Chef Norrie

Ian has really been watching daddy closely. Especially when he makes lunch and dinner. He loves cooking. I let him salt and stir the tuna salad we ate for dinner last night. After he was done, he made some cashews (stirred them in a bowl). He was absolutely devastated when it was time to stop and get ready for bed.

Here are a few short videos of him in action - part I and part II. It's possible you won't love them as much as I do, but I just think it's the sweetest thing, and he's pretty good at it too!

Mr. Plow

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Don't misunderstand me though, I'm definitely not complaining. Sometimes it's nice to take it easy.

Saturday we were up at 6 am, so we took showers (Ian took a bath) and went grocery shopping at Sams. Came home, ate lunch, took naps, played, ate dinner and went to bed. Sunday was much the same except we went to Target & Joann Fabrics, and John had some fun with the ATV. It snowed after he plowed the first time so he got to have fun twice!

Much Love,

Ice Cream Anyone?

Today was the first snow day of the year. I was finally able to get out of the house in the afternoon to get ingredients for ice cream cone cupcakes. After Ian Michael went to bed, we started working. The recipe said to fill the cones with 1/4 cup of batter. It's important to note, If you do that, you'll get melted ice cream cones. The batter will overflow and drip down the side of the cone. IF I make them again, I'll be sure to remember that. It's OK though. The kids loved them, and they had fun making them. Honestly, putting icing on anything makes them happy.

Much Love,

Boys and their Games

Jacob and William love playing Wizard 101 on the computer. Looks like now Ian is starting to like it too. He had his notebook and Crayon so he could take notes. He sat in his chair for 15 minutes or more, which for a toddler is a lifetime!

Much Love,

Valentine's

For our Valentine's this year, I borrowed an idea from one of my favorite blogs, and we made these cute candy bags. The boys had fun helping {and eating}. Plus, I think they were excited to hand out something a little extra special to all their friends. Happy Valentine's Day!

Make your own!!

Much Love,

D11 Orchestra Concert

Saturday, Jacob and a lot of other District 11 orchestra players came together to give a performance in the gym at Mitchell High School. I must say that even though the songs they played were simple (i.e. Hot Cross Buns), it sounded really cool because there were so many of them.  Actually, I was quite impressed. I also noticed there were a ton of 4th graders but not too many 5th graders.  I really hope Jacob continues to play in 5th grade. Playing an instrument is neat, and I think it makes you smarter. Plus, chicks dig musicians! :)

Granny

Last week on January 25, my granny, Elsie Louise Herlyck, passed away. This Tuesday was her funeral. My brother said some words in her honor. Here is that speech.

"Owner of the cleanest Crawl space in town. Insisted that we mustn't waste, especially food. Always willing to threaten and if need be use a pizza paddle to send her message. Proud owner of Ford LTD. Dated and covered everything. Just about everyone received at least one article or newspaper clipping from her. Invented scrapbooking before creative memories existed. Cutting out obituaries on page 2 of the Chieftan. The most talented painter I’ve ever seen, always able to get the most perfect edges free hand. The most frugal of savers, like the time she worked late to save to buy bikes for her daughters. Loved to visit with people and spend time with people, always quick to offer them passels and patizza, when on hand. Enjoyed a good worry, her way to show that she thought about us over and over, concerned for what might happen to those she loved. Loved and cared for her grandchildren whether it was to provide food, shelter or a special gift, she let people know they were important.Insisted on having guests clean their shoes, enough said there, p. s. it will keep your carpet clean. Diligent woman, always able to make a sale. Put others before herself. Self sufficient mentality born out of the great depression, letting others know that she had felt what it was like to do without and thus insisting on others making do.

A few years ago I called Grannie to wish her happy Birthday. And we spoke for some time, I of course wished her a happy day and we talked about how things were going. I knew this was a huge opportunity to share some thoughts with her as an adult. I reminded her of the time she said always save your pennies, because you never know when that penny might make a dollar. I told her I loved her and said goodbye. You see, in all these ways, so much of what we learned from Grannie was done through action and not words.

You see in so many ways Grannie took care of herself, never wanting to be in an imposition. But there was one thing that she had to rely on God and specifically Christ for. That was her salvation. Grannie had accepted Christ as her savior confident that he had forgiven her sins. With this knowledge we have the hope of seeing Grannie again. If you know Christ you can bet on seeing her again one day in heaven, too and I know she looks down on us today, free from pain and restored to her savior."

Granny with her childhood friend, Francis

Fishing at Pueblo Reservoir

Granny with Molly and Makennon

Love you granny. Thank you for all you did. It made a difference to me, and I know I'm not the only one.