SLEDDING IN GRAFTON

Now that snow seems like a distant dream, I'm posting my last snow pictures. A few weeks back, Matt and Tricia invited the folks from church out to the property of Matt's family to do some sled riding. I didn't take many pictures as I was engrossed in conversation with Tricia. :-) The log you see to the right of Ben made a nice sled jump. William went over it again and again, getting some air every time.
Amelia took a turn or two with dad.

Mr. Evan Jackson playing with Amelia.

Some of the young men created a couch-sled by attaching some snow boards (I think) to the bottom of a loveseat.

This is a pretty good shot of the sledding hill. The fellas are carrying up the couch sled for another ride down.

The video below is sideways. I wasn't going to post it because it is difficult to see, but I had a request for it. :) You can see for yourself (sort of!) the journey of the couch-sled down the hill. Someone stayed behind it to push it and keep it going (or maybe to steer it?). Samuel was riding the couch for this trip down.

VALENTINES DAY (A FOODY POST :))

I thought it would be fun to try an extravagant dessert I saw in an old Martha Stewart Living issue for a Valentines Day treat: Rocky Road Tart Melting my chocolate for the ganache filling.

The pie pan was filled with a graham cracker crust that I pre-baked and then piled up with toasted almonds, marshmallows and bittersweet chocolate pieces.

Samuel took this photo of me pouring the ganache over the top. Just needs to chill in the fridge now.

Moving on to our dinner. I usually cook an extra-nice meal on Saturday nights as part and preparation of the celebration of the Lord's Day on Sunday. So, even though Valentines Day was on Sunday, we just turned our Sabbath Feast into a sort of Valentines Feast as well.

I decided to try some new recipes for our dinner as well. The main dish was another magazine find, Chicken Piccata. I had a sample copy of Cuisine magazine that had an article about making cutlets of different kinds of meats. I was excited to try it out. I had never found the trick for making chicken cutlets. Above you can see that I salt and peppered them and then coated them in flour before frying them in my skillet. Really, a very simple and delicious preparation.

Getting ready to pound my chicken pieces into cutlets. It worked beautifully. It's all in how you cut the chicken.

The sauce, with lemons and capers.

Topping my chicken.

Dinner is done! I had previously made some rosemary and olive oil bread.

I think it looks rather attractive for a festive meal.

I also had tried out a new recipe for a cauliflower and potato casserole. The creamy sauce on top had jarlsburg cheese melted into it and it was scrumptious!

We passed out a few little Valentines treats after supper. Amelia got some chapstick and some pencils.

The boys got some Chiclets gum and pencils.

Ready to serve dessert.

A really rich slice served with black coffee. :)

The kids were very excited about it.

They love anything with chocolate and marshmallows really seal the deal.

So, even though I thought it was difficult to cut and difficult to eat overall, they didn't mind a bit.

:)

On Sunday morning, Peter made everybody Strawberry Shortcake, as a treat for me. YUM.

Piles of whipped cream....

Looking mostly still asleep here, she's not sure why I'm taking her picture. Don't you know it's Valentine's Day, Cecily?

BUSY WEEK

Beginning today, the kids are doing their annual assessment testing. I'm taking Samuel, William and Benny (his first year) to the testing center for three days to give an account of all they have learned. :) This week also is the semi-annual children's clothing sale that I shop at to get all of my kids clothes. I do a lot of prep for this by going through all of the clothes for the upcoming season and seeing who is in need of what and making a list to know what to shop for. I'll be shopping at the sale Thursday and then returning to shop again on half price day (Friday). The last bit of activity and news around here is that the unfinished work room in our basement is being renovated and finished to add another room to our house. Work began yesterday and will be continuing for quite some time. Our laundry room now has a hole through the wall into the unfinished space where a new doorway is being put in. Excitement!

Just thought I'd give a brief account of our week and let you know why I may not be online for a bit! Have a great week!

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

I'm late announcing this, but I thought I'd share that my friend, Jocelyn, had her baby on February 20th. The new member of the Oldland family is Caleb Sovereign. I believe he was 8 lb. 3 oz. and everything went well.I got to visit Jocelyn and Caleb in the hospital a few hours after his birth. Isn't he amazing? Praise God! We're very happy for the addition of this new blessing to their family and to our church. :)

WILL IS 9

His birthday was a month ago, February 6. I guess I'm catching up gradually here!His is still the first birthday we celebrate each new year.

It's exciting to see our boys reach these older "big-boy" years and think of all they've learned and accomplished. Sam and Will aren't really little boys anymore.

Will wanted me to a make a three-pizza feast for his birthday dinner. He wanted 1)Pesto, mozzarella and tomato 2)Three cheese with kalamata olives and garlic and 3)Ham and pineapple. That was a fun dinner choice.

"Where's my pizza? What's the delay?"

A slice of each.

Time for the party.

Cards and gifts. Several of his gifts didn't arrive in the mail in time due to the big snowstorm. He didn't mind. Opening gifts after your birthday is pretty fun!

Looking at cards from his brothers.

Reading a card from Grandma Bethel and Grandpa Larry. (My grandparents)

First gift.

The newly-released N.D. Wilson book, The Chestnut King. This is the sequel to the book he got for Christmas, Dandelion Fire.

Already can't put it down.

He's already got the ribbon off, but here's a something from my parents.

What will it be?

2 more hardback Narnia books for his collection.

Last, from Peter and I...

The second of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on CD. He got the first one for Christmas.

The dessert he wanted was Tapioca Pudding. That was fine with me, but I wondered if he might like something else with it? We decided on some giant oatmeal, dried cranberry and chocolate chip cookies. Yum. Since there really wasn't something to stick a birthday candle in, we lit and blew out the candles in the candelabra.

Later in the mail, A Trumark Slingshot from us, a really nice Yo-yo and yo-yo trick book from Aunt Leslie and Uncle John and some more cards and money from Grandma Betty/Grandpa Jerry and others. Thank you for making his birthday special. :)