How Do You "Do"

I feel like I've been fighting with Will's baby-fine hair the last few weeks. Initially I liked the idea of growing it long, but the lack of texture wasn't doing it for me ;-) It is almost spring, anyhow, and who isn't in need of a change when spring rolls around?! As I'm typing this, I can hear birds chirping for the first time - yay! Hopefully they know something I don't, because although we've had a couple nice days recently, I have a feeling winter has not had its final say.

The other day I took Will to get his hair cut, and asked the stylist to cut it short enough to have that messy spiky look. It was as if trimming his hair gave him a new lease on life - he was such a character after getting it done! It's probably just psychological on my part because the haircut makes him look older, but it was almost as if he saw himself as older, and therefore acted more big-boyish. Mystery...

Smoothie Fun

Last time we were visiting my family in Destin, we let Will try our favorite smoothie from Smoothie King, called Angel Food. He loved it (see photo)...how could you not, as it tastes much like the yummy cake?!













A funny bit of info...since one of the few things Will has tried through a straw up until this point is chocolate milk, he pretty much associates everything with a straw to be just that. The other day I got myself an iced coffee drink, and he was upset because I wouldn't let him have any ;-) I tell you this, because I thought if I bought him a cup with a straw, he would like the smoothie experience all the more. He must be picky about the type of straw, because he was not interested in my homemade smoothie (or it just didn't compare with Smoothie King)!

He does like playing with the cup, though, so all was not lost. Whenever he sees it he says, "mmmoooooo."

In my humble opinion, I thought the smoothie was really good - and that's coming from a person who's a really picky smoothie drinker as well!






































Here's the recipe if you want to give it a shot:
3/4 c. milk
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 ripe banana (I always freeze mine when making this smoothie), broken into pieces
1 6-8 ounce container vanilla yogurt
1 squirt of honey

Place all ingredients in blender; cover. Pulse on Ice Breaker (your setting might be called something different) 45 seconds or until desired consistency. Makes 24 ounces.

Enjoy!

Snow Angel

When we crawled out of bed this a.m., there wasn't a snowflake in sight, but as soon as the snow started to come down around 8:30 this morning, it accumulated quickly...we probably have a good 6-8" on the ground. Needless to say, Will and I spent a lazy Friday at home.

Since I'm too darn practical and didn't want to spend $$ on a snowsuit that he'd only wear a small handful of times, I layered Will up and we played outside before the snow got too deep...also a good call since I was too cheap to buy Will boots as well. Sorry you're so deprived little guy...next year ;-)

I made valentine sugar cookies last night, and invited some neighbor friends over to frost them this afternoon since we were snowed-in. Unfortunately I forgot to bust out the camera, so I have no photos to show for our yummy, decorated cookies :(

My Little Helper

Another thing we will miss after we move from this house, is our laundry chute. Why is it that they don't come standard with homes these days? They really are quite practical, and I take full-advantage of ours. Will is now at the age where he likes to put things (toys, sippy cup, blanket, etc.) in the chute as well.

For the Love of Animals

Yesterday was a gorgeous, very atypical February day here in Omaha. It was in the low 60's and I wanted to take advantage of being outdoors, so I loaded Will in the jogging stroller and we moseyed off to the park. The weather seemed almost too good to be true...it was ;-) Short-lived, and a more realistic temp today...a cool 37 degrees, but at least the sun is shining.

Anyhow,my favorite park to frequent is called Memorial Park. It's actually a memorial for WWII veterans and has acres and acres of grassy hills (to those of you who have never been here, you'd be surprised how hilly Omaha is!). When Will took his first "real" steps this past fall, it was already too cold to play outside. So to say he enjoyed wandering the wide open spaces yesterday is an understatement! And although you're not technically allowed to, people often bring their dogs to this park to roam free. Will had so much fun watching them run around.

Since today was significantly cooler, I knew we wouldn't be able to venture back to the park, so I took Will to the Humane Society this morning...thought it'd be fun to let him get acquainted with some furry little friends :) Unfortunately I didn't realize that they don't open the dog kennels until noon, so we had to settle for cats, rabbits, and rodents.




























...and this was the face that told me it was time to go home :)

I Never Saw it Coming.

My wonderful hubby threw me the most amazing surprise party a couple weekends ago. I never saw it coming, because it was after my birthday, and well, I'm pretty oblivious to that kinda stuff anyway. I was so impressed with Dave - still haven't figured out how he pulled it off successfully.

He told me about a week prior that he asked his mom to watch Will so he and I could go on a date night to celebrate my birthday...sounded great to me! I was also impressed when Dave told me he made reservations at one of my favorite restaurants, called M's Pub...not your typical pub scene...it's more of a trendy french restaurant in The Old Market downtown Omaha. As we were leaving the house, Dave grabbed my camera, which surprised me, because I'm usually the one nagging for a photo opp :) It isn't your average pocket-size camera, either - it's my bulky SLR. I asked him if he wanted to take the small one instead, but he insisted on my camera...and I still never suspected anything!

When we arrived at M's Pub, the host showed us to our table, and I spotted a girlfriend of mine, and thought to myself, "fun to see her - how random that we're both here on a Sunday night!" I know...I'm so naive! So as I was talking to her, I purposely tried to block out the other people at her table because I didn't want to be rude and stare. Then as my eyes slowly started wandering, I noticed more and more of my friends - many of whom didn't know one another. As the girls later told me, my face looked very confused...I was ;-) Until they all blurted out, "SURPRISE!" Then it finally hit me and I was pretty overwhelmed...in a good way, of course.

I was so humbled that so many of my wonderful friends made it a point to be there and make me feel so loved. Even my sister-in-law, Kristin drove 5 hours to be there, and then went home the next morning...thanks for being there, Kris - it meant the world to me! After I got my barrings, Dave said, "have a great time with your girlfriends - I'll see you later."

I was equally overwhelmed with all the thought and effort it took for Dave to pull off this feat! He actually took the time to call each one of these girls individually and invite them, and asked them to be prepared to share ways that I may have touched or impacted their lives. Dave also asked one of my girlfriends to take care of getting centerpieces for the restaurant table, and asked yet another to jump start the "sharing conversation." I was so blessed! We had a lot of laughs, and I shed a few tears, too :)

Although not all the girls knew each other, they quickly got acquainted, and so many told me later how much they enjoyed meeting everyone. It made me proud to have the friends that I do. Dave and I are continually thanking the Lord for the friendships He's blessed us with!

So to those of you who came - thank you for making me feel so loved - I so appreciate you! And Dave, thanks for being so creative and making it happen! Your generosity never ceases to amaze me, and we all had a fabulous time...I love you!

Super Bowl Fun

We're always looking for an excuse to invite friends over to hang out (as if we need an excuse!). Last year we thought it would be fun to invite a "few people" over for the Super Bowl. Well, the "few" quickly turned into a list of 40-some people. We figured most would get multiple invitations to parties, and at best we'd get about 1/2 the turnout. Funny enough, almost everyone made it, so it was pretty crazy - but a great time, nonetheless.

This year we thought we'd keep things a little simpler, so we had 6 friends over and two of Will's buddies ;-) Unfortunately Will caught a cold this weekend, so he was a bit tired, but still ready for action. The "old" guys had a great time watching the game, and all us girls gabbed it up at the kitchen table.









My boys.

















Will was enamored with Jennifer Hudson's rendition of The National Anthem :) I must admit it was one of the best I had ever heard...that girl's got some pipes!!















Obviously an intense moment.
















My girls :)














Wonder who's responsible for this?