Hood and Lemons

I just had to get some pictures of Emma with her hood up. I guess I'm partial, but I think she's so cute and funny. She runs around the house like a hooligan, getting into everything, making us laugh. I just can't help but smile when I look at her. Just wanted to share.

The other night, I made a lemon tart. The girls wanted to help, so I let them get out lemons from the fridge. They both just started rolling them around. MJ had seen Rachel Ray do this before (It gets the juices flowing.) Emma was doing it too. She keep looking at her lemon, and did try taking a bite. It was the funniest thing to watch them roll these lemons around.

Playdoh

The girls wanted to play with Playdoh the other day--okay, Mackenzie wanted to play Playdoh, and Emma wants to do everything Mackenzie does. They had a lot of fun. It was the first time Emma had played with it, and she did remarkably well. I was afraid she'd try to eat it, but she never did. She rolled it, patted it, tried to cut it with a cookie cutter and smooshed it around in her hands. She was quite animated and talked the whole time. Mackenzie also talked the whole time she played, explaining she owned a bakery and she was baking pastries and good treats. She said she'd been baking for 72 years. I asked how old she was and she replied, "Seven." So, I said wow, you were baking before you were born! She just laughed and said, well maybe it had been in her family for 72 years. She went on and on about her family, what they liked to do. Kept asking what kind of pastries I liked. She described what she was making, why she was doing it that way, what filling she used in them. I think she made strawberry filled pastry cookies or something like that. 
She'd use the pan to flatten them out. Then, say the emblem that showed up (Pampered Chef) was the design of the store and it stamped them on her cookies. She'd put them in the pan, as that was the cookie tray, then she'd bake them. She had a great time. Definitely worked the imagination today. 

Our silly Emma

After Emma's nap the other day, she had to bring all of her blankets with her. Then, she trucked back into the bedroom and came back with two Care Bears. She showed them to Josh, and was pointing and making lots of noise. I got her pose a little for some pictures, but she just wanted to be silly. She thought it was funny to make faces at the camera. When she went into the kitchen I continued taking some pictures. She walked over to the fridge and stood there for me. She remembered I had taken pictures of her and Mackenzie there a few times. Looks like we have two little posers now!

More Swimming

I finally got some pictures of Mackenzie at the pool this week. She's been doing really well, putting her head under water, learning to float on her front and back and hold herself up, and jumping off the board. When she's told to hold her breath so she can float, she keeps her mouth open, so we're working on that. I'm afraid she's going swallow a big gulp of water! She did do better tonight. We just have three more days this week. I think she'll be sad to be done because she's had so much fun. It's neat to watch her progress too.

Parenting book

I have started another book, and feel I must share it with others. I spotted it the other day in Wal-mart and picked it up. I'm so glad I did, and I'm only on Chapter 3! It's called Parenting by The Book, Biblical Wisdom for Raising Your Child by John Rosemond. There is also a study guide included, so it could be used for a group study. You can check it out at www.parentingbythebook.com. 

Good Reads

I've been meaning to share about the books I've read the last couple months. I recommend them all. I found the women shared so much about their faith and their walk with God. They were inspirational in their own ways. I really needed to hear a lot of what they talked about, and hope to use some of their example in my own journey to a deeper relationship with God. You can read more about any of these on Amazon or other sites. I just wanted to pass along that they have been really easy, fast reads, and I found them all with great take-home messages.

It's All About Him-Finding the Love of My Life by Denise Jackson--I actually won this book from the Christian radio station I listen to. It came to me at just the right time. It's written by country singer Alan Jackson's wife, Denise. They spent some time separated, and the book talks a lot about once she truly gave herself and her situation over to God, she knew she would be fine, whether they were able to reconcile or not. God was who she needed more than anyone.

Don't Bet Against Me by Deanna Favre--Josh got this for me for my birthday. Football player Brett Favre's wife, Deanna, writes about dealing with many losses, her and Brett's struggles, her faith, and battling and surviving breast cancer.

Inside My Heart, Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose by Robin McGraw-Another gift from my hubby. Written by Dr. Phil's wife. This one was interesting. Talked a lot about how we do have the choice to make our lives what we want them to be, whatever our dreams are. 

Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs--This is the biggest must-read book for married couples and those thinking they might get married. My friends and I did a study with it awhile back. I need to read it again too. It was such a "ahah" moment when I started reading it. It talks about the love women desire and the respect men need. And the great thing is, it offers real tips on how to show  your spouse love and/or respect. I can't say enough about this awesome book. It explains so much about men and women, and their relationship to each other. And it's based on Biblical wisdom. 

Wednesday

The week has gone by so fast. I have a magazine issue due this week, so I really would like time to stand still right about now. MJ has her second week of swimming lessons. They spent a lot of time in the big pool last night. She did really well. At the end of class, the instructor had the kids float by themselves on their tummies and backs. She was able to hold herself up for a little bit. The girls played at Lisa's yesterday so I could write, so that was nice. They had fun playing with friends. Emma seems to have a little bug, so she feels a little under the weather. We've been lucky to not be too sick this winter, so I hope this passes quickly. We had music class on Monday, then MJ and I went to the fabric store to pick out material for a new quilt for her bedroom. She was excited to find pink, purple and red fabric. She's been talking about these colors for about a year now, so we're going to give it a try. I'm looking forward to a new project. I haven't sewn in quite awhile, and it will be fun to do it together. We'll let you know how it turns out. 

Planet Kid

On Saturday, the girls and I went to a birthday party for Carla's nephew Austin. It was at Planet Kid, an indoor playground in Boise. They had so much fun in the slides, mazes and balls. We'll definitely have to go back there again.

Wild Hair

The other day when Emma woke up from her nap, she had the craziest hair do. I just had to get some pics. I told her she had crazy hair, and she pointed to it. She spotted this apple that Mackenzie had set down, and just started going to town on it. She ate it right down to the core.

Love to bake

Last Wednesday after story hour at the Library we can home and bake a batch of Valentine cookies for friends and family. Mackenzie
also helped me bake a strawberry cake for Valentine's Day. Both the girls enjoyed helping cut out the cookies, although baking sugar cookies is much harder with Emma than making pretzels. I don't know why I didn't think to just giver her some dough. She kept trying to use the cookie cutter and kept cutting all over the dough. Not so good. Lesson learned: give the kid a dough ball. That night we delivered them after swimming lessons. On Thursday, the girls went to a basketball game with M&C to watch Michelle dance, then spent the night. They had a blast. I guess Matt was kind of a chick magnet when he walked in with MJ and Emma in his arms. Josh and I did get our quiet evening together, which we really appreciated. 

Valentine pics

Here are some pictures I took of the girls before Valentine's Day. I had high hopes for getting cards made and sent, but without a computer it didn't happen. Now, we're back in gear, so I'll start posting more pics. Seems like we must be doing a lot as the days go by so quickly. Quicker than I'd like. 

Another blog

Thanks go to my friend Crystal who captured my girls doing what they do on Monday when she watched them. You can see a video of Mackenzie and pictures of Emma on her blog at www.herzbergs.blogspot.com.

Happy Valentine's Day

This morning when Mackenzie woke up, she ran into our bedroom and greeted us with a Happy Valentine's Day! We made pink pancakes for breakfast, which she thought were delightful. She enjoyed putting stickers in her "Fancy Nancy" book from Gramma Jo and Granddad Brock. We also baked a strawberry cake for tonight. After swimming lessons tonight, the girls will get to spend some time with Mark, Carla and the kids. I'm trying a new recipe Josh picked out, and we'll probably watch a movie too. I'm looking forward to some much needed time with my hubby!

Hope you all know we're thinking of you and are sending our love out on this day and everyday!

Swimming Lessons

Mackenzie started swimming lessons on Tuesday. She loves them and did really well. It makes me so proud to watch her. She just hopped right in the pool and listened to the teacher. She put her head under, blew bubbles and floated on her back without any hesitation. I feel excited and nervous at the same time, thinking how much she is growing up. As she walked to the end of the pool to jump in to the instructor, she looked so little. Yet, she's so grown up and come so far from last year. I can't wait to have the computer back to share some of the fun pictures. It's hard watching from the stands; you want to be there with your child, yet you also want them to take their independence and learn from it. I guess this is just the beginning of the letting go I'll have to do the next several years.

