TWO SNOW DAYS!!

As usual, there was a lot going on around the Vaughn house this week.  First, we finally got the pool covered with a safety net.  It has been in the works for a while, but it seems that it kept getting delayed.  Now, however, it is on and not going ANYWHERE.  The pool is no longer naked, but it is much safer.  We can now relax a bit more when we are outside with Sawyer.  Phew!

Before:

After:

Of course, there were also the "normal" parts of our week that involved Evan just being cute, and Benjamin getting crafty.

Then there was the great "snow" of 2014, and a day off of school!  Despite there only being a quarter inch of sleet, Evan proclaimed that it was a "snow wonderland".  The boys couldn't wait to get outside to explore this foreign matter, but it was not long at all that they were back inside trying to get warm!

Then back out again:

Trampoline ice angels:

The boys also enjoyed collecting snow and having real "snow cones".  I made some coconut flavored syrup to pour over them.  I recall making something like this back in 1985 when we had tons of snow in Austin.  We used Kool Aid mix back then....

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Lance had his birthday over the weekend, and it was pretty much his "birthday weekend", with two awesome dinners Friday and Saturday night followed by a small party with our life group and Bananas Foster.  Unfortunately, I only have pics of one small aspect of Lance's birthday extravaganza.  We had a delicious meal at Barley Swine.  I can't remember exactly when the below dishes were composed of but I think the first one contained fois gras butter and pork belly, and the second one contained whey panna cotta and grapefruit sorbet.  Wowzer!  The food was absolutely amazing!

Benjamin also lost his tooth over the weekend, it was his second.  He handled it like a pro, unfortunately the tooth fairy did not.  She was out of cash and had to give him a box of whoppers leftover from Christmas.

Sawyer was motivated by the focus on teeth and took it upon himself to brush his own.  Maybe its true what they say about the third child...

Finally, my blogging week ended with another snow day!  It was not at all as big as the last one, but there was enough ice on the roads in the morning to cancel school.  There was not enough to play in :(  But I did get a pic of icicles dripping from the end of the palm leaves.  Cool!

This week's Happenings

Wow, the weather has been gorgeous around here.  BUT..... the cedar pollen levels have been the highest in recorded history.  That being said, I have had to hide indoors for the past week.  So it was a good time to work on my newest pet project, decorated sugar cookies!  I volunteered to make some "girly" cookies for a friend's baby shower.  Little did I know that they were expecting close to 60 people.  On the positive side of things, it was fun trying out my new hobby and making some beautiful cookies.  On the down side, boy does it take a lot of (uninterrupted) time.  I think they came out pretty great, but there are a few things I'd like to iron out.  My friend Janet also brought a gorgeous cake to the shower.  I'll have to pick her brain for baking tips!  But the most important thing is that the shower was a celebration of a beautiful gift from God, baby Lucy.  I was so happy to share in my friend Sarah's joy of her baby girl, who she has waited for over the course of five difficult years.  Praise God!

Another happening in the Vaughn house has been the institution of a new reward system that we started to get the boys more motivated toward positive behaviors.  We got two clear jars and started rewarding the boys with marbles for good behavior.  Its been most helpful with Evan, had been pretty oppositional in the last few months.  He can now be excited about his positive behaviors and feel good about the progress he has made.  We rewarded the first round of marbles with lego kits.  Gee, I wonder how many of those we will go through in the next 15 years!!??

Evan has taken to photography ever since Benjamin gave him his old camera (we gave Benjamin one of our old cameras).  He is so cute going around snapping shots of all of us and saying "good one!".  He sure does take a lot of good ones ;)

Poor Sawyer has been sick for what seems like about a week.  Unfortunately, like his other colds, this one went to his chest and he has needed breathing treatments.  The positive news is that his illness seems to bring out nurturing behaviors from his brothers.  Benjamin soothed him in his crib, and Evan made him a "get well card".  The little guy was so miserable.

Lance also got to take part in Benjamin's Kindergarten class project when he joined another dad in helping the kids design and build a model rocket to play in.  This complements what they have been learning recently about the solar system.  I was actually there at the same time helping with an art project.  If I hadn't been so focused on the kids, I might have thought to take a picture of Lance!  Well, I guess he could also have taken a picture of me ;)  Anyway, the man in these pictures is the father of Cade, one of Benjamin's best pals.  We share a lot in common with this family, as they also have three boys about the same ages as all of ours!

Wow, as I've written this post I'm impressed with all that we did this week.  We are going to have to rest for a few days since we also have a lot on the horizon.  I will leave with a picture of the week.  Here are my precious boys wearing the necklaces that Benjamin got at the grocery store with his saved up money.  So sweet that Benjamin got one for Evan!

Evan's Birthday

Evan turned four on January 3rd.  We'd been talking it up for a while and I think he was pretty excited.  Since he is the middle child, we try to go a little out of our way to make him feel important.  I hope it is working!  He started the day with some yummy chocolate chip pancakes, followed by a visit and present opening with Amma and Papa, more present opening with Granmom, Grandad, Mamaw, and Megan, and finally a dinner with all of the Vaughns.  Lance and I had planned to take him to Dave and Busters without the other kids, but he decided that he would rather hang out at home with his new toys and extended family.  We tried not to feel too rejected ;)

Evan had a great birthday party the next day.  He had chosen Locomotion, a bouncy house located near our old neighborhood.  Quite a few friends from school were able to make it, and so did our old friends Sarah and Bryn.  I made strawberry cupcakes with vanilla frosting, decorated for a winter theme.  I also tried my hand at decorating sugar cookies for party favors, and I think it turned out pretty well.  Evan definitely got his share of sugar, especially when his daddy got him an ice cream sandwich after the cupcake!  Happy Birthday Evan!!

New Year's Eve

We had a pretty low key New Year's Eve this year.  Lance and I debated whether to go out, stay home and have people over, or just stay home and enjoy a night by ourselves.  We chose the latter, probably because we were so tired after Christmas.  The highlight for me was that Lance cooked!  He is a great cook, but he does so very rarely now that he is so busy with his new company.  He made some delicious scallops with a mango sauce followed by a beef filet oscar style.  We also came up with a delicious cocktail made out of vodka, lemons and coconut milk.  I think all this cooking was inspired by the new Vitamix blender that we got from my parents.  We started dinner so early, and were done by 8pm.  We both looked at each other and kind of wondered what we were going to do until midnight!  Somehow we filled the time and were able to stay up to ring in the New Year, but we sure did feel old in doing so!