Happy birthday to ....... someone!

The upside to living in a close-knit neighborhood.........lots of friends to play with.  

The downside........getting a chunk of birthday balloons stuck in your tree.

"Warm" cocoa

Hanna is so my daughter.......on sooooooo many levels.  She loves to have hot chocolate after playing in the snow just as I used to.  Only we can't make it too hot and we drink it from a straw (an idea I got from a friend, I think you Chris).  We still have to plop in some mini marshmallows!  Haley is along for whatever.  She just wants to be included bless her heart!

Frosty the snow punk

I love that my husband loves to play in the snow as much as I do.  Maybe even more so since he is always a willing participant in all activities involved; dressing the girls in their snow gear, rolling massive snow balls, and even pilfering our garage for spray paint to make Frosty a decent mohawk.  No way we could sit this one out as this snow brought the best packing snow ever!

Peanut butter cookies

Snowy weather invokes baking........for me anyway.  I yearn to whip up some cookies with Hanna whenever the white stuff decides to grace us (which has been quite a bit this winter).  Hanna is always happy to suffice;  maybe with way too much enthusiasm.  I know the world wide web is a plethora of cookie recipes but I had to share this one myself.  If you subscribe to Martha Stewart Everyday Food you will find this recipe as Emeril's entry for the month of March.  They will be the easiest cookies you ever make!!!  And trust me, they are delish!

Peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies

• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. semisweet choc chips
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  In large bowl, combine all ingredients & stir with wooden spoon until smooth.  Divide dough into heaping tablespoons (or use your own judgement as I do).  Roll into balls and place onto ungreased baking sheet.  Using a fork, press on dough in two directions to form crosshatch pattern.  I like to dip my fork in sugar while doing so!

Bake until puffed and lightly golden, 10-12 min.  Cool on sheets and enjoy!

Haley's anecdotes

Haley is saying the funniest things these days so I thought I would share:

• She is under the impression that a witch resides in our front door and whenever she walks by it she says, "Mommy, dare's a witch in dare."  And she even looks toward the door as we pull out of the driveway and says, "Bye witch."  Or "Hi witch."  It's getting a little creepy.
• When we're in the car and she sees a deep ravine she'll say, "Mommy, don't go down dare.  Dat's bay dangewous."
• She and Hanna were watching a movie last night and I heard her say, "Hanna...........you're soooooo pwecious."
• Her new favorite thing is pretending to be a baby.  She says, "Goo-goo gah-gah."  And asks for her "Bah-bah" to drink.
• The other day I was holding her and talking with a neighbor and she looked at the lady and said, "I angel."  Ha!  
• She will argue with you over just about anything.  She swears that a penguin is in fact a duck and that the sun is really the moon. 
• She sees Hanna playing on the computer and when nobody is watching she messes around on it.  When I catch her she smiles and says, "I play on the compootee."
  
• "Mommy, I got burgers."  I don't think I need to explain that one.

That's all I can think of right now but every day we hear something new and funny!

Dinner and a movie

Some winter weekend nights are made for eating dinner while watching your fave Disney movie; albeit we don't make this

a habit in the Kaiser household.  I think the movie of choice this particular night was Cars.  Who knew a 

couple of cheap dinner trays would make them so happy!