SNOW!

My first kitchen fire...

Actually, it was my first microwave fire.  I put a small pizza box in the microwave thinking I'd just "warm it up" without dirtying a dish....

What I didn't realize is that the box was lined in some kind of metal/reflective highly flammable in the microwave material on the inside.

It only took about 10 seconds for it to ignite and luckily I was still standing right there.

Mmmmmm....the pizza is sure delish though. 

Be Mine, Valentine?

Valentine's Day this year was kind of strange...we weren't sure how much celebrating we were going to do...we planned a night out...changed it to a night in...changed it to nothing...then back to a night in...

Either way...we wanted to celebrate with Bella and then I got the great idea to google great Valentine Day ideas and found an awesome one on the Dating Diva site...

So...first, before we get to all the mushy stuff....

Bella created a "heart attack" for her daddy's office.  She designed all these hearts with crayons, glue and stickers...aren't they cute?!

 and wrote him a sign that says, "Daddy, Be my Valentine <3 Bella"

and left him some hot tamales...

I got someone from John's office to meet me there the evening before to put it all up so he would be surprised in the morning...he was really surprised. 

For storytime I had the kids make "kissing bandit" signs with little black bandit masks.  Bella took one of her kissing bandit "kisses" to Miss Christina for Valentine's day...it was super cute.

For Bella, Daddy gave her a sweet little card with Ballerina's on it and peeps.  She was totally strung out on sugar that day! 

And yes, she has no shirt on.  Why have clothes on when you don't have to?  Thats kind of the motto in our house. 

I made her a big card with hearts and give her a new set of markers.  She is such an arsty little girl...I knew she would love them and I was right!

I also got sweet cards from both Bella and John...then it was my turn for John...

The Dating Divas site gave me the great idea to do a "day long" Valentine's day project.  So, during the day John got one of his "5 senses" gifts that I planned out...

First thing after his PT in the morning he found this in the bathroom...Its for "shower time love notes" that we can leave back and forth to each other.  We quickly discovered that the writing on the mirror melts and runs when the steam from the shower hits it...but it was a sweet idea while it lasted.  ha ha ha.

Then, when he was done getting ready and headed out the door to work he found this in the car.  I had queued the CD player to start the song we consider "our song"...its "Better Together" by Jack Johnson.

When he got home these were on his nightstand...he loves the taste of orange dreamsicles...I thought he might like the smell of it too. 

After dinner I had these yummy chocolate covered strawberries ready and waiting...the things in the middle are my "nailed it" project...you know...the ones where you look in the photo and its an awesome looking dessert...in this case, Marshmallows dipped in chocolate and then in red hots...but in reality they come out looking like blobs with another blob on top?  Yeah...I totally nailed these!  ha ha ha...it didn't change how yummy they were.  :)

And last, but not least...an after dinner - pre-bed foot rub to relax.

Overall, I think it went off well...not too mushy and sentimental.  No high romance pressure for either of us...low budget and fun for me to create and make happen. 

Perfect Valentine's Day.

Daddy Daughter Dance

John's got another girl he loves...she's petite and blond and has a great sense of humor. 

Recently he asked her to a dance...She was sooooo excited and we planned out her dress and hair.  She chose the "twirly pink dress" and the "heart hairdo" for her special night out...

John doubled with our good friends that live next door...they got all snazzied up...or as Bella likes to say, "Isn't daddy hamse?"

We had to take one group photo before they left...don't they look fantastic together?!

I heard they had a great time...did the tango and twirls and lots of dips and running around like crazy 3 year olds do when they dance...

And at the end of the night they snuggled up together all tuckered out...

(now feel free to let out a collective "Awwwwwwww...." at how cute this picture is.)  :)

Hoping for things...

Yeah...so I'm still in update mode.  Thats what you get when you don't blog for almost two full months.  I've got a ton more stories to share...most of them in "travel log" format so I hope you don't get tooo bored. 

We are all still living in limbo land.  No finality on our move, no finality on the date, no finality on this baby's birth and really...its starting to wear on me and mine.  That means lots of highs and lots of lows in our house...its been a rough year so far....mostly on the adults.  We can't seem to get it together...we can't seem to connect the way we need to connect.  And having just passed the "married for six years" mark I am wondering if we aren't falling right into that 7-year itch cliche'?

But, its about hope, right?  So, as long as I can see some kind of light at the end of this long extremely dark tunnel then I can still consider myself a little bit of an optimist?  I do, however, think my smile muscles may have atrophied during the past few months...they are having a hard time getting back to their formerly spunky selves...

But, don't worry...things always seem to work out the way they are supposed to in the end...and in the spirit of keeping things bright and happy I'll pretty much just be sharing all those "highs" we've had...and since I currently am having a hard time saying anything witty or wonderful I'm going to let other people say it for me....

Vaseline

Vaseliiiine...Vaseline....all over her face. 

Peanut Butter...

Peanuuuuut...Peanut Butter...and Jelly!

Fasching Party

Ever heard of Mardi Gras?  Germany has their version of the Carnival season and its called Fasching...other than Oktoberfest its the one time of year I've seen the German people really let loose and get a little crazy.

This year Fasching starts on the 11th day of  January 11minutes after 11am and ends at the stroke of midnight on Shroud Tuesday - often referred to as Fat Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday).  Our little church playgroup had a Fasching party for the kids that we took Bella to.  And the general rule for all Fasching events is

1.  Dress up.  And to us that meant we had a little Dalmation puppy dog.

2.  Have fun with your friends.

3.  Eat lots of food. 

4.  Twirl around like a crazy kid whenever you feel like it.  (might have been the 4 chocolate covered marshmallows she ate...)

5.  Play with balloons to your heart's content.

6.  Play games like blow the feather with a straw...

7.  Let your dad wrap you up in toilet paper like a mummy.

8.  Then dance with him like crazy in all the toilet paper left on the ground...

9.  Insist all family photos include you upside down.

Thank goodness it only comes once per year.