Valentines: Part 1 (Heart-shaped crayons)

We had fun making heart-shaped crayons to use for Valentines for Amelia's class. This was a good project to work on with her since she was able to help peel off the paper and break up the crayons.


Step 1: Gather your old crayons and peel off the paper. Break them up into small pieces.


Step 2: Lightly grease a heart-shaped pan and fill each cup with crayon pieces in any color combination you like.


Step 3: Bake at 250 until melted, about 8 to 10 minutes. (You might want to put a baking sheet underneath to catch any possible drips.)


Step 4: Once they have cooled, pop them out and check out the fun colors!


I also tried cutting up the crayons with a knife to get even smaller pieces and put lots of different colors together. The results were very fun.


Next up: Attaching the crayons to cards...

And so it begins...

We'll be monitoring this view out our front door over the next 24 hours.


(Friday, 4:30 p.m.)



We hit the grocery store yesterday around noon along with everyone else in the area. I got the last bunch of bananas in the store. We didn't even need bananas. I just panicked. I think I've lived in Virginia too long.

When we pulled into the grocery store parking lot, I guess I was ranting a bit about the crowds. Amelia, often the voice of reason, said "mom, stop freaking out. calm down. look, there are lots of parking spaces." And after we left, she said "see, it wasn't that bad. the aisles weren't that crowded." Whatever. It WAS crowded. We were just lucky they still had milk.


We headed to Target this morning for one last chance to leave the house and pick up a few items. Stopped at Krispy Kreme for breakfast...

Unfortunately, Ben's flight into D.C. tomorrow was cancelled so we'll be snowed in without him. Not fun. But being stuck in Paris isn't so bad.

Tea for Two

Amelia was so excited when I announced that we could have a REAL tea party. We made some hot chocolate and Amelia put on her "tea outfit." In her words, "you MUST wear a hat to tea." She was so happy that at one point, while she was pouring tea, she was singing something along the lines of "la la la la, we're having a tea party!!!"





And what goes perfectly with tea? Tiny heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies:

Bedtime.

The post about Elsa.

Elsa is approaching 21 months. After bulking her up for a month, she finally gained 2 pounds and is up to a whopping 22 pounds. She continues to be a terribly picky eater. But we like our petite, spirited Elsa.

She is quick to yell at Amelia when it seems like Amelia may be on the verge of taking something from her. Actually, she's quick to yell at anyone who takes something from her.

She loves to put on shoes.

She loves taking baths. And hates getting out of the bath.

She LOVES having books read to her and can throw a massive fit when you try and stop. She brings a book to me and says "Okay" which is followed by a long string of "what's that?" as we turn the pages. When we finish she always says "end."

Her favorite word is "no." Unfortunately, she hasn't learned to say yes so she says "no" even when she means "yes" (when she does this, Amelia says she is "no-ing yes again"). We've heard her say things like "I want to get down" but she still refuses to say the word "please" or "milk" (she still says eee ahhh eee ahhh, usually while tugging at the fridge door).

Elsa loves to dance. And she loves to give hugs and kisses.

Dad is definitely her favorite. Whenever we drive past the metro station, she says "daddy! daddy!" hoping that we're picking him up. She does not let him out of her sight when he gets home.

She loves her weekly class at the rec center. We drop Amelia off at school and then head downstairs to the soft play room for 45 minutes of running and jumping and climbing:




She has a habit of destroying things with writing utensils:

(Yes, that is a sharpie.)


(Thank you Magic Eraser!!!)

She loves to do whatever Amelia is doing, so she grabbed this hat the minute Amelia took it off:


Even though she gets irritated with Amelia sometimes (and vice versa) she still loves to play with her. Every time we pick Amelia up from school, Elsa runs into her classroom and gives her a huge hug. It's the best part of my day.

The post about Amelia.

This is what Amelia has been up to you:

Loving school. Last week she made a bagel bird feeder at school:

(As expected, the squirrels got it.)



Drawing various animals:



(This was a custom-built dog for Ben...he requested stripes and a flying dog.)

