59/365

When I think of Spring, I think of all the bright colors that it brings with it and all the smells of freshly bloomed flowers.  A sure sign of Spring is Daffodils.
When I first started in Banking, our bank participated in the ACS Daffodil Days.  Having lost my maternal grandmother to breast cancer, I bought a bunch for my mom.  I took them home to her and she just looked at me.  She thought it was a great idea, but she hated the flower.  Thought they looked like duck's bill.  (???)  So every year to harass her, and give money to a great cause, I bought her daffodils when the annual fundraiser came along.  She'd sigh, shake her head and throw them into some water.  Now that's she's gone, I still harass her with "those stupid flowers".  Now I get two bundles.  One for her on the loss of her mother, and one for me.  I place hers on her grave, when the snow allows, and mine get planted in the back yard.  Every year I see them bloom, I smile.  And I buy another two bunches.

58/365

Quinn is getting to the stage where we're not sure if he needs a nap or not.  Most of my kids went up to 5 or 6 with still taking an afternoon nap on the weekends or on days that they didn't have school.  Quinn loved the idea that we didn't think he needed one anymore.  So this afternoon we had "Quiet Time" where they all sat down to watch some Mario Bros. cartoons.  Within minutes, we found Quinn with his head behind a pillow, OUT.  He stayed there for about an hour.  But hey, as long as it was his idea it all works right?

57/365

I have a funny group here.  We buy bananas pretty much every week.  They either all go away fast, or I'm left with three really dead ones by the end of the week.  Always three though.  They know just how many it takes to bake a loaf of banana bread.  They all walk past the oven during the hour of cooking time to check the timer.  When the bell sounds, they all come running for a steamy warm, fresh from the oven piece.  I ran out of vanilla a week ago and tried adding a bit of almond extract instead.  It was amazing.  So now its a bit of vanilla with a bit of almond.

Best Banana Bread

• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 mashed banana's
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x5 inch pan.
2. Cream margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond extract, then bananas. Add flour and soda, stirring just until combined.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 1 hour (or till toothpick comes out clean).

56/365

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year came from my mother in law.  She bought me the Ninja food processor/blender.  It took me a bit to get used to it.  The first time I chopped up an onion, I had onion soup!  Now that I get it, I just love it.  I've been having fun making my own frozen drink concoctions.  If I have to live in cold and gross, at least I can pretend I'm sitting on a beach somewhere sipping a pretty margarita!

55/365

More pieces of stuff around the house?  YEP!  Between the gross rain, more snow and just the overall blah of New England in Feb. I'm at a loss of what to take pictures of lately!  I can't wait to take this 365 outdoors! 
February is why I hate New England.  It's usually pretty gross and depressing.  Everything is dead, there's usually snow and its the brown dirt mixed snow, not the pretty fresh fallen snow.  It's official, I'm over winter.

54/365

Did you ever just buy something and know that it would be perfect for your house?  We're trying this whole "grown up" look to our house.  Kinda getting rid of everything that we had that was mismatched.  I found this sugar bowl/creamer set that was just perfect for my dining room.  The porcelain looks a bit antique and the flowers are almost identical to the china set we have.  The Shamrocks add the bit of Irish we have going on in that room.  I am very pleased with my latest Home Goods pick up. 

53/365

When Quinn takes a tub, my floors get a thorough cleaning too.  First he soaks the floors with his bubbles and water.  This is a very messy task, but can be done by belly flopping in the newly drawn tub.  If that doesn't work, he tries pretending he's a shark or a penguin.  That will significantly soak the floors for the cleaning.

When he's done with the tub, he then slips and slides over the floors, Brian Boitano style on the towel.  It's always an adventure but it ends with sparkling clean bathroom floors.

Today's picture is me trying to capture his shark like qualities in the midst of his bath.

52/365

Today wrapped up a really great long weekend at home with the Clan.  We enjoyed just hanging around each other and we spent so much quality family time together.  We started today with Quinn, Loren and I baking some banana bread for breakfast and we ended both Sunday and Monday nights playing Ticket To Ride.  We had so much fun!   It's cool to see Loren be a strategist like her father.  And then there's Colin, with cards falling on the ground, knocking trains over and winning the game by a mile with just his good looks and luck.  Quinn comes and goes to check it out and to play with the trains.  Sits on the lap of whatever parent looks like they may be winning.  Looking back on the last three days, I know that I will treasure them all week.

