Happy Birthday Daddy!

He had wanted to go skiing for his birthday, but then 50 mile per hour winds showed up...and he changed his mind.  So, rather than taking on the blizzard, we went glow-in-the-dark bowling instead, which was WAY FUN!!!  Afterwards, we met up with Mim and Pops for some Mexican food, and then toasted the Daddy with a citrus cake.  48 years young and looking good!!

Daddy/Daughter Flying

Home Improvements

At long last, the ill-advised yellow wall in the living room is no more.  Don't know WHAT I was thinking when I chose to paint it yellow all those years ago.  It was disgustingly dirty, as were the remaining three white walls in there.  Today, the accent wall is Halcyon Green, the other walls are a clean, snowy-white, and I really like the change.  New rugs are on order, and hopefully new light fixtures will be coming next month!   Amazing that just a little change in color palate can make things look so much different!

Behold!  The updated living room (not quite done yet - ignore the red rug).

New Additions to the Family

I suppose I should document the addition of a few more pets into our household.  Survivor has been the lone goldfish in his tank for a good seven years or so... and now, he has friends.  The same friend of the boys' that cleaned Survivors tank for us has since donated an algae eater and three other goldfish as companions.  He brought the four fish to school in a bread bag, kept them at school all day, and then my boys brought the fish home on the bus.  If they can survive THAT, then they are worthy of the Darwinian Aho tank.   The algae eater is in HEAVEN, because there's always an abundance of algae for him to eat.  He's certainly got his work cut out for him.  It's hard to take pictures of moving fish in a dirty tank, but I tried.  Here are Survivor and his cohorts... which have yet to be named.  If THEY survive years and years like Survivor has, then maybe we'll consider naming them.

Annual Late Winter Snow Report

It seems like we haven't gotten quite as much snow as we have in past years, but that doesn't mean that we don't still have PLENTY of the white stuff.  We're at 225 inches of snow so far this season, which... you know... seems about typical.  Actually, now that I check, it's nearly identical to where we were last year at this time.  But we've alternated a lot between warm and cold this winter, so we've had lots of melt off, and then replaced it with more.   Our own personal snow gauges are the hot tub, and the back porch with the door that has a full window.  As of today, snow is still pretty much up to the door-knob.  Not quite to the top of the railings, but definitely to the cover of the hot tub.  So whatever that is...

Little Flowers

Our Little Flowers group has grown and now has twelve girls from three parishes!  This is such a great group of young ladies - how I enjoy them all!!  It's the perfect "club" for us... beneficial, fun, and LOW COMMITTMENT!  How awesome is that???

For our February meeting, the girls made Valentine's cards, and then last night we took them to the Bluffs Assisted Living and the girls handed their cards out to the residents.  There were lots of smiles, lots of hugs, and I think it was a really cool thing all the way around.

This Poor Cat

A Sneak Peak

Quinn and Colby are in the school play this year.  They are working hard... their big debut approaches!  Here's a sneak peak of "The Beating Heart".

At Long Last... Winter Ski Flying

Rob has been adding new fuel tanks to his little plane, and the fact that he hasn't yet been ski flying and it's already February has been killing him.  Well, the plane is finally put back together, the weather is cooperating, and Rob took advantage.  Absolutely beautiful sunset at Gay Sands and Lac La Belle!

Feast Day Fun: Fat Tuesday

OK.  Mardi Gras isn't OFFICIALLY part of the liturgical calendar, but... you gotta do it, you know?  This is what our dinner looked like:  chocolate chip waffles, bacon, eggs and beer (for the Dad.  Not the kids).  That should hold us over for awhile, don't you think???

Burying the Alleluia

We'll sing the Alleluia again on Easter Sunday!  Time to hibernate during lent, little "Alleluia"!