P-P-P-P-P Panda Love

I just finished this panda hat for the daughter of Matt's co-worker,

I think it turned out to be pretty damn cute, but I may be biased.

Also, now Alice insists that she and Izzy need one too

(so they can match, naturally).

Guess I know what my next two craft projects are going to be.

I only wish I could see the look on the face of the little girl I

made this for when she sees it for the first time.

I like to think it will look something like this,

minus the jazz hand.

Best Valentine's Day Dinner EVER

Cottage cheese pancakes...mmmm...be jealous.

In Two Weeks Time

I have a feeling Alice is going to be a lot more comfortable. On the 21st she's going in to have her tonsils and adenoids removed because they are both chronically enlarged. They aren't as bad as some, but they are large enough that they cause her to snore, she always sounds nasally, her pronunciation is impaired, and I'd be willing to bet they are making sleep hard for her (we had the option to do a sleep study before surgery, but declined because I don't really need one to tell me that her tonsils need to come out). So pretty soon these monsters she's been lugging around with her all her life will finally be out, and hopefully we notice a difference in her right away!

Speaking of Alice, she's been doing a lot better in the behavior department lately. We busted out the marble jar again, except this time she's earning marbles to put towards having tv time. The kid is obsessed with tv and this was a good way to curb her tv watching habits and her bad behavior all at the same time. So far it's been working (along with a few other changes we've made in how we deal with her) and she hasn't gone batty wanting to watch her stories. Pray that this trend continues, she's actually pleasant to be around and I'm really starting to get used to it!

Told You I'd Be Back

Didn't believe me, did you?

The snow fell - it's hard to say how much we got due to the incredible drifts. The weather man said about 18 to 20 inches in our area.

The wind blew - Aurora had sustained winds of 50mph and gusts up to 70mph.

And it didn't stop until the morning. We were pounded with snow for a solid 17+ hours and yet we didn't have to shovel our driveway - one of the few perks of condo living. To give you an idea of just how bad the drifts here are, I can see some of the grass peeking through in my back yard, yet there are waist high drifts in the middle of our front yard. The rooftops look like the snow is already starting to melt, but in reality it just never stayed there very long thanks to the winds. I have truly never seen anything like it.

(click pics to enlarge)

Getting ready to finish gearing up to play in the snow!

Those windows above the garage? That's us.
Notice the snow drifts covering most of our windows?

Neighbors across the street didn't get plowed
since they left their car in the driveway.
At least the plow company came back this afternoon.

The snow depth was so random, it was hard to gauge where to step.

Daddy taught Izzy about the wonders of eating snow.
I think she liked it.

She REALLY didn't want to come inside.

I didn't get many pics of Alice, she was too busy to sit still
so I had to take advantage of the times she fell in the snow.
I told her to sing "Climb Every Mountain."

She didn't get the reference.

Snowed In?

If you're my family, then the answer for about 80% of you is YES (I'm counting Bathjes as well). For the rest of you, just in case you haven't heard yet, most of the midwest is dealing with lots of horrible winter weather right now. We're in the middle of a blizzard here in Chicagoland, and I don't expect we'll be out and about again until Thursday at the earliest. The snow has been falling so heavily, but I have no idea how much we have yet because the wind has been blowing so badly. Anyway, for those of you who are snowed in I thought I'd share this fabulous hot chocolate recipe I finally tried tonight. It's so good that it doesn't even need marshmallows.

INGREDIENTS
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 3 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (if desired)

PROCEDURE
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler
Boil the water, and stir in the sugar, salt, and cornstarch until dissolved. Add the cayenne pepper, if desired.
Pour over the chocolate and stir thoroughly.
Scald the milk, pour it into the mixture, and add the vanilla.
Reheat the mixture almost to boiling and whip it with an eggbeater until frothy.
Makes 4 cups.

Also, many of you have asked me to come back to my blog and update again. I decided last month that I was going to take January off and come back again in February, though I won't post every day like I did before. So please come back and check up on me from time to time. I'm going to keep this blog address even though I'm done with the 365 project, I'll probably just change the name in the blog header. Anyone have any suggestions?

Look back here tomorrow - I'm hoping to get some snow pics once it lets up a bit. Stay safe and warm everyone!