51/365

We don't sit down to a family dinner as much as I would like.  I had a goal last year to have a sit down three times a week.  Well add dance class, the gym, soccer, and baseball to the mix and its all good in theory, not so easy to carry through into real life.  I do try to get one  home cooked, sit down meal on the family table on the weekends though.  Now that we have Shawn's grandmother's dining set, it seems so much more important to get them all sitting around us, sharing with us the Good & The Bad parts of their day.  I think she'd love the time we get together as a family, just enjoying each other and sharing a home cooked meal.

50/365

When we first moved into Knollwood, I was unimpressed by all the trees and critters.  Our back yard has a lot of older, moss ridden, funky looking trees.  My father in law thought putting a face on one would make it fun for the kids and less creepy.  He only upped the creep out factor by half.  About a year ago, Creepy Tree Face Man lost an eye.  So I'm pretty much freaked out every time I look out my back door.  Thanks Dad!

49/365

Loren is trying to teach the dog tricks.  Roll over is always entertaining to watch.  She tries to demonstrate to him what she wants him to do.  He watches her intently but only to figure out a way to snatch the cookie from her hands at the most opportune moment.  She will then get frustrated, call him a dumb dog and throw the cookie at him and leave.  I'm not sure he's as dumb as he's playing to be though.

48/365

I came home at a dangerous time today.  Middle of a big snowball fight in my front yard.  Tiffany's van took most of the hits though.  The picture today is a snowball that just missed my head and landed on her windshield. 
It was good to see them outside and playing around and getting some fresh air.  I don't think the little man is feeling all that great though, so it could be a long weekend here!

47/365

The kids have a SURPRISE vacation this week due to the amount of snow on the school's roof.  All schools in town shut down to clear up the roofs and to fix any issues with the building's structures.  Needless to say, my crew is getting a little bit of cabin fever.  Loren more so than the boys.  Today, she had a treat though.  While the little ones were down for naps, she and Tiffany took some time to make mini cupcakes.  Loren received a super cute cupcake maker from her Godmother for Christmas and this was her first time using it.  She was super sweet to her Momma too...they were made using the WW cake recipe.  She even made one with the Relay for Life Ribbon!

46/365

My lilies from yesterday are blooming and the whole office has such an awesome smell.  I took pictures today to show Shawn just how awesome his flowers look.  When he sends me flowers to work, I like to keep them there.  There's something about having a rough day and looking over to see the bright colors and to smell the sweet scent and remember that they are there, because he thinks I'm someone special.  Puts a smile on my face every time I look at them!

45/365

It's Valentines Day!  It was perfect weather too...sunny bright and WARM!  Snow is melting, New Englanders are smiling.  It almost feels like Spring.  I have these gorgeous flowers on my desk, big bright Stargazer Lillie's.  So the day even had a bit of Spring scent in the air. 
Tonight the air brisk with fast moving clouds in the sky.  The color of the clouds with the bright moon was just gorgeous tonight. 

44/365

I had to drop some things off at my dad's house today and took the camera along for the ride.  His neighborhood is so quiet and peaceful.  I was hoping to maybe see a bird as a sign of Spring. My step mother is very particular about her birds and their food, so they always have some pretty ones flying around.  Instead I got stuck in the middle of a snow squall.  My dad has this long winding driveway, that even in the midst of summer, I tend to be more on the grass than I do the driveway.  With all this snow, well, it was best if he drove down so I didn't do too much damage to the Volvo!  It gave me some time to take some shots of his house in the Squall.

43/365

Netflix is a huge hit at our house.  The kids love being able to download whichever movie strikes the mood that day.  Quinn has been watching the Care Bears a lot lately.  He's also found a love for Syd the Science Guy as he calls him.  It's funny, they are shows that are on TV, but he will only watch them on the computer.  I keep meaning to show him a Gummi Bear episode.  I really think he'd enjoy those as well. 

42/365

This phone does not belong to me anymore.  When it rings, Quinn is the first to grab it and answer.  Then he passes it to Loren.  Who gets about 90% of the calls that come into the house now.  No one wants to talk to us.  It's all friends for Loren.  I take that back...TruGreen Chem Lawn calls for Shawn daily.  At least he's feeling some kind of phone love.

