Happy Birthday, Linz!

Ah, February 28...one of my favorite days of the year...the day Linz was born! I am so proud to have Linz as my daughter. She is the best wife and mother. She gives everything her all. She is so self motivated. She just moved to a new town and already she has hosted a Valentine party, had people over for dinner and for games, been involved in play groups, participated in family home evening with other families, enrolled her girls in classes. She adjusts to new areas so beautifully. She is kind and considerate to all. She is a wonderful daughter. She takes good care of me. Happy Birthday, Linz! Love you so much.

Fridays With JF

How do you beat the winter blues? With a good friend and a matinee every Friday! That's what JF and I have been doing since the first week of January. It has given us something to look forward to every week. We love to go to the pre-matinee movies....the ones that are shown before noon. Often we are the only ones in the theatre, so we can talk and laugh as much as we want and as loud as we want and no one hears us! We have hit a dryspell today. There are no movies on the horizon that we want to see... unless we go to Hotel For Dogs.... and I've seen it!

Bob Greene Does It Again!

Tomatoes! Curry! Ginger! Onions! Garlic! Lentils! Lamb! Rosemary! Carrots! These are the amazing flavors that popped in Bob Greene's Lentil and Lamb Soup that we had for dinner last night! So delicious!

A shout out to a nice celebrity

DTA and I were going through security at LaGuardia the other day and participating in the usual hassles of unloading the laptop, taking off our shoes and coats, presenting our liquids, etc. I was ahead of him and needed another "carrier" to place my items so I turned around to ask him to give me another "carrier" but when asking him I couldn't think of what the "carrier" was called.(I'm still not sure what it is called?) So I was kind of stumbling when a voice behind him said, "I think she needs one of these" and the woman belonging to the voice handed him a "carrier" with a very pleasant tone and smile. I felt like I recognized the voice and on further inspection, discovered the voice to be Soledad OBrien of CNN News. I did a double take but tried to act cool like I hadn't just noticed it was her! While waiting for DTA to come out of security, I was sitting on a bench, and she approached me. A woman with a baby was sitting next to me and Soledad stopped and looked at the baby and then said to me, "beautiful baby, right?", and again with this pleasant tone and huge smile. She was wearing no make up, had her hair pulled back in a pony tail and looked like she had just come from the gym. (I thought, if I were famous, I would go everywhere in a pencil skirt and heels! ) Nevertheless, I was so impressed with her. She was absolutely delightful and so unaffected by her fame. It was as if her purpose in life was to walk through the airport and bring joy!

We just got back from a lovely trip....part 2

A lot of our fun was just hanging out together. We played a lot of Go Fish!

We had so much fun reading books together. We read TWO Junie B. Jones books over the weekend. Such cute books!

Both girls wanted to learn how to knit!

We enjoyed a violin concert from Little D. She is awesome!

We just got back from a lovely trip.....

We just got back from a lovely trip....we spent four days with the Glass Posse! One of my favorite activities was having lunch at Alice's Tea Cup. It was a charming little tea room filled with Alice in Wonderland ambiance. The girls borrowed fairy wings to wear during lunch and were sprinkled with fairy dust and they were given the opporunity to make a wish! We sat down to a table set with china tea cups, none of which matched. The food was delicious and very unique. I found the whole experience very "New Yorkish". We made conversation by stating a subject and then everyone had to comment on that subject. We had lots of laughs and lots of fun!

Four down.....Ninety-six to go!

Look at my Love Scarf knitters! We checked in with them last night and everyone is doing so well. We have completeled four! The knitters are proudly showing their progress. Last night the needles were really clicking! This is so much fun!

mmmmmmmm...low calorie/low fat pizza!

Friday night, I made a healthy pizza for DTA and me. The recipe came from another healthy cookbook we love called, "The Food You Crave" by Ellie Krieger. This pizza had onions, garlic, mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoes. Delicious!

Congratulations, DTA!

DTA received his Woodbadge beads award this weekend in recognition of fulfilling all of his Woodbadge ticket items requirements. Congratulations! I am so proud of him! His Dad would be so proud of him too.

Look Who The Wind Blew In!

Coco is home for President's Day Weekend!!!!

My Valentine!

Sheesh, I love this man!

Foto Friday

Jumping for Joy in the Dominican Republic!

M5 Welcomes Home Elder H

Elder H returned last night from the California Riverside Mission. He is not in my ward but our M5 group consists of mothers from two wards. We took him to a pizzeria as he has missed Chicago style pizza while on his mission. How good it was to see him and hear about his experiences.

A Question for Blog Land

Are you allowed to have knitting needles in your carry on baggage?

Hall of Fame

Last weekend DTA and I went to a local high school and witnessed our nephew's induction to their athletic Hall of Fame. Our nephew was a stellar football player for his high school as well as for BYU. We are very proud of him. It was fun to witness this great event.

Happy Birthday, Big J!

Happy Birthday, Big J! I am very grateful that Big J is our son in law. He is such a wonderful husband and father. He has a demanding job and is the Bishop of his ward, but he is always willing to help Kage and the girls. Big J introduced me to Pardon The Interruption! I enjoy watching it with him. When we are together as a family, Big J always throws out a great topic of conversation for us all to discuss. I love that about him. So here's to you, Big J! Have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Mother

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Another Shout Out for Bob Greene!

This week we tried Bob Green's Bean and Pasta Soup. Delicious! So many flavors - tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers, sage, rosemary, collard greens! We really loved it!

My Boy and His Boys!

I love this photo! When I heard My Boy was going to the DR, this is the kind of picture that passed through my head. I knew the kids down there would love him, because I knew he would love them.

Operation Love Scarf Project - Chicago!

Kage brought the Love Scarf Project to New York and the young women in my ward are bringing it to Chicago! Last night the young women and some of their mothers learned how to knit! We are on Operation Love Scarf Project - Chicago! Their goal: 100 scarves to be delivered at Christmas! The creative energy in the room last night was amazing! The needles were clicking and the girls were loving this new skill.

Groundhog Day!

Well, today is Groundhog Day. The day that people hold their breath to see whether the groundhog will see his shadow and thus determine how much more winter we have to endure. People are always disappointed when the forecast is six more weeks....well, knowing we had only six more weeks of winter here in Chicago-land would be amazing news! Winter over by March 15? That would be so incredible! Here we need to check weather forecasts to plan what we wear up and through Memorial Day! So, please Mr. Groundhog, see your shadow today and tell me I only have six more weeks of winter!