Grafitti bandit strikes again...

Not much question to who the grafitti bandit is...since she thoughtfully signed her masterpiece for us! I am very proud of her for being able to write her name all by herself though!!! ;-) Except we do have a basket full of coloring books, stacks of paper, and blank notebooks all in the playroom...why is it just so tempting to write on the table (or doors, or walls, or clothes)?!?

Here is my creative artist cleaning again!

Stairs, stairs, stairs...

Ryder has discovered the stairs! It has been so nice to put him down and have him content to crawl around and play...but not anymore! In our house there are two steps from the family room to the kitchen, so the sooner he learns how to navigate them the better, since it really isn't worth it to try and gate all the way across the room.

He braved the stairs from the family room to the kitchen...

And managed to get himself all the way onto the step! He was so proud of himself.

Before he fell over, my poor little boy!

Some loves from Mommy make things better...

Happy again!

And today he crawled up both steps. Twice. Oh, boy.

Valentine's fun...

This is what the kids found with their valentine's for breakfast...

Yummy heart-shaped pancakes made by Daddy!

Cards for everyone and roses for me--thanks Steve!

This gigantic card...

...was a fun surprise!

Later in the day we had a chocolate fountain.

So much fun and so yummy!

I had to laugh when the next morning Brityn said with a big smile on her face, "It's still Valentine's Day because the hearts are still here!"

Happy Valentine's Day...

Ultimate Sugar Cookies...

We made some Valentine sugar cookies this week and the girls always love to help. And when you make sugar cookies, there are plenty of ways the kids can 'help'.

...playing in the flour, putting fingerprints in the cookie dough, trading cookie cutters with your sister, squishing dough in your hands...

But decorating has got to be the best part!

The girls were pretty good with the frosting.

They just needed to exercise a bit of restraint on the amount of sprinkles that went on the cookies!

Ryder got no frosting or sprinkles, but was quite happy with his plain ol' cookie. :)

Mmmmmmm, tasty! Don't even think about taking this cookie away from me!

Seriously, the best tasting sugar cookie recipe ever...

Ultimate Sugar Cookies

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup Butter Flavor Crisco
2 eggs
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, syrup and vanilla; beat until well blended and fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add gradually to shortening mixture, beat at low speed until well blended. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; shape each piece into disk. Wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

Place disk of dough on floured counter; roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 7 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet then remove cookies and cool completely before frosting.

If you love me...

During FHE Steve was teaching the girls the scripture, John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." He had the girls repeat the scripture back so they could memorize it. Brityn's version went like this..."If you love me, keep your 'mandments to yourself!"

Rainy day...

We've had a couple of rainy days here and the girls were thrilled to get out their umbrellas and go play in the rain. We watched the movie "Singing in the Rain" and now the girls have been tap dancing around the house.