41/365

Quinn is definitely his own little character.  He has his own mind and does pretty much what Quinn wants to do.  I think he does it to drive me buggy.  For instance..when it comes time to SMILE for the camera...he gives me silly faces.  This shot was him trying to get his hands into his mouth to make the face. He's an Imp!

40/365

Nope..didn't alter the picture.  We still have icicles on the house.  This one is the back though, where the picture before was the front of the house.  What I love about this one is that the sun was shining through the icicles. As pretty as it has been, its also been a bit scary.  Houses are caving in due to the amount of snow that we have been getting.  Our kids are not allowed into the Cafeteria's and Gym's at both schools.  I'm ready for the sunshine and the first signs of spring. 

39/365

I've taken a break from painting and redoing the rooms in our house.  It was a combination of Christmas and running out of the money to do it, but its time to get back into it.  Each time I finish a room, I just want to spend all my time there.  I bought these really cool lamps for my newest room.  It took about a week before a nerf dart took out one of the lamps.  I'm not so sure that the lamps are too practical, but I am drawn to it when I'm playing around with my camera.  It's unique enough to pique my interest. I'm still looking for lamps, but I think I may keep this one.

38/365

Tonight was the first time we tried Family Night at the Gym.  Both boys were really excited to go.  Once we all got bundled out, tucked into car seats, out of the cars, through the doors...and to the Childcare center, Quinn lost it.  HUGE meltdowns.  I could hear him crying from the locker room.  We gave it a few minutes, but he just wasn't going to stay there.  I didn't see the point of harassing the providers.  Shawn said we just keep trying.  It really makes me question if I made the right decision about not sending him to preK this year though. 

37/365

Loren & Shawn went to the yearly father daughter dance today.  Today's picture is me playing around with Picasa and her corsage. 
After the dance I asked him how it went.  He admitted that he thought it got a bit dusty(causing his eyes to water) in the gym while slow dancing with her.  He said he was trying hold on to the moment because it won't be much longer before she won't want anything to do with him.  I doubt this, he's an amazing father.  She seems to click with him in a way that makes me so jealous.  I wish I had half the father that he is turning out to be while I was growing up. 

36/365

Every other week I have to work a Saturday.  I hate Saturday's at work.  It's so hard to leave the family all warm and snuggly in pj's while I head out the door to a half day that is jammed with things to do.  When I got there today, we had to close our lobby because our alarm system was on the fritz.  No lobby means no customers for me, so I hung out with my buddy Ann at the Drive Up.  She put up with me snapping pictures of her like mad while she was trying to work.   When I first started in banking(over 17 years ago now!!!), drive up was always my favorite.  The customers are always happy, the transactions are quick and easy, and you have a big window to the outside world.  I miss those days!!

35/365

I have to sleep with an electric blanket in winter.  Not sure if its my anemia that causes me to be cold 24/7 or if I'm just a wimp when it comes to the cold, but the blanket makes me happy and shuts me up!  The downside of my blanket is when I get up to get my shower and come back to the bed, there is usually a child, or in this case a cat, in my nice warm spot.
I've known that Epoh isn't a normal cat, but to cuddle down with his head on my pillow, and his body under the covers is a bit much, even for him.

34/365

Want a Popsicle?  My house is making them!  All you hear on the news is how the snow is causing ice dams which in turn is causing roof damage.  Living in a Colonial, we have no way to get up on the roof.  I'm a mess of worry that our roof is going to come crashing down on us.  Luckily, the roof was in good shape before the snow and Shawn assures me that it will stay strong.
I just hope that if it does crash that 1.  we are not home and 2. it aims for my kitchen.  I'd love a remodel :)

33/365

How hot and sexy is this?  Send me to work in the midst of a ice storm and I really know how to sizzle ....  Ha!

32/365

Guess what?  More snow!  So far we have had another 8 inches of snow with about 10-12 more on the way.  This year is wild.  Add it to the 47 inches we had from Dec/Jan and we have a white hot mess.  It's pretty...and there is something really cool about waiting out a storm, but I've had to travel to work for most of these storms and it hasn't been a fun commute.  I'm ready to say I'm all done though.  I've had my fill of the white stuff until Dec!