Day 48 - 2/17/13 - Doggie Dress Up

When we play dress up, we go all out in our house.  Not only do we dress up, but we create a skit to go along with our costumes AND we include the dogs.  This time Lindsay dressed Jazzy up in a tiara and pearls and Lindsay wore a red sweatshirt and carried a basket.  Of course, Lindsay was Little Red Riding Hood and Jazzy was the Big Bad Wolf dressed up like Grandma.  I didn't get a picture of that one though because Jazzy was running around too much trying to get her tiara off.  Sparky, on the other hand, was very cooperative.  He was an alien who had come to Earth looking (hence the binoculars) for trouble.  Patrick was the helpful ninja sent to take out the alien.  I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long time.  I love the creativity of my kids!!

Karen

Day 47 - 2/16/13 - Crafting Time Take 567

Have I mentioned my children like to do crafts?  Lindsay woke up saying she wanted to paint.  She had the canvas all set up and ready to go before 8 am.  Sigh.  She and Patrick agreed calmly (amazing) that they would paint a sunset.  We had a good 30 minutes of quiet time of them working together to create their masterpiece and I love it!!!

Karen

Day 46 - 2/15/13 - My Children

My children are my greatest accomplishment, my pride and joy, my life, my everything.  For that reason I love taking pictures of them.  They are my favorite subjects and I never tire of looking at them, smiling at them, and laughing with them.  So, I apologize if you are sick of seeing my little ones but be prepared for more.  (Since I think my mother and bff are the only ones that look at this anyway I guess it doesn't really matter.) 

Karen

Day 45 - 2/14/13 - My Loves

I tried to take a picture of the children with their ridiculously priced As Seen on TV Stuffies that they got for Valentine's Day, but none of them turned out to good.  So, instead I'm resurrecting two of my favorite pictures of all my loves!!!  We have an incredibly hard time getting a decent family picture so I take what I can get.  :)  Here are two that I love!!! 

Karen

Day 44 - 2/13/13 - Patrick Presents

I am so proud of Patrick!!!  Patrick stood up and proudly read his PowerPoint presentation (with some help from his teacher) and showed off his junk project, mobile, board game, and legend.  He did a great job!!

Karen

Day 43 - 2/12/13 - Can you see me now?

I can't even remember what prompted this silliness, but the kids had a blast looking at my camera through their binoculars and telescope and I had fun snapping pictures of it.  We all laughed.  Good times!

Karen

Day 42 - 2/11/13 - More Daddy Daughter Dance Pictures

One of the Mom's at Lindsay's school is the resident photographer.  She attends most of the events, takes a ton of pictures, and shares them with the parents.  She is awesome!  Here are some adorable pictures she took of Lindsay and her Daddy.  Melts my heart!!

Karen

Day 41 - 2/10/13 - Pool Progress Part 2

Pool is up!!!!  Next up - deck!

Karen

Day 40 - 2/9/13 - Bayport Fun

Daddy had some work to do at a friend's house.  Since this is one of our favorite places to be, we all went along.  We enjoyed a chaotic lunch with 2 tired kids and 2 crazy dogs, and then went back to play/work.  Patrick's favorite place is by the water's edge!  The dogs love just roaming, swimming, and chasing the chickens.  Always an adventure, always a good time.

Karen

Day 39 - 2/8/13 - Date Night

The Keene family had a different kind of date night last night.  Lindsay and Daddy went on a date to the Daddy Daughter Dance at her school.  They cut a rug, had some pizza, and Lindsay got her face painted.  She was beaming when we came home.  She was snuggled in bed with Daddy watching Good Luck Charlie.

Patrick and I went to his school for movie night.  Patrick was Mr. Popular.  I was shocked at how many kids of all ages knew him.  We ate some popcorn and pizza, snuggled up, and enjoyed Brave.  I loved getting to spend one on one time with my Peanut.  When we left, I asked him if there was anything else he wanted on our date night.  He replied, "How about icecream???"  My kind of date!!!

Day 38 - 2/7/13 - Working Hard

Patrick always wants to work at G and Grandpa's.  After Patrick asked for some rope from Grandpa, I had to go check out what he was doing.  Well, he had tied the rope to a tree and was using the rope to help him climb up the tree.  All boy!!!

Then I saw him run into the shed.  When he came out, his pockets were a little bulky.  He climbed up and this is what he did.  I guess the tress needed a little trimming.

Karen

Day 37 - 2/6/13 - More Puppy Pictures

It's been a few posts since I posted puppy pictures.  So here you go.  I actually got a couple cute ones of them together this time instead of separate.

Really, could they be any cuter?

I love this one.  Jazzy is in what we call the crouching tiger hidden labradoodle pose and Sparky is ready to pounce.  They play/torment each other all day.  It's funny to watch!

Karen

Day 36 - 2/5/13 - Ladybug Boy

I love my Patrick more than anything.  He is so creative, so imaginative, and so unique.  He often tends to get somewhat obsessive about things.  His most recent obsession has been ladybugs.  He hunts for ladybugs outside almost everyday.  For some reason, we have had a TON around our house recently.  We even found one in the car the other day.  (I've always associated ladybugs with my Gramma and Grandpa (not sure why), so I welcome the ladybugs presence.)  Patrick has been creating "ladybug habitats", feeding them, watering them, and occasionally loving them to death (literally).  He checked out a book from the library all about ladybugs and now we all know many interesting factoids on ladybugs.  Did you know a ladybug can retract its head into its body?

I love this picture of him sweetly looking down at his precious ladybug with his shoulders shrugged.

Karen

Day 35 - 2/4/13 - Peace, Love, and French Fry Grease

Have a mentioned recently how awesome my in-laws are?  Well, they are.  I can't even put into words how hard it is to be away from my family, but I am so thankful that I am blessed with such wonderful and caring in-laws.  They do so much for us!  They watch our dogs everyday for us while we work, they help with taking the kids to and from therapies, appointments, practices, etc., they watch the kids whenever Will and I need a night out together, they shower us with gifts, they teach and talk to the kids about so much and most importantly they show us love!

So, this weekend when we had a party for Jakey the dog.  My father-in-law, Mike, made his specialty - homemade fries!  This man is a frying machine.  I have never cared much for eggplant but couldn't get enough of his fried eggplant.  Lindsay wanted to help Grandpa so she became his assistant.  I felt a little emotional watching him talk her through soaking them, cutting them up, and then watching them work on frying them.  It brought back so many wonderful memories I had with my Grandmommy in the kitchen.  I am so glad that my children have both sets of their grandparents in their lives and that they are around to create such wonderful memories that I know they will treasure in the same way that I do.

Karen

Day 34 - 2/3/13 - If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake!

February 1 was my in-laws dog, Jake's 2nd Birthday.  Since we love any reason to throw a party, we decided to have a birthday party for Jake.  Will grilled up some chicken and chops, my father-in-law made his homemade fries with a little help from Lindsay (see next post), my mother-in-law prepared the sides, and I baked the cakes.  Now, I am not the best baker but I do enjoy it.  Both cakes were a HUGE hit!  

The human cake was a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake.  Here is the recipe.  I adapted it a tad.  My frosting was a little runny and my cookie dough balls were not freezing fast enough so I just mixed the cookie dough batter into the frosting.  The end result was delicious!

  

The dog cake was made from this recipe.  I used the cupcake frosting recipe that was lower on the page to frost the cake.  I used shredded carrots for the wording, lined with treats, and, of course, rawhides for candles.  The birthday dog gobbled his slice in only 1 bite.  All of the dogs ate their slices in less than 5 seconds. I would say it was a hit too.  

Overall, I was pretty proud of my skills!

Karen