some more snow day fun

We *finally* got some snow!  Maybe because the weather men said we wouldn't get any?  Figures... =)  The kids didn't have school today, so they're outside playing!

I took some pictures while Eli was napping...

building

the boys wanted some plastic bowls and spoons to help building their city

jaden, the snow warrior

the snow cream stash .. the boys insisted i keep these bowls safe in the freezer 

jaden's friend was working too hard to stop and pose for a picture

this is the best i could get of our back yard.  i waited too long and the kids pretty much trampled all the snow =)

the view from our front door

snow day!

Today is the first day we actually have snow on a snow day!  Wahoo!  Jaden was pumped.  He and the neighborhood kids played outside for a while.  I like to look at it from the window =)  

our backyard

eli likes it! =)  he was a little hesitant at first, but then loved to play with it.

jaden and his friends made snow angels all over our yard

elijah's done playing.

catch up post

Wow, time flies!  It's already the middle of December!  

A lot has happened in the Coller house the past 6 or so weeks.  My free time has been spent running, or taking Eli for walks, nursing, cleaning...etc, etc.  I'd sit down at the computer and think "I should blog" but really, I'd play around on Pinterest or scroll through my newsfeed on Facebook.  

Anyway, Eli's napping so I thought I'd actually catch everybody up! =)

*Jaden turned 6!  We had a super fun party at my parent's house.  The night before, we decorated the house and put streamers on his door.  The day of his party, we had a bouncy house and lots of delicious food and family and friends came help celebrate.

my aunt mary and i taped streamers over Jaden's door...he was supposed to walk through them, but ended up crawling underneath them! =) 

the streamers

the birthday boy

some of Jaden's friends =)

*We celebrated Black Thanksgiving (lol-get it???) in Yorktown with Derek's family.  We didn't get many pictures over break, so these will have to do =)

jaden's a goofy kid, for sure

Eli got a lot of naps in with Grandpa

by the way, Eli's 9 months!  Crazzzzy

 *We took the kids (with Grandma and Grandpa) to meet Santa at the Yankee Candle factory in Williamsburg.

and, Eli got to meet Santa for the first time

zesty lemon loaf

Brrrrr, it's cold outside!  Jaden and his friends chose to play outside this afternoon.  Kids never seem bothered by weather, do they?  (That always amazes me!)  The baby and I decided to stay inside and bake =)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest (I substituted lemon juice)
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of buttermilk (I made my own-just by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the milk)

Directions:
The loaf:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In a medium bowl, sift together the first 4 ingredients.  Set aside.
-In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar
-Add eggs, one at a time
-Add the lemon zest
-Mix in buttermilk
-Fold in the dry ingredients.
-Grease a loaf pan and pour in the batter.
-Bake for 50 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The icing:
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of white sugar
-Mix the above together until the sugar dissolves.  Pour over hot loaves and let cool.

blacksburg photo shoot

we spent the day down in blacksburg taking pictures of the kids =)

cute kiddos!

jaden had fun posing eli

fall foliage

one of my favorites

we also had a lot of goofy pictures...eli's thinking about eating grass

and dives right in

jaden's telling him to shape up

and look at the camera

this one's another favorite

the chunkers

i'm so thankful for these boys! =)

my handsomes!