Oh Piano

We gained a piano in our home last weekend.

Which made my girlies very happy :)

From my parents house to ours ...

We just had to get it moved ...

Which meant we needed a few good strong willing men :)

Little Man thinks he's pretty big now ....

And should be allowed to help out now that his muscles are large ...

but he is still asked to get out of the way with big heavy items ...

By.

His.

Mama.

So instead he settled for being the foreman ....

We needed a lot of strong men to help move this baby!

So we begged asked for reinforcements ... and forced asked my Uncle for some help ...

Then we begged asked my Grampie to come lend a hand too ...

because apparently these pianos are heavy or something ....

It's here now :)

Surprising The Kids ~ Going to see ??????

Last weekend we had a little surprise for the kiddos ! Hubby wanted to do more than just tell them the easy way. So he made up a little scavenger hunt to keep the suspense at bay a little longer .... He's inventive like that ... Me - I wanted to shout it out to them the minute we knew we were going ..... Instead I had to keep the secret for an entire 24 hours ....

So here they are all set to go on their scavenger hunt ...

The kids look a might confused ... Wouldn't you say ?

Question of the day : " Why do we have to wear our coats for this ? "

They started at the playhouse ...

That's why!

Look at all that white stuff !

Then back in the house and everywhere ....

Be thankful I'm not uploading every picture of all 15 spots they had to go ....

Your Welcome :)

Getting closer! 

Finally an envelope !

Cooper was getting excited ...

I have an inkling they thought tickets to Disney World might be in that envelope ..

Mainly because they kept saying...

" Are we going to Disney World ? "

" What does it say ? "

Meanwhile, Little Man is like ...

 " I don't see Mickey Mouse anywhere on this paper . " 

"Are you serious ? "

Yep!

Front Row Tickets to TobyMac :)

FRONT ROW !!!

Bring on the earplugs to save their precious little ears ...

Parents. 

Of.

The.

Year. 

:)

I think they got over it not being Disney World pretty quick !

Something for us to look forward too ...

Concert May 1  :)

Valentine Weekend Recap

Valentine's was a pretty simple affair around here this year. The kiddos got a few small treats ...

A.K.A. ~ A Sugar High ...

The little bear was to put on Sammy's grave. We go down every holiday. Yes, I realize Valentine's isn't technically a real holiday but it just felt wrong not to go visit his grave that day .

The kiddos wanted to make a gift for Daddy 

So Maggey got her birthday gift out from her Aunt Beth ~ An airbrush machine ! They donned Daddy's old t-shirts ...

And got right down to business ...

The finished product !

A shirt made with Love for Daddy :)

Which he wore to work the next day .... ( under his sweater ) :)

My parents were going overnight to visit my sister and brother-in-law's. So my sis invited the kids to come. Of course they all said Yes !!!

And got surprised with a trip to an indoor amuesment park

Which is the only kind of amusement park you can have in a place where it's cold at least 6 months of the year :)

So it seems ....

So they went on rides ....

braved the roller coaster ...

I was so happy to see their smiles in the pictures ...

They've had enough sadness for a while ...

and had a little fun in the snow too ...

It wouldn't be a sleepover without Cooper checking out how stable the bed is ....

Then it was all over ...

They settled in for the long ride home ...

I know they are very thankful for our old I-phones filled with games ....

They had a great time :)

Thanks  : Mimi, Bampi, Aunt Katie & Uncle Adam 

My Valentine's Day gift, blown up and framed ...

We went to Samuel's grave on Valentine's. It was my first time down since New Year's. I'm so glad it was a sunshine kind of day . I think it helped keep my emotions under control while we were there . My Dad made the cross so it's easier to find Sammy's spot under all the snow. His headstone will arrive the beginning of June, so until then I'm thankful for a marker I can see from the road . The plastic that's covering all the flowers and stuffed animals from the snow was frozen to the ground so we had to leave his Valentine's bear exposed to the weather ... We've had two storms since then so I'm sure it's more than buried and lost under the snow now.

One more reason I can't wait until summer ....

Storm Day Easy Chili

So it's been snowing here ....

AGAIN !

They actually called this one a blizzard ....

The kind where if you leave your house then you are CRAZY kinda blizzard !

The kind of day you need to make some comfort chili :)

This is the easiest chili recipe ever!

My former pastor's wife WENDY was sweet enough to share this with me. 

It seems like I've been making it once a week this winter.

The secret is making enough so you have leftovers for a few days.

I make a double batch, so if you don't want a lot cut this recipe by half.

First throw some hamburger in a frying pan.

The amount is totally up to you. Some people love lots of meat and others can do without !

Cut up 2 onions, 3 green peppers and you can use red peppers if you want, but I didn't have any today ..

And remember snow storm !! So not going to the grocery store anytime soon!

Brown your hamburger, then add your peppers and onions.

Then get your biggest pot and dump in :

2 cans of tomato soup

2 cans of mushrooms ( drain first )

2 large cans of diced tomatoes

2 large cans of red kidney beans

In the meantime, try not to look out the window at the freezing winter wonderland ....

Then throw in your cooked hamburger, peppers & onions.

Add salt & pepper to taste and depending on how hot you like it :

1-2 tbsp of chili powder ....

Mix it all together and let it simmer for hours ...

Since you won't be going anywhere .....

Enjoy :)