Snow Bunny

Snapped these while playing in the fresh snow for a few minutes after preschool.


I only break out the hand-me-down-fake-fur-heart-coat for the month of February.


Damn, she looks cute in this little ensemble.

Poor, poor, poor kitty

(but thank gosh she's so patient. the other one wouldn't stand for this kind of love).

A day in the life of a princess

Big Sister Gift

With my due date looming near(er), we're trying to include Kenzie in preparatory projects for the babe. She's helped paint the room, picked out our gender neutral clothing ensembles, and we made these little gifts for the baby.

This is a super easy project for kids:
1. Cut fine grit sandpaper into small portions (3x3's would work well). **I didn't do this and learned the hard way!!

2. Color an image on a fine grit sandpaper with your everyday Crayolas. Make sure and get a healthy wax build up on the sandpaper (Press Hard).



3. Lay the sandpaper, image side down on your fabric choice. (or directly on the onesie if you'd like to be done a few steps sooner!!) Iron the image well to insure the color is transferring.

4. Machine stitch around your image edges to give it extra whimsy, or perhaps, ahem...make sense of the scribbles? This here little guy is a FROG, by the way. :)



5. Attach to a onesie, t-shirt, pants leg, whatever. & Voila. It's an easy Big Sister gift to the new baby...


6. Set the color by tossing into the dryer for 20 minutes. Launder as usual.



We've another version of a darling but LARGE image of big sister holding the baby's hand. We also have an alien. (Yeah....don't know what we're going to do with that one.) But, we're going to frame the large sentimental image and turn it into wall art. I'll post a picture as it's completed.

The Kenzie Hot Pie

One of our family's comfort foods is pot-pies. I tripped over this recipe and we've made it a few times, loving it more each time. It's especially simple and Kenzie can just about make it all by herself!

Kenzie has named it "the Kenzie Hot Pie" and we have begging to make & eat it once a week. We've made effort to make it healthy as possible.



Recipe:
Makes 4-6 servings.
1 8 ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables.
2 refrigerated piecrusts (we like Pillsbury)
1 10 3/4 ounce can cream of chicken soup. (we use low sodium)
1 cup cheese (we use low fat, and have used several different flavors).
1/2 cup milk (we use 2%)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (we use a seasoned Rotisserie Chicken)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Defrost the vegetables. Use a 9 or 10 inch pie dish, spray with with cooking spray, and lay one of the piecrusts in the bottom, folding up the sides. In a large bowl, stir together the soup and milk; add the remaining ingredients. Spoon the mixture into the piecrust. Top with remaining piecrust, molding with your fingers. Pinch the edges together and cut vents in the top. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 40-60 minutes, or whenever the top is a nice golden brown.

And Voila! Yumm. The whole family is happy and Kenzie will gobble up an adult sized portion of this. (i've also been known to sneak in pureed squash and extra healthful goodies. No one seems to notice!)



We've been playing family dinner game (beginner version) following our meals lately and have been enjoying it so much. The game typically elicits at least one bout of hysterical laughter and we truly get a better glimpse of what goes on in this child's head.

For my memory's sake: I never want to forget the directive to "go around the table & discuss...." Doug and I about lost it as she discussed very eloquently the answer to the question - WHILE WALKING IN CIRCLES AROUND THE TABLE.

"Mama, Let's Make a Scenery"

We've been drawing lots of collaborative "scenery" for Kenzie's plastic animal collection to play in. Kenzie does lots of coaching as to what to include and draws much of it herself. It's fun to see the little surprises she sneaks in while I'm doing my own thing.