Valentine's Day

Its Valentine's Day. Can you feel the love?!!!

Last night while the kid's were sleeping I hung the heart "curtains" that I made for them last year. Emily had asked me a few weeks ago if we would be decorating with the hearts. I told her that it was something for the night before. Sadly, Matt's "curtain" would not cooperate with being hung so I improvised and laid them all over his floor. This morning he had all the reason that he is loved laying at his feet. 

I woke a little earlier than normal this morning to be able to make the kids and Dave pancakes with mini red M&M's for breakfast.  

Tonight after dinner, we will be going through our heart pails to see the reasons why each of us is loved by the other.  

Yes, I can feel the love!!

Chore Chart Up and Working

Although it took a few more days than anticipated to get the chore chart up in it's place, the kids have been doing their chores since the day the chart was created. 

I wasn't sure if the kids would be responsive to the idea of set chores. Dave & I want the kids to be able to care for themselves and also contribute to the keeping of the home, their home. What I didn't want was to have to be constantly reminding them what their chores are and to complete them. Nagging and aggravation isn't what I want from this. 

It hasn't been much of a surprise that Emily is very on target when it comes to getting her daily and home chores done along with some additional jobs. Of course, her motivation tends to be the allowance she earns if she does her jobs. Matt on the other hand needs a little more "reminding". Thankfully I only have to say "have you checked the chart" in order to get him to check in on his tasks. Our rule is if you don't complete the tasks for the day, you don't get paid. Yes, even if they miss just one job, they don't earn their day's wage.

I do have to report how nice it is to turn over some of the daily chores to the kids. Seeing them pitching in even though they are not always sure how or why they are doing it gives Dave & I the satisfaction of knowing that they are learning skills that will benefit them later in life. The other day I had Matt helping me with laundering his sheets. He asked me "why do we have to learn this?" I answered "because you need clean clothes and you won't be living at home all your life". He seemed satisfied with the answer and helped me to the very end.  

All in all the chore chart is a success and looks amazing hanging on the wall!!

Chicken Pot Pie....Yummy!!!

As a kid, I always remember when we would have pot pies for dinner. They were Banquet and I loved the crust on the bottom of the pie. I remember trying to flip the pot pie out of the tin pan so that it could be eaten from the bottom - yummiest part first!

Now, I wouldn't classify Emily and Matt as "picky" eaters but they do let me know when the don't like something or are tired of eating a certain something. Emily latest "complaint" is "chicken again!"

I've been attempting new recipes recently and we have had some successes, misses too! I decided it was time to introduce the kids to my fond memories of pot pie. Hmmm, wonder how the chicken will go over with Em?

I found a recipe for making individual chicken pot pies at this link, Call Me Mrs. Rapp . I was hoping that the "cupcake" style would intrigue them and the kids would find them delicious. They were so easy to make and smelled so yummy baking.  

I placed one on each plate. I made the recipe to serve 8. Emily asked, "What is this?" I told her "pot pie". Okay, I omitted the chicken part with the hope that they would give the pot pies a chance. Both kids took one bite and they were sold. Emily even liked the filling more than the biscuit - so much for chicken worries.  The only "readjustment" request was made by Matt and that  was no green beans in the veggies the next time I make them.  

The pot pies got two thumbs up from the whole family.  As a matter of fact, I've already been asked when we will be having them again.  I LOVE when a recipe is successful!!!

Time to Play

Saturday morning we woke to a good amount of snow....nothing drastic like parts of Long Island, Connecticut or Boston. 

After Dave & Matt along with our neighbor and his teen sons "removed" the snow, we headed out for lunch and then a few small errands. One errand included having to get Emily snow boots. The only boots we had for her were size 3...... we bought her new boots, size 5. The girl is growing like crazy!!

Dave took the kids to another town to go sledding. When they returned home, the kids stayed outside to play some more.  Matt was busy building a fort, Dave pitched in to help him.  Emily, she was busy ringing the doorbell trying to get me to come and answer with no one there.  She then took the time to throw snowballs at me standing at the dining room window. It is something she does every snow fall.  

What shocked me most was that Emily came in from outside first. Usually Matt succumbs to the cold weather first but not this time. Both kid were very happy to find hot chocolate with marshmallows when they came inside.  

A Little Bit of White

Like the majority of the northeast, we had a taste of winter visit us on Friday. When we woke that morning, nothing was happening but by the time the kids were headed out the door for school the flakes started to fall. Because of the predicted deterioration of conditions later in the day, Dave was able to work from home. This was such a relief knowing he would not be making his 40+ minute drive home later in the day. 

Due to his being home, Dave and I were able to have an impromptu lunch date. A nice perk to his working from home. 

Our early snow had turned into a few hours of sleet, which shortly after lunch turned back to snow. When we went to pick up the kids, the streets were getting a little tough to maneuver. Thankfully we made it home safely and spent the rest of the evening indoors.  

This picture was taken around 7 pm Friday evening. Dave had gone out to do a quick shoveling. Overnight is when we were expected to get the majority of our precipitation.  

The kids for reasons unknown to us woke up at 5:30 the next morning and were thrilled with the snow. Thankfully, our neighbor assisted with snow removal with is snow blower. Dave went out to help him and his two teen boys. Of course, when Matt saw all the "boys" outside, he asked to go out and  help.  So, I geared him up and out he went. He helped with the shoveling of a fellow neighbor's driveway. I was so proud when Dave told me of his efforts.  

The sad part for the kids was that they still have not had a "school closed" snow day.  There is still some "winter" left for that to happen!!