Mr. Potato Head

Our Mr. Potato Head collection has a new fan! Logan was here for a sleepover and I figured it was time to get the box out. He loved them! Suddenly he was so ver interested in eyes and ears and arms and feet! He figured out quite quickly how to change them around and try out new identities. He must have played at the coffee table for almost an hour. We've got several potatoes plus a carrot and a corn. I remember my own Mr. Potato head set...we had to furnish our own potato. Yikes! Yuck! Fun! REAL POTATOES!!! I like to have kinda crazy toys the little ones ask for when they come. I'm sure Logan will be after "Tato Head" in the drawer the next time he's here!!

The Three Musketeers

We had "the boys" here tonight...the "Three Musketeers"! Carl and Gus were having a sleepover because mom is out of town, and Logan joined us for supper and the evening. Of course it was so much fun, and busy every minute! As always, the big bin of Legos needed to come out. Even Logan is now old enough to play with "little Legos".

And after supper there were Valentine cupcakes

and reading "Where's The Mouse??" with Poppa

Logan went home at bedtime...but Carl and Gus stayed awake awhile reading their new Valentine books with their new booklights. Who can possibly tell them they need to go to sleep? How cute is this??

Sugar Love

This year it was Hearts and Sugar sent off to our families for Valentine's Day. I've decided that sugar cookies are by far my all-time favorite cookie on earth, and I LOVE decorating them for holidays!! This year I got a little carried away with the decorations...but I was really having fun!! It's just another form of artistic expression!

Then there were the homemade Kaluha Truffles that I tried for the first time this year. They're a keeper! Cute baskets? huh? Gramma's love keeping their eyes out for something that will be fun!

So a stack of cookies and a basket of 'truffle-love' to all of our Valentine families!! And some Valentine love left for Grams and Poppa, too!!

Bups and Dorks

"Bups and Dorks" (or as Louise says...Bupths and Dorks) is the new game she created from the detergent cups and wine corks that Poppa and I have been saving. I find it amazing how much fun kids can have with things that aren't purchased as toys! She and her two brothers were having a sleepover with us while their parents had a sleepover somewhere else. It was an early Valentine for them....and a wonderful 24 hours for us!

Even Carl got into a round of Bups and Dorks with Louise. I think there are many variations on this game and we're likely to see it again!!

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Chinese New Year SOUP

We never need an excuse to get together...but it's always more fun to schedule our monthly SOUP night with a theme. We were still in the range of Chinese New Year, so why not?? The little ones love knowing that it's "lucky" to wear red and have learned about red envelopes. (they have $$$ inside!) Of course I love an opportunity to set table and decorate as well as find a soup or two to fit the occasion. I got out the paper lanterns, gold and purple table runners and perched a bowl of manderin oranges (for luck, of course) as a centerpiece.

Tonight it was Hot and Sour Chicken Cabbage Soup and Sizzling Rice Soup. Both received rave reviews and are on the "make again" list. We also had egg rolls and Chinese Salad with oranges.

We had coloring pages to keep the kids busy until it was time to eat.

And Jenn made her fabulous Red Velvet Cake, which we decorated with New Year's candy package wrappings from the Oriental Market. It was a belated birthday for Ron, and the cake was really fun and festive. Happy Birthday Kung Pao Ronny!!

I think everyone...the big kids and the little ones...always enjoy when things are special....when get-togethers become an EVENT!! And I get my energy from creating them. It's always been my belief that you need to "Make Memories" because they don't just happen!