Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, I almost did it! I wasn't going to make a theme dinner like I planned to. I just didn't feel like it and then thought I ran out of time. We all wore green, isn't that enough? (Zach had a green stripe on his shirt, I promise!) But then when Justin came home I could see the disappointment on his face, so I whipped out the dye and made Swedish meatballs, my Grandma Jo's recipe complete with green mushroom soup sauce, green boiled potates, and green peas. Our milk was even green! Now that I look bck on it, I am glad I didn't miss that opportunity!

Wacky Zachy!

Okay, this picture might be really sad, but it was als really funny. Zach was waking up from his nap sounding really frustrated so I went in there to get him. He had taken off his shirt partway and his head was inside the arm of his pajamas! During the time I ran to get the camera, he got his head out, it was really funny though!
Here is Zach being a big boy watching Baby Einstein's Old McDonald's Farm DVD.

Our Zachy Door and the Spinning Video

Here is Zach exploring the house. I am looking through the basement door at him through the cat door that the previous owners made from the basement to the main floor. It it pretty cute on the other side of the door. They surrounded it with brown crown moulding to make it fancy!

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Zach's Newest Talent

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Illegal Bird Chasing Videos!

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Here is the video I promised from our Florida trip!

Florida in February!

Well, Justin had the week off of school, so we had the chance to get away from the snow and ice winds one more time to visit my Grandma Jo in Florida. It was fun to introduce her to Justin and Zach. My mom met us there too, so we all had a great time in the pool, on the beach, in a lighthouse, at the Space Center, and on a pontoon boat. I realized that I managed to be away from the Canadian winter for 1 whole month! 3 weeks in CA at Christmas and now 1 week in Florida. That is the way to cope! :) Enjoy! He ate breakfast on her back porch almost every morning. He loved being outside. It was a whole new world! Her back porch is netted in so the Florida bugs stay out. She had a canal in her backyard where alligators and turtles live. She also had a yummy orange tree and grapefruit tree on her property. It was so fun, quiet (when Zach was sleeping) and relaxing!
The closest we got to snow all week! It was great! Zach liked the pool! He even has little swim trunks!We had a delicious dinner with Grandma Jo, Aunt Dot, Mom, Justin, Zach, Me, and My mom's cousin Greg and his wife Cindy.
Spoiled, happy Zach eating Grandma Jo's famous cherry chocolate cake.
Sorry Mom, but I couldn't resist. Here is my mom as the epitome of TOURIST. This is a great picture. This is outside the Space Center

Zach at the space center trying to take the hat away.
Zach teaching me about the universe.

Zachy's first taste of crab legs! What took us so long, you ask? I guess we just deprive him a little bit.

The view from our hotel in Daytona Beach. It was right on the Atlantic Ocean.
Daytona Beach
Zach and Grandma on Daytona Beach

The Ponce de Leon lighthouse near Daytona Beach that we climbed. That is 203 stairs to the top!

The daunting task. If you go fast, you get dizzy.

It was quite windy at the top. It was a welcome, refreshing wind though.

You really can still drive on the beach. It was fun. An ice cream truck on the beach! What more could you ask for!

There were thousands of birds onthe beach. I put on a hat and ran through them. We have a video, maybe I will post it. Only later did we find out that Daytona is a bird sanctuary and we weren't supposed to do that! Whoops!

We went on a pontoon boat ride through the inlets of the Gulf with my mom's cousin Greg. It was so fun! We saw a lot of dolphins and some really cool shells.
Zach enjoying the pontoon ride. I can't believe he is almost 1!
Here is a four generation picture: My mom, Grandma Jo, Me, and Zach Justin and his new friend. This bird would hang out on the beach waiting for the fishermen to throw him a fish. We named him Egbert.
Wow, look at that water! I thought the Gulf was dirty.

Justin burying Zach.

Poor Guy, I think he rubbed sand in his eyes!

The Beach Babes and a Baby:

Mom, Zach, and I on the beach. You can see my shoulders starting to sizzle!Zach's full body shot. I love those trunks on him!
Our last day there. We had a little beach photo shoot.
On our flight home we had a layover in Minneapolis. My Great Aunt Sam and Joanne came to see us at the airport and brought us a delicious lunch. It was so good to see them!

It's A Girl!

Nope, I am not pregnant, but I have some extremely exciting news in my family. My big bro Chris is the proud father of 6, count them, 6 strapping young boys all under 11. Today they found out that they are having a GIRL in early July! Yea, yea, yea! I am so happy for them. Now they can finally use the name they picked out even before they were married! We can't wait to meet Aubree Crippen!

"Babysteps to the elevator..." (name that movie!)

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Here we go. We are going to attempt a post without a picture of Zach. I hope it still turns out okay! :) Well, we had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I love Valentine's Day! It is great. I woke up to Justin's famous scrambled eggs, toast, oranges (California Oranges!) and milk. It was delicious. Especially since I was eating it in bed! What a treat. Man, I love that guy!
Well, while Justin was getting ready to go to school I decorated his "reading" spot with a heart table cloth, a BE MINE sign, and his favorite, a monster sugar cookie with frosting on it! He LOVES sugar cookies and I have to say, this one was SO yummy! It was basically a whole recipe in a heart shaped pan, plus the few cookies on top. That is one large and THICK cookie.

Can it get any better?
This was my favorite part of the day. Justin had a basketball game on Valentine's night, so we decided we would celebrate the next day, . . . but I couldn't wait, so I surprised him with a DELICIOUS dinner. We had spinach mushroom manicotti, homemade french bread, grapes, veggies, sparkling apple juice, and special jello (Justin was known as the jello and mashed potatoes boy growing up. He LOVES jello!) Anyway, I took Zach to the neighbors and when Justin walked in big band music was playing and I was all dressed up with a candlelit dinner waiting for us. He even went upstairs and changed into fancy shmansy clothes complete with a pink valentine's tie.
Here is the fancy jello. This was such a cool idea (off kraftfoods.com of course). You write a message in chocolate, let that harden in the fridge, and then make the jello in the decorated dish! So cute. Anyway, maybe it was weird to share all of this. Sorry if you don't like the mush, but it was just too much fun not to share! (And it was A LOT of work, so I had to show it off!)

Purple-People-Eater

No, Zach did not find a purple marker. He has had a thrush problem since, well forever. We finally decided to take the plunge and try the age old remedy gentian violet. This stuff is ruthless and stains anything it touches. It is pretty funny though! Hopefully this works.