Domestic Divas

Yesterday, the girls and I rallied early (5 a.m.) to go to Nampa. They stayed with our friends Crystal, Blayse and Houstyn while Stephanie and I redid Katrina's master bathroom. We had forgotten her birthday last month (None of the boys called her that day!) so we girls thought we better do something big. We both love designing, decorating and home improvement, so this was going to be fun for us too. Stephanie and Jared have done a lot of neat projects in their house, including remodeling two bathrooms, so she really knows what to do. I'd say I'm her apprentice. She's the expert on this stuff. We got to Katrina's house after she went to work and our goal was to finish and surprise her with dinner when she got home. Hopefully I can get the before and after pictures to post later. Just imagine gray carpet in the main part and old linoleum around the toilet. The walls were plain white. We pulled up the carpet and discovered that their was a 1/2 inch gap from that floor to where the toilet was. Solution: install a subfloor. We had kind of thought we might have to do this, but we were hoping for the best. It was actually a boost in our confidence level that we had to do it. We took measurements and headed to Home Depot. They made three cuts for us. We did have to go knock on the neighbors door two times to ask him to cut out a few spots for us. In all our excitement, we forgot about the vent hole! And Stephanie's handsaw was just not going to do the trick. Luckily, the neighbor was home, in the construction business and didn't mind helping us. After we put the floor down, I painted half the room a sage green color to match Katrina's new bedding. Stephanie applied a fresh coat of cream to the other part. We had to get the girls at 3 p.m. and bring them back to the house. But, Zeke and Katrina's boyfriend, Barth, we there to help us with them. They actually were pretty good help. We worked on the floor, applying peel and stick tiles. They look like real stone and turned out really neat. Emma would see us peel of the paper and press down on the floor, so she would press down too. MJ gathered up all the trash. Unfortunately, we didn't make our 6 p.m. deadline, as Katrina arrived home before we were done. But, we finished almost all the floor boards and had the towels and accessories in place. She was really surprised with the whole project. All the guys were there and we enjoyed a great enchilada dinner afterwards. It was an exhausting day, but great fun for Steph and I.

Sunday

On Sunday, the girls and I went to Mass in Ontario, then they went up to Mark and Carla's that afternoon to hang out. I'm helping plan a regional event for my professional group in May, so my friend Kim and I went to do some wine tasting. The group will tour different aspects of Idaho agriculture, including mint production and a distillery, the sugar beet processing plant and a couple vineyards. We'll be having dinner at the last one, so we needed to check things out and start finalizing plans. As fast as this year has gone so far, May will be here before we know it.I'd never done a wine tasting before so it was kind of fun. I'm definitely not a wine expert, and I like my wine on the sweet side. But I was able to try some different kinds, and was surprised at what I did like. It really varies from vineyard to vineyard. Josh and Jared went to Boise to watch the BSU Broncos in a wrestling meet. Joe and Zeke went with them, and I think they had a good afternoon of brotherly bonding. It made the weekend seem rather short since we had activities on both days. Looking forward to another week. Hopefully I get lots done!

Busy times

So sorry it's been awhile since I posted. On Thursday, the girls and I went for a playdate. It was fun for them as they got to play with Madison, Ellie, and Austin, and Hannah and Rachel. I also enjoyed catching up with friends Lisa and Christi. On Friday, Josh went to Twin Falls for a bull sale, and I took the girls to his Mom's to stay the night. I drove them over to her work so she could show them off to her friends there. She's a very proud Nana. Mackenzie talked non-stop to the ladies, and Emma ran around like a hulagan. They thought it was great. On Saturday, I set-up my Longaberger booth at the Wine and Chocolate Affaire in Ontario. It is an event put on the the Soroptismist International chapter in this area, and benefits women and children's organizations. My friend and Creative Memories consultant, Dawn, was there, so we enjoyed catching up with each other. I was also able to get pictures put in a scrapbook while I was waiting for things to start. That was a good feeling. I just finished our 2007 family album, but still have so many unfinished projects. Hopefully this blog will keep memories fresh in my mind until I can get them scrapbooked. I'm also sorry for the lack of pictures lately. My mac is getting fixed, so I have no place to put the pictures until it returns.

