Ponytail

Please ignore how very dirty my little girl is, and only admire how very cute her new ponytail is! Emma Grace you look like a little grown up girl with your hair all pulled up and not like a baby anymore. You are also getting so much better and you are leaving them in for at least 30 minutes at a time. I love you my little one!

Sledding with Family

Yesterday it snowed ALL day long, and this morning we woke up to about 8 inches of snow. We thought it would be a great day to bring the kids over to Aunt Emily’s house and go sledding. We had a blast. The Bost also met up with us to play in the snow and eat lot of yummy cold weather snacks.

Emma you are so much like your daddy in that you love to be outside and busy. You don’t’ care if it is cold or raining or sunny you just want to be tramping around outside. You are loving this snow. You keep putting your snow boots on and walking over to the door and crying so that we will bring you out! And Taylor you are just like your momma and you hate to be cold and could care less about being outside, but we did enjoy sledding today so that is all that counts. Hopefully we are creating lots of really fond memories!!!

Daddy and Emma Grace (did I tell you that Emma loves the snow):

Lucy and Daddy:

Aunt Emily:

The Coble's:

The Bost:

Daddy and Emma Grace:

Emily and Taylor:

New Project

I am really excited about this new cabin that I have inherited. This is one that Ryan’s granddad made when Ryan was a little boy. I am planning on painting it, distressing it, taking the glass doors off of it, and putting new hardware on it. I am envisioning that it will have that shabby chic look and I can put it in Emma’s room to display her dolls and hold toys. I will let you know how it turns out. I am hoping that if I post about it – it will motivate me to actually finish what I have started.

Taco Soup

The perfect cure for the cold – a great big pot of Taco Soup. I thought I would share this recipe with all of you because it is so very yummy and healthy. You don’t have to follow exactly just use whatever is in your pantry. As long as you have the taco seasoning and the cumin you will be money!

Start with:
A really big pot!
2 pounds of cooked ground beef (I prefer turkey)
2 Cans Dark red kidney beans
2 Cans Light red kidney beans
2 Cans of Black beans
Corn
Hominy
Whole tomatoes (or diced – or what ever is in you pantry)
2 cans Rotel – the kind with the cilantro
1 Can of Tomato Sause
1 chopped onion
2 packs taco seasoning
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon of cumin
And what ever other Mexican spices you have and want to use

I always garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, cilantro, and Frito chips. Enjoy!

Snow Days

Yes it has iced and snowed her again today, and yes we are at home because the schools are closed. Luckily Emily is staying with us and she is able to help with the kids!!! Thank you Emily we would not make it through situations like this without you. This momma does not do snow, but also lucky for us Aunt Emily does (see pictures below). Ryan said we were all going sledding tomorrow – we will see how that goes. P.S. you will not see any pictures of Taylor in the snow because he is a lot like his momma and he does not like the snow or the cold!

Funny story: I was on a conference call with my VP earlier, who is in CO, and he knew that I was iced in. To wrap up the call he said, “are there any closing comments from the ice princess.” I seems to only ice here! I am actually looking forward to that fact that I have to be in Phoenix Sunday – Wednesday of this week. I am hopping that I come back and bring the warmth with me.

Where has time gone? Ms. Emma Grace you are just growing up so very fast, and every day is a new adventure. These days (at 18 months) you are:

Saying lots of words
Doing animal noises
Identifying all of your body parts
Pulling your hair out of all of you ponytails!
Giggling and getting into everything with your cousin Lucy
But most of all each day you are becoming more independent than the last.

You are an amazing little girl and I can’t wait to see what the world holds for you. Your mommy and daddy love you little girl, and would just ask that you QUIT GROWING UP SO VERY FAST. Happy 18 Months Old my sweet little girl!

Emma with her hair in a pony tail!

Silly Kids

Taylor it has been 27 days since you received your Wii for Christmas. I have to admit that it is probably the best gift that your daddy and I have ever gotten you, but I swear you have not stopped talking about it since the day you got it. Tonight your daddy was trying to get you dressed for bed and all you wanted to do was talk about your Star War’s Wii Game. Your dad said “Taylor we are going to go two minutes where you don’t talk about Wii." Well at one point during your two minutes you looked at your dad and said “dad when my two minutes is up I need to tell you something about my Wii.” You are precious, but it obvious these days that there is only one thing on your mind!

My Silly Little Girl: