For all things sweet....

Today is Devin's birthday! 27 years in this world, 8 of those with me! And I am still loving every minute with him. Andin, Cambria, and I were very excited to surprise him with a HUGE case of Mexican cokes in glass bottles. His favorite. He also found some delicious tropical sorbet in the freezer! Devin's wonderful mom took the kids to the movies, which gave the two of us some time to relax together. It was perfect. Later on we had dinner and a delicious ice cream cake with Devin's parents. The kids couldn't stand waiting for that cake. Cambria said, "Happy birthday 'diaddy....' and gave him a big smooch. My heart melted.

Friday night we had a date too! We are so spoiled with these willing babysitters (Grandmas) around. I tried my best to spoil him with pizza and wings, a PS3 game, and a date to the bakery for Baklava and Cannoli! There were German chocolate brownies, key lime tarts, baklava cheesecakee, florentines....Mmmmm makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

But.....he's still the sweetest thing I've found! Love you baby! Happy Birthday!

Superbowl Sunday....

Today was down right delicious. We had quite the spread of snacks and other yummy goodness.

The game was pretty awesome too. I have to admit it was the first full football game I've ever watched....like in my whole life. I was getting into it too.

My dad is famous for his delicious beer brat recipe. They boil in beer all day long. (please don't panic....) They are served on a big italian roll. They are covered with sautéed peppers and onions, and they are the perfect Superbowl food! You could smell them all the way down the street....or so Devin's mom told us when they arrived.

Devin and I were in charge of the appetizers. I love cooking with that man.

Cambria picked these cupcakes out of my Hello Cupcake book for dessert. They are from scratch and I added extra vanilla, because that is the right thing to do.

During commercials the kids attacked Baba....he always knows how to get them super crazy and hyper. I loved watching them coming at him from all directions. What a good Baba he is.

Mom making her delicious potato salad....isn't she pretty?



My dear sweet brother Erik, who consistently ordered me around getting him food or a drink.

I do sometimes love it....he's pretty cute and quite convincing.

The Mexican coke hidden in the fridge that Devin later enjoyed during the game. (It's his Birthday tomorrow you know.)

We finished off by singing Devin an early Happy Birthday. Then a nice long game of Hand and foot. What a great reason to party.

Oh...and I am so very thrilled for New Orleans. They deserve it. (Although I know a very cute niece of mine in Indiana that might disagree! Love you Emmi!)

Go Saints go!

My favorite light...

...thank you Ikea for selling me this for $29.99. It's sweeeet and makes my kitchen happier.

Make me smile....

Have I ever mentioned that our house has a wall of mirrors? Seriously, it is pretty bad. Since we don't own this house we can't exactly take them out, but I have come to love them. I use them to write the kids chore charts on with dry erase markers. Andin drew a giant target on them the other day with points, and shot his nerf gun darts at it! Seriously...that was fun! Most of all I love decorating them for the holidays! We've had snowmen, candy canes, and snowflakes drawn with window markers....Halloween bats...welcome signs for visitors! So naturally the mirrors are covered in hearts right now, and look what Andin added to surprise me! Passing those crazy mirrors as I take the laundry to the washer has never made me so happy.

Forget email....

I made the kids a portable writing station. Our Sunday afternoons are always filled writing letters to Erin, it's something we look forward to! We of course send letters to other friends too! Andin is at the perfect age to be learning how to write words and sentences on his own. I found myself spelling words like "From" or "Love" or "Schvaneveldt" repeatedly and decided I could remedy that! I love to help them of course, but there is a certain independence in finding the word on the board, sounding it out, and writing it on his own. Also, my kids are totally motivated by this kind of stuff so by having a space to write letters...they do it more often. Just like anyone would! Then when they are done and it's time for a snack I just fold it in half and put it back behind the easel. My favorite is when I see Andin or Cam pull it out, set it on the table, get out their colored pencils and paper, and start a letter on their own. I have always loved writing, and also sending and receiving mail! I mean who doesn't get excited when they see a real letter sticking out of the mailbox....instead of bills or junk mail! Does anyone want to be pen-pals? We would love it!

"I like you..."

That was Andin's secret message to me today when we made these adorable cookies and valentines! I am absolutely thrilled that he likes me...I mean he should like me right!? Also, I couldn't me more excited about this adorable idea. It is the same kind of cookies I made here, but obviously heart shaped now....and it doubles as a decoder. I also used cinnamon hard candies instead of Jolly ranchers this time. The flavor matches better, they are less expensive, and they are all red. (So you don't have to sort through colors, although the kids missed that part!) Write a secret message on a light colored piece of paper with a light blue fine tipped marker, then cover the message with shapes and swirls in red, orange, and pink. The cookie will decode the message! Could Valentine's day be any more fun!?

Park day...

...70 degree Friday, and feeling fine!