Wednesday

The girls and I went to the library this morning for story hour. We hadn't been since December, so it was nice to get back there. The girls enjoy the stories, songs, crafts and snacks. I enjoy visiting with other moms and watching them interact with their peers. We came home with a large bag of books to read this week. Mackenzie really loves princess and fairy books right now. I also picked out a few that are more about real events that happened, like about the pioneers moving out West. We could all use a brush-up on history now and then. Plus, when written as a children's story book, it seems much more interesting. At least, that's my hope. I worked on cleaning the office yesterday, which was a good feeling, but there still seems so much more to do. This afternoon I'm trying to work on bookwork. Ugh! Well, better get to it while Emma's down for a nap.

Snow hill

We're getting snow storms about every two days now. It's clear for awhile, then more snow. This morning, MJ decided she wanted to play in it again. She got all bundled up and trekked out there. She's still outside, having a blast. Right now, she's scooping snow into a bucket. After she gets it filled up, she asks Josh to dump it for her. She told us she's trying to clear out the snow, so Emma doesn't fall when she walks out there. The drifts are about up to her waist. Emma's just standing at the window watching. I'm glad she's having fun and getting some fresh air. She thought it was pretty fun climbing the hills that are almost as high as our fence. Josh helped her slide down one of them...

Cheerios

Here's our little Cheerios mishap from the other day.

Off to the races

 

Here are my crazy girls racing through the house!

Our weekend

On Saturday, the girls and I headed to Nampa. They stayed with their Nana, and I helped Stephanie refinish some furniture. It seemed like forever since we had hung out and caught up with each other. I was craving some kind of project, so I was glad for the chance to help her out. The girls enjoyed their day too. They always have fun with Josh's Mom. It started off to be a beautiful day, but by 5:00 the snow was falling again. Josh was anxious for us to get home, and with good reason. The wind was really bad at the ranch and had drifted our driveway closed. I called him when I turned onto Elmore so he could scoop out a path for us. We have this tunnel now on either side of the road. The wind howled all night, and it was still snowing Sunday morning. It finally started to clear around noon, so we headed to Nampa for a Superbowl Party at Jared and Stephanie's. Teryn, Crystal, Blayse and Houstyn were there, so the girls had fun playing with the boys. Mackenzie watched about half the game, then we put in a movie for all the kids. She would come running out to see what was happening any time she'd hear us cheer. She kept telling everyone she was cheering for the Giants. She'd also tell them her favorite team was still the Broncos, but she would be cheering for the Giants that game. The other day she asked me who our favorite football player who we watched was. I kept guessing, and finally she said, "No, it's Uncle Zeke!" Later she asked me who our favorite team was, and again I didn't guess right. She picked Zeke's team, the Bulldogs. I think it's neat that as much as we talk about the Wildcats, Boise State and Denver, she still thinks watching Zeke's high school team play last fall was the best.

For the big game, Josh found a new brownie recipe he wanted me to try. The girls and I made them the night before. It's always fun cooking with them. We made a boxed brownie mix and put half the batter in a 9 X 13 pan. Then, we broke up Hershey Symphony bars and laid them out over the batter. Emma even helped. She would put one down, and then want to pick it back up. I also had to watch her close because she'd take a bite of one then want to put it down. After the candy bar layer, we put the rest of the batter down, then baked them according to the box. I probably can't even count it as a real recipe, it was so easy. I think they were a big hit at the party. Since we were all cheering for the Giants, it turned out to be a great game for us. Luckily, we woke up this morning to a clear day. Josh is getting really tired of the snow. I don't blame him. We have several mounds piled up around the driveway. I'm going to be optimistic and think about all the green grass we'll have this spring! :) Well, I better get to my day. Emma's trying to stick Cheerios in her ear...