Me and my girly

Finally some snow!

This has been such a dry winter.  Up until the middle of February, we had had like 2 snowstorms and only about 2 inches each.  Our grass was looking so dry, I was starting to worry if it would all come back in the spring or not.

But about the middle of Febuary, we finally got some real snow!  We got 2 snow storms in a week that were significant.  The boys were so excited, they wanted to go out and play in it right away.  One morning they went out for about a half hour before school and they had so much fun.  Then, when they got home from school, Logan went out again for over an hour!  The boys were definitely missing the snow.

Ashten, however, is more like me: it is not fun going outside in the snow!!  It's cold and it's wet!!  She watched her brothers playing in the snow and then she said to me "my brothers are crazy, it's cold out there!!!"  Yep, I totally agree Ashten!  So we just stayed inside and took pictures of those crazy boys instead.

Axum restaurant

A long time ago, I had bought a groupon for an Ethiopian restaurant, but we had been putting off using it.  About a month ago, our church had a parent's night out, so we took full advantage of the childcare and finally went the Ethiopian restaurant.  Axum Restaurant was so yummy, we definitely want to go back again!!

We got Sambusa with Vegetables for our appetizer.  For dinner Chris got Dero Tibs (boneless chicken breast sauteed in a special blend of spices, onion, tomato, jalapeno pepper and touch of garlic mixed with herbal butter) and I got ZilZil Tibs (strips of tender beef sauteed in herbal butter seasoned with onion, green and red pepper and rosemary).  They were both served on a big plate of injera (which is a spongy bread that you use to pick up your food - no silverware!!) with extra injera on the side.  

I tried making injera at home once and it was awful, so I was a little worried about that being a main part of the meal.  But this injera was so good, it tasted kind of like sourdough bread!!

All the people working there were so nice and friendly.  I can't wait to take our kids and our families there someday and eventually take our Ethiopian daughter there for some real Ethiopian food!

Ashten's favorites

Ashten loves the preschool director and the children's pastor at our church.  I mean totally adores them!!!  Every time we walk into church and she sees them in the hall, she gives them a huge hug and then asks them to come read her a book.  It's the cutest thing!  And of course, they are super loving and excited right back, which totally makes her day!

Ashten and Miss Karen

Ashten and Miss Amber

I am so grateful for these women!!

Piano duet

Brayden's choir teacher at church is a super accomplished violin player.  One night in December we were driving home from church and listening to Transiberian Orchestra and I happen to mention that Ms. Annie could play violin really good, just like the people on the CD.  Brayden immediately said, "well, maybe she would play a piano/violin duet with me sometime?".

Annie was all game!  They were going to do it in December right before Christmas since they had picked to play Silent Night together, but it snowed and church was cancelled, so they did it in January instead.  This was Brayden's first time playing with someone and he did good.  Annie was so great to let him do that, he still talks about it!!

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I tried to make a big deal of Chris' birthday this year because I don't feel like I ever do a good job of that and he totally deserves it.  He had to work that day as it was on a Wednesday, so I met him for lunch and we ate at Olive Garden (for free, thanks to a gift card!!).

That afternoon, when he got home from school, he opened up his presents and then we played a game as a family.  It was snowing pretty hard that night, so we decided to just stay home from church and spent the evening as a family celebrating Chris' birthday.  I made one of his favorite meals (BBQ chicken pineapple quesadillas) and one of his favorite desserts (cheesecake).  It was a good night!  

Then, that weekend, Chris and I went out on a date to celebrate his birthday just the two of us.  It was Denver Restaurant Week, so we went to Elway's!  It's a place we would never be able to afford if it weren't for the special menu they do that week.  It was a fun experience to get dressed up and go to a nice, fancy restaurant!  (I am totally kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of the two of us dressed up!)

Lego challenge

Once a week, Brayden and Logan have piano lessons.  Their teacher works at the church, so we just drive to church in the afternoon after school and she teaches them each a half hour.  During that other half hour that they aren't in lessons they usually get homework done or read or something.  But, over Christmas break they didn't have homework and had already read a bunch, so Logan spent some time playing with Legos.  I gave him the challenge to build a penguin and this is what he came up with!!

I am super impressed - what an awesome job!

I told myself I was going to do this more often because the boys love building Legos but sometimes they get locked into only wanting the sets and only building what it tells them to in the directions.  This challenge is good for them to see their Legos as just blocks and use them in other, creative ways as well!

New bows and a hint

When a friend posted on FB about her friend who was selling these bows to raise money for their adoption, I was all over that!!  God has incredibly blessed our adoption fundraising efforts and so we love to help others in their adoption fundraising as well.

We ordered the black and purple ones with the Africa in the middle so Ashten can wear them now and then eventually our little Ethiopian princess can wear them too!  For those of you just dying to know her name (coughdadcough), here's a little hint for you!  The blue/lime green one we had monogrammed so it is especially for little "K"!!

My favorite time of day

With a family of six, there aren't many times in the day where it is quiet and and it is not very often that I get a chance to be alone.  Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with Chris and the kids and all together as a family, and I love the volume and energy a big family provides, but it is hard to focus and re-energize when all the times are like those.

So, while some might think I'm totally crazy, I get up at 5 every morning so I can have a little peace and quiet and spend some time getting ready for my day.  I love the time I get to spend in the Word and in prayer, learning and listening and journaling!  And I also love savoring my daily cup of coffee!!

Homemade gifts

I am not a crafty person.  My stuff always comes out looking like a 5-year-old did it.  But Pinterest makes me believe I can be crafty after all.  I tried my hand at a couple of things for Valentine's and Chris' birthday this year.  I think they turned out pretty good!

First, for Valentine's Day, I saw this really cute idea for a craft with a deck of cards (original source).  I changed it a little because I know men need respect more than love.  Voila!

He loved it!

The second thing I made was for his birthday.  Chris LOVES back rubs.  And I am really bad at remembering to give them and then I usually fall asleep or get distracted in the middle, so my back rubs kind of stink.  But the kids like to drive cars on Chris' back and he really likes it, so when I found the idea for this shirt (original source), I thought it could be a cool birthday gift from the kids!

Now that I think about it, I kind of feel bad that I got him a shirt for his birthday that basically encourages the kids to climb on him while he's trying to lay down and relax, but he was a good sport about it anyway!!