: Cute girls hair styles, and we've had fun trying different do's!

It's winter, right?

We have been having such a warm winter this year, I'm loving it!

My kids will tell you they feel completely shorted by the lack of snow.

I however am not upset one single bit!

Here's how we've enjoyed the end of Jan/begining of Feb.:

 A picnic at the park.

 Pizza party on the deck.

 Playing, and playing, and playing out back!

 And jumping our hearts out!

Winter 2012 I love you!

Madelyn

I love this little girl.

She is a ball of energy.

She is as cute as can be, but has been testing my patience a lot this past month.

But, then we will have an afternoon full of dancing and silliness.....

                

                

                

She will show me her ballet (which she LOVES to do).

Giggle and laugh.

And wear her princess cape All. Day. Long.

And all is right in the world with this 2 year old.

Love her to pieces!