You Said You'd Bake Us a Cake

Sometime back in March, we had a special family home evening in which I declared that we would be baking a cake.  And that was all the instructions I gave.  The girls were in charge of creating a cake with no recipe.  They put in all kinds of wonderful things.  I wrote it all down, but of course, I lost it.  It had sugar and milk and peanut butter and chocolate chips and marshmallows!  Their little minds were bursting with the possibilities of this amazing cake.  Then, while it was baking, I pulled out a real recipe and we made another cake, following the instructions. 

After they were both baked, I asked the girls which cake they thought would be better.  Julia immediately responded, "Oh, our cake!  Definitely!"  But upon tasting, it was clear that even with all that peanut butter and chocolate, their cake wasn't as good as the one done by the book.  It wasn't completely inedible, but it wasn't exactly what you'd call a cake.  (I swear we took pictures of this too, but can't find any.)  This was a great object lesson about following directions and keeping the commandments and how much better life is when we do.  So I thought I'd share!

Pi Day

This year was the a Pi(e) Day of epic proportions.  3.14.15.  We even had shirts to commemorate the event:

And, of course, we planned a pie party.  As you do.

Look at all that deliciousness.  But then, Ella woke up sick.  So there went that party.  My only consolation was there was more pie for me.  But...I would rather have shared it with great friends.  I've been thinking we should do a make up pie day.  Maybe a 2pi day (6.28)? 

February 2015

Highlights from February: 

Clark had a birthday!  It was apparently very past paced, and thus blurry.  But I can tell you that we were all very happy to celebrate this amazing man in our lives.  He is wonderful.

Valentines Day!  We had heart-shaped pizza, and pulled out the tablecloth, cloth napkins, and fancy cups for the occasion.  Actually, I think we celebrated Clark's birthday and Valentine's Day the same night due to Clark's crazy work schedule.  Hence why he has the red plate. 

 Julia's V-Day cards were Star Wars themed.  We introduced our kids to Star Wars this year, and it was well received.  Julia's favorite princess is now Princess Leia, and both girls are always ready for a light saber battle.  My little nerd heart is bursting with pride.

 The local library had a traveling LEGO exhibit visit for a weekend, and it was AMAZING.  They had downtown Chicago in detail, a Simpsons Springfield section, numerous characters roaming about (Batman, Indiana Jones, Toy Story, to name a few), and my personal favorite: the stair car and model home from Arrested Development.  "You're gonna get some hop-ons."

 And finally, my kids are crazy!  We were all going a bit stir crazy by the end of February, courtesy of below freezing temperatures and Ella being restricted from the cold (she couldn't be colder than room temperature until sometime in March, thanks to that whole cold agglutinin disease mess).  Hence the trips to McDonalds (play place to the rescue!).  I don't know why Ella was wearing gloves on her feet, but it cracked me up.