Equinox

It's not just the First Day of Spring ... it's the First Day of Bubbles!

Maike's favorite pastime

Early Birthday

G turns 12 over Spring Break, so she had a little birthday party with three friends today. Dan & I took them to paint pottery and then to dinner at Noodles & Co., a group favorite.

Painting pottery

The gang at Noodles (before the hot chili sauce and Rice Krispie treat experiment began)

Cake 3

Snickerdoodle Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (for Grandpa's birthday)

Wii-Ha!

We've been trying to buy a Wii since the week after Christmas. We (foolishly, erroneously) thought that they'd be easy to get once the holidays were over. Finally yesterday, despite Daylight Savings Time and the fact that Dan was out of town, G & I went to stand in line in the cold before Best Buy opened to see if we could get one of the "minimum of 15" advertised in the Sunday flyer. (I keep reading that Wiis are big with senior citizens, but the only other people there matched the demographic of the Star Trek Convention I attended in 1994.) Fortunately the manager at the store was a decent sort ... as people lined up he'd come out and hand out tickets for a unit to be claimed before noon, so you could go and do something else until the store opened. We got ticket 12, which G took as A Sign, since she was getting it for her 12th birthday. I couldn't figure out how to hook it up, so we had to wait for Dan to get home this evening. G & I played tennis, bowling and boxing. What a blast! We are already planning the add-ons!

Spring ... Sprung?

We've had more than 80 inches of snow this winter and days on end of subzero temperatures. Despite cold weather, intermittant snow flurries and lots of the white stuff still around today, G & I saw three examples of what my dad proclaims the true harbinger of spring ... the dead skunk in the middle of the road. Sorry for those poor little critters, but hopeful that spring really is nigh!

Book 'Em

Today was G's school's Third Annual Scholastic Book Fair and Read-a-thon. The kids really look forward to this event because they get to dress in pjs, bring bean bags/sleeping bags/chairs and spend the whole day reading. Plus they can browse and buy books. I co-chair this with another mom, and while it's a lot of work, it's worth it. We raised enough money to buy a Promethean Interactive Board for the school and our library is going to get more than $500 in free books. Thanks to all of G's sponsors!

G browses the book fair

Reading one of the 10 books she purchased

Cake 2

G looks forward to March because it's a big birthday month here, and therefore filled with opportunities to make cakes.

Dan turned something north of 40 today. We made his favorite, Swiss steak, and had a little party with his dad. I got him a book that answers his fall-back question: WWMD? (What Would MacGyver Do?) Then he and G went to the pool to do a few laps.

Making a Deeply Chocolate Almond Cake

Adding the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Birthday boy & pal

Cake 1

Maike turned nine this weekend. As the Swiss say, "Three years a young dog, three years a good dog, three years an old dog, and everything else is a gift from God."

Alpo Prime Rib Chophouse cake with Medium Milk Bone frosting

Birthday pup & pal