Sunday Snuggling...

I left the kids in the living room watching a show before their naps this afternoon. I came back into the room and this is what I found... So sweet...

Cake Balls...

So do you all know what Cake Balls and Cake Pops are??? Bakerella has made them pretty popular so you probably have.If you have not had them you must, you have no idea what you are missing... They are the easiest thing to make, you take a cake, crumble it, mix it with frosting, roll into balls and dip into melted chocolate. But they are so yummy, like little truffles... Audrey and I made some today, strawberry cake with pink frosting for early Valentine's Day... These little things...
Made these smiles... Love it...

Izzie's Party...

Today was Audrey's friend Izzie's birthday party, and Audrey won't stop talking about it! Granted she loves parties, but all she has said all day is "Izzie's party was the BEST ever!". It was a brilliant idea for a winter birthday party. A local bakery, Ginger Betty's hosts parties and the kids got to decorate 2 huge gingerbread cookies with their own icing bag and every kind of candy imaginable. The girls were in heaven, and my sugar queen Audrey was no exception. The difference between Audrey and the other girls is she meticulously put candy on her cookie, Smarties to be exact, and the other girls were done by the time she had finished her 1st cookie. She lately has been showing traits of Charlie and I and all I could think watching her was "That is SO Charlie"... So here is the master piece in case you were wondering... I piped the icing, Audrey did the rest...


The birthday girl... They brought out a plain white cake and she got to decorate it with a girl that worked there, pretty cool idea...


Waiting patiently for her cake to come... Like she needed any more sugar...

Snow Day...

Well, we went to bed last night with no snow falling and woke up this morning with 8 - 10" on the ground. It has continued to snow all day and while we didn't get the "blizzard" they had predicted we sure are getting a ton of snow! The whole family had a snow day as there was no way we were driving into work in this. While Charlie was doing all the dirty work of snow blowing us out (and the rest of the neighborhood), the kids got geared up to go play. We missed the last big storm so Audrey was really excited to get out in it! I'm thrilled she likes the snow finally, I don't have to watch the rest of the neighborhood sledding while we sit inside and watch out the window. Chase is not overly impressed with the snow. He wants to be out in it and watch Charlie shovel and snow blow, but he wants to do this while being held which is overly difficult to do for a long period of time (his weight and slippery snow pants!).... Audrey loved sledding next door too, hopefully we can go back out after her nap. I didn't bring the camera over there which was too bad, watching the girls sled was priceless...

Twenty Months...

So I just re-read my 18 month post for Chase and laughed because not a ton has changed. Which is just fine. He is still a sweet momma's boy with a nice dose of temper thrown in when he doesn't get what he wants. He is enjoying the snow we have gotten, which makes me happy because Audrey hated the snow at this age as I am sure most of you remember. Chase actually doesn't like the actual snow, but he likes that snow means he gets to shovel. With any shovel he can find. Or broom, or anything else with a long handle... Kind of funny, expect when you want to bring him inside and he has different thoughts... His talking has improved in the past couple of months but he is still far from actually "talking". The number of words he uses seems to increase on a daily basis which is good, but we still tons of grunts and noises that are supposed to mean something which is frustrating for us and him. He is still just as cute as ever (I am not biased at all:), take a look for yourself...

Grandpa Lutz...

My grandfather, Robert Charles Lutz, passed away on Thursday. He was 95 years old,and lived an amazing and full life. I am so happy that he was able to meet Chase at Christmas before he passed, we cut it a little close there. I am headed to MI in a couple of hours to attend his funeral and celebrate his life with my family. I have many wonderful memories with him and my Grandma and can't wait to reminisce and have a drink in his memory, just as he would want... RIP Grandpa Lutz, you will be missed!

Christmas 2010...

Well, I'm a little behind, writing about Christmas New Years weekend... What are you going to do... We had a wonderful Christmas this year (as always) and spent it in Ann Arbor with my family. We chose to drive this year instead of fly as it made sense cost and space wise (gifts are tough to fit in checked bags!). I have to say it worked out pretty well. It was a 12 hour drive and the kids did great both ways, thanks mainly to the ipad and new DVD's we got for Christmas. We had not been to Ann Arbor in 2 years which is crazy (Chase had never been) so it was good to be home and to see lots of family. We went up to see my dad's family on Christmas Eve and Chase got to meet his great grandpa, great aunt and cousins for the first time which was awesome. Christmas was a whirl wind but so much fun. We had a packed house with all of my family plus my sisters boyfriend who flew in from Australia (makes our 12 hr drive seem piddly eh?) which makes to holidays so much fun. Audrey really got Christmas this year, it was the first year she got that Santa was coming and talked about Christmas constantly for the month of December (first year "you need to be nice because Santa is watching" worked too, nice!). Chase was along for the ride and enjoyed all of the new stuff, but really just played with my moms broom the entire time... We didn't take many pictures for some reason (which is too bad because my Christmas gift was a new lens for my camera) but here are a couple...

Bringing in 2011...

We had a great New Years Eve, it was just the way I like it... We stayed local and had our neighbors over for some yummy apps and drinks (I love any excuse to drink prosecco :). The kids had fun (though they totally don't get "new years eve") and got to throw confetti, decorate their own party hats and enjoy some pop rocks, brownies and other goodies.

Welcome 2011! 2010 was a good one, I can only imagine what is in store in 2011... Happy New Years to you all! Cheers!