playground fun

it's hard to believe that, 3 days before, we were making a snowman and having a snowball fight and crying because we loathe the snow :)  we made our way to the playground and enjoyed the beautiful 70ish degree temperatures :) 
hannah loved swinging, and K spent most of her time jetting from one thing to another... :)  but, for the few seconds she stopped, i managed to snap some pictures of her...  she's so hard to photograph; she's very uncooperative in front of the camera :)  i was thankful to capture these pictures of our playground fun in February.... :)

 (as mentioned about difficulty photographing her...

K - with her face looking at the ground...

i said, "Katherine, can you look up for Mommy?"

and this, my friends, is what i get :)

sleepy baby :)

***snow***

snowball fights, snowman building, giggles, and lots of tears... :)
...the pictures tell the story :)

...here's to hoping we get a little more white stuff...  while i think Hannah will stay in for it, i know that K would LOVE to play! :) 

meals for the week of 2.20.2012

hotel Rakow will have no vacancy this week...  both sets of parents will be visiting for hannah's "official" first birthday party...  the Rakows will be here Wed. through Saturday and my parents will be here Friday through Monday, probably.  my parents will stay at the Best Western a few minutes away on Friday night so that they can be here on Saturday for "the big par-tay" :)
i'm hoping things are simple this weekend for Hannah's party.  i want to celebrate her, for sure...but in all honesty, we don't need to have a huge party for her at this point.  some cake, ice cream, snacks, socializing, and presents with family and friends will be just fine :)
so, meals this week will not be all that planned...  when my mother in law comes, i turn the kitchen over to her... i love her cooking (we all love her cooking), and i honestly enjoy the break.  she's so much faster and skilled in the kitchen than i... :)  i will probably cook for their arrival on Wednesday, but the rest of the week will be her menu :)

so, what we'll be having... :)

Sunday:  order in with friends, in a blizzard... :)  (more on this at another juncture :))
Monday:  happy presidents' day :)  cream of chicken and rice soup (probably my favorite soup)
Tuesday:  stuffed shells or leftover soup - not sure yet :)
Wednesday:  hamburger soup or stuffed shells
Thursday - the rest of the week:  this girl's off :)  yummy eats, however, without a doubt :)

it looks like the weather will be pretty here this week (again)...  my crocus have already bloomed and the daffodils are just starting to pop open...  as are the hyacinths...  the tulips are starting to come up, the day lilies and suprise lilies are leafing up already...  the ole groundhog told us that we'd have 6 more weeks of winter, but i'm not so sure... :)  either way, i will take what we get, but i am going to enjoy the sweet little flowers that are gracing us in mid-February :)

enjoy the week, friends...  be well :)

starry night

love this song... :)  happy wednesday :)

happenings and meals for the week: 2.12.12 through 2.19.12

lots on my mind in the last few days...but too much to write... :) 
and some of it is not "settled" enough to put down... 
but the fragility of life has made a very apparent presence in last few days...

my sweet baby girl turned 1 today...  i can't believe it was a year ago when she graced the world with her sweet self...  i remember crying when i thought i was pregnant in May of 2010...because i knew that i was pregnant before any test could tell me...and i was so scared at what a new baby would bring to the "chemistry" of this family...  and i was scared i could not love her as much as i love Katherine...i didn't think my heart had any more room...  oh, how wrong i was...and, as most said, now, i can't imagine life without her...  she is so sweet...determined...and just an absolute joy... :) 
i have another post with some pictures...  but i haven't loaded the one from January and tonight's "first birthday" shot. :)  later this week, i hope...

and Ry and i celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day...  but this is our 16th Valentine's Day together...  i remember when we used to write novels, declaring our love for each other, in those "between you and me" cards :)  it's been a great 8 years so far...and looking forward to many more :)

but, our meals... :)  here's what we'll be eating... or have eaten :)

Sunday:  chicken pot pie (homemade...was really good but too rich...)
Monday:  el dorado beef casserole ("eh" - needed something...maybe taco seasoned beef?)
Tuesday:  ordering in for Valentine's Day/Anniversary :)  probably Italian :)
Wednesday:  leftovers
Thursday:  cheeseburger soup
Friday:  leftovers
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday:  roasted chicken


in closing, we heard a great message at church on Sunday (not that this is unusual...all Sundays leave me wanting more!)...  it was about a lot of "terrible" happenings...kind of a revelation sort of theme with famine and locusts and such...  we read in Joel chapters 1 and 2.  i was touched by the words of the second chapter....

So rend your heart, and not your garments;

Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Joel 2:13

i loved how this verse tells us to look back to God...and how He shows us grace and mercy, kindness and patience...  :)  some words i need to think about, for sure.... :)

enjoy your week, Friends.... :)  Happy Valentine's Day and cherish your time... :)

meals for the week: 2.5.12 through 2.11.12

happy February... :)  i like the month of February for some reason... :)  lots seems to be going on during this month...it's short, it can add leap year fun every few years, Valentine's Day, our anniversary, Hannah's birthday...lots of fun things :)  sometimes, when it snows it can be a month of random days off that are like little unexpected gift wrapped packages of joy... :)  yep, i'm still longing for some white stuff around here... :)

so what are we eating this week?  a little boring, honestly...but it's a little more exciting than most weeks :)  when i shopped on sunday, i got to buy cooking wine...never have done that before!! :)  that's probably all the excitement, though... hahahaha...lots of leftovers... :)

sunday:  leftovers (stromboli, chicken pot pie, raviollis)
monday:  leftovers (pizza)
tuesday:  navajo soup :) 
wednesday:  leftovers
thursday: pasta carbonara
friday:  leftovers
saturday:  eat out or breakfast for dinner

can't believe it's already time to start a new week...  weekends go entirely too quickly, honestly...  :-\

enjoy your week...hopefully it will move quickly so we can relish some more weekend time :)