Wearing this hat and scarf every day:


Getting her toenails and fingernails painted. She was THRILLED:




She is continuing to improve with reading and it's so fun to see her get excited about reading words that she spots all around her. She loves to play with Elsa (and tell her what to do) and also loves to laugh whenever Elsa throws a fit. She spends most of her days creating houses for her pets and dolls, drawing pictures, and making messes (messes that we are NOT allowed to clean up). She still loves all things princess and fancy. She also loves to help out in the kitchen whenever she can.

Snow day. Again.

Only a few inches of snow fell during the night, but as usual, schools were canceled.

But it was beautiful this morning.





We spent the morning making Valentines for Amelia's class. We made our own heart-shaped crayons. They were really easy and fun to make. Directions and photos coming soon to the craft blog.



We also decorated Valentine mailboxes for each of us. These will be hanging around over the next few weeks to share fun notes with each other. Amelia LOVES this. She is constantly making new notes and telling me "do you want to check your mailbox...I think the flag might be up..."





We have also had fun talking to Ben on the computer. The girls love it. Unfortunately, he's been working long hours and hasn't been able to enjoy Paris much. Other than some croissants in the morning.



The girls had fun playing outside today and it was quite warm. Although the snow was mostly melted so they were basically rolling around in the mud.

Snow Day Foods

We had another snowy weekend. It put me in the mood for making and eating soup and warm bread. I decided to try making some artisan bread and my mom's white chicken chili.

I have tried a few different white chicken chili recipes but I really like my mom's recipe the best. Actually, it's not really her recipe. She found it on the internet but she won the church chili cook-off with it so I'm just going to refer to it as hers from now on. (Seems like the white chicken chili recipes are always winning these days.)

It just has the right flavor and the right amount of spice.



White Chicken Chili

16 oz or so of canned white beans

1 large onion, chopped

1 stick unsalted butter

1/4 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c chicken broth

2 cups half and half

1 tsp Tabasco
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 4-oz can whole mild green chilies, drained and chopped

3 boneless, skinless chiken breasts
1 1/2 c grated Monterey Jack
 (my mom uses Pepper Jack)
1/2 c sour cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat a large skillet over moderately high heat and put in some butter and oil. Meanwhile coat your chicken with salt and pepper and maybe some chili powder. Throw them in the skillet and resist the urge to turn them over. Leave them for five minutes, or until nicely browned, then flip them. Leave it there until browned and then flip them every few minutes until they are done (which you can tell by poking a knife into the thickest part and seeing if it's white instead of pink).
2. Remove the chicken from the pan. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your fingers and set aside.
3. While waiting for chicken to cool, cook the onion in the same pan with 2 Tbs of butter until softened.
4. In a heavy pot, large enough to hold all the ingredients, melt remaining 6 Tbs of butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, for three minutes. Stir in the onion and gradually add the broth and half and half, whisking the whole time. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thickened. (It will be nicely and obviously thick.) Stir in Tabasco, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper (adjust quantities for your own liking). Add beans, chilies, chicken and cheese, and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Add sour cream. May be served immediately -- although it tastes awesome the next day.


Artisan Bread

The artisan bread recipe came from this website. The idea is to make a big batch of dough and then you can store it in your fridge for 2 weeks and just pull out a chunk whenever you want to make a loaf. You shape it, leave it on the counter for about an hour, and then bake it for 30 minutes. The key is to bake the bread with a pan of steaming water underneath which gives the bread its nice crusty outside and soft inside.

Here are the loaves I've baked so far. I think I can get at least 2 more loaves out of the batch over the next week.

Baking our way through winter.

February at last! On the other hand, it's only February?!?

We had another snow-filled weekend. We spent it in our pajamas, eating warm foods.

Amelia spent much of her time running around in her cape and hat, custom made by Kristilyn:




I sent Ben out into the snow to pick up ingredients for my soup craving. I made my mom's white chicken chili and experimented with some artisan bread. Go here for the recipes.







I also spent the weekend completing my chocolate chip cookie experiment. Go here for more photos and my winning recipe.




We ate a LOT of warm cookies over the weekend...


...and we did a LOT of puzzles.

Sadly, the weekend ended with a trip to the airport to send Ben off to Paris again. Fortunately, he'll be home just in time for the next snow storm this weekend.