Thursday, January 30, 2014

Sunday Sliding

Sunday after church, the weather was fabulous!  After getting home, we let Lulu out to run around in the yard for a while and Winston decided he wanted to do some sliding.  How cute is tiny person?  I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again... It's amazing how fast he has grown and developed this adorable personality.
He's got the concept of whipping his legs around to slide down feet first!
Success!  He loves to push himself down and as soon as his feet hit the pavement, he's ready to go again!
We put Lulu back in the house so that she wouldn't overdo it with her playtime.  Every once in a while Winston would pop over to the door, look in and wave.  His eyes just slay me!
Benjamin and Winston.  My sweet guys who make me smile from ear to ear!  I just about burst with love when I look at this photo.  If you look close enough you can see Winston's snaggle tooth.  A few months ago, I picked him up from school and noticed that his little tooth was missing the corner!  Now, I'm not certain that it happened at daycare, it could have easily gone missing the night or so before and it just so happened that I noticed at that particular moment.  Since we were headed to Benjamin's office to meet him to carpool to dinner, I just mentioned the missing piece and the next thing I knew Winston was in a chair with Benjamin firing up a drill!  Winston did great (with the help of the girls restraining him) while Benjamin made the tooth smooth.  And I like it!  I like his little snaggle tooth.  It gives him character.  Well, let me say this: it adds to the character he is already on his way to becoming!   

Plus it also made Benjamin break his dental rule: Never work on a family member!

Project 52: 2014.04

Last week the weather was beautiful at the start of the week and then got supa' cold and icy at the end of the week!  My boys enjoyed some time soaking up the sun and they shared an ice cream cone at McDonald's after church on Sunday.  I just love Winston's Silly Sausage jams.  We bought them when we were in Aberdeen last Spring and they finally fit!  In the evening, WAC and I spend time playing with Squigees after dinner.  Instead of sticking them to themselves to build a structure, we stick them to our heads!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

"Snow Day"

At the beginning of January I had scheduled today as a vacation day so that I could get some doctors appointments out of the way.  Thanks to the snow-pocolypse of 2014, I was able to spend my day at home with this little cheeser!
 We stayed in our jammies, enjoyed the fireplace, played with our toys, and did some Timmy Time watching with Lulu.  There was also napping.  Earlier in the day when the a snow-mushy hail fell from the sky, Winston and I did run around in the yard for about 3 minutes holding our hands out watching the flakes melt instantaneously.  Lulu watched from inside, nice and warm!
Winston loves hats.  LOVES them.  When Lulu dug this one out from under his bed today, he just had to have it on his head.  And there it stayed all through playing the puzzles, playing "where's Winston?" and couch snuggling time.  Its one of those little quirks that has been so fun to see develop!  {Although he may have inherited that from me!}

It was an unexpected delight to be able to spend the entire day with WAC!  Just love my little munchkin man!

Valentine's Favorites: Loves and Cuddles

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!  Where has January gone?  Winston helped me take my Valentine's decorations out of the tote this morning.  I always enjoy decorating for each holiday!  It's something my Mom always did to make the house feel festive and I loved it!  I hope that Winton will too.

Here are a few things that are on my Valentine's Favorite list for 2014!
Loves and Cuddles

Dachshund Love / Candy Heart Socks / Love Letter Shoes / Adoring Alien Jammies / Cuddle Pillow / You are So Loved

Winston has these jams and they are precious!  I may or may not have purchased these shoes this morning.  For $48, they are just too cute not to have!  And for all of the dachshund lovers out there, isn't that little guy in the middle adorable?  Perhaps a decoration for all year!

Do you have anything planned yet for Valentine's Day?  Does your family have any traditions for Valentine's Day?  I'd love to hear about them!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Project 52: Week 2014.03

One of my favorite things to do in the evening before Benjamin, Lulu and I head to bed is to walk into Winston's room to check on him one last time.  He's just such a precious muffin and I get a kick out of seeing what position he has managed to contort his body into.  Some nights his head is wedged against the corner buried in the bumper pads, some nights he has all of his blankets beneath him with bum in the air.  One night this week, he insisted on going to bed with his antler hat and this is how I found him...cuddling with Kermit.  He's always been a great sleeper and not a night goes by that I don't thank the Good Lord for that!  Benjamin went to Phoenix for a conferenced so I took the Friday he was gone off because there were house things to be done.  In the midst of being home for appointments, we enjoyed some fresh air in Old Town Spring and a Starbucks date with Dharma!  That boy loves him some petite madelines!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Project 52: Week 2014.02

Not much to report this week as Winston was fighting the arrival of two top molars, which thankfully have almost made their way through, along with a head cold due to the crazy weather!  Plus after dodging the sickness most of this winter (thankfully!), Benjamin came down with the newest strain of whatever has been traveling around and I've been suffering with a head cold!  Needless to say after all of that we did a lot of cuddling, couch time and Thomas time.  On an up note: I have cooked more this year so far than we have eaten out - so yay for that!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Project 52: Week 2014.01

A few years ago, and I do mean quite a few.... (2011 when I look back!) I took on what I called Project 52 due to my husband's wisdom of not wanting to get myself down if I didn't take a daily picture.  Now with the ease and quality of pictures on the iPhone, it's been recently that I have taken a picture almost daily - and I love it!  On the other hand, my computer memory and iPhoto library suffers from constant use!  

What I enjoyed about Project 52 is that is required me to be mindful and disciplined to take photos and then take time to highlight and be thankful for what had come to be in that past week.  And at the end of it all Benjamin made me a really neat book with all of my collages making a memorable souvenir if you will on what our life was like in 2011!  We already create a book for each year we're married, but the Project 52 book gave a completely different perspective - a more day to day perspective.  

With all of that prologue now complete, I am making one of my goals for this year Project 52 2014!  Some of the photos might be familiar to you if you follow me on instagram or if they are used in a post that I write up, so I will try to keep them fresh and new!  I am hopeful that I will be able to keep up with it and perhaps I can even get Benjamin to contribute a few photos!  
Happy New Year from the Crazy Cozads!  I made our traditional meal of pork, sour kraut, dumplings, mashed potatoes and carrot soufflé.  The bottom left photo is how Lulu and Winston talk with each other when Winston has woken up from his naps.  And before the weather got crazy weird with the polar vortex, Winston played outside in Mommy's hat in his truck!

Rice Krispie Treat: Champagne Bottle for New Year's

This year I thought about not making a fun dessert for New Year's Day meal.  Because I had been under the weather quite a bit, I thought I'd just forgo any thing too extravagant.  And then I was catching up on some blog reading during lunch on what was the deadest week at work, when I came across P.S. I Made This and their Rice Krispie Champagne Treat!  I had forgotten how easy it was to make Rice Krispie treats and decided this was simple enough to give a go!

After melting the butter and the marshmallow, I added the green food coloring then the Rice Krispies.
Then, per the instructions, I scooped out the green crispies ball, doused my hands in Pam and started sculpting the bottle shape.  Turned out not too shabby and I even had enough to make a tiny one, albeit janky one, for Winston!
Now, here is where the perfect execution of this dessert got thwarted by Fruit Roll-up.  Our Kroger only had two choices for Fruit Roll-ups: Mystery Flavor blue ones or an assortment of flavors and colors.  I chose the assortment and headed home.  As I started unrolling the Roll-ups I noticed, my to my chagrin, that the kind I purchased were covered in tongue tattoos!  That's right, you remember them... You hold the Fruit Roll-up on your tongue and the picture gets transferred there.  Fun at lunch time in the 4th grade, not fun for a classy Rice Krispie dessert!  Thankfully, we had some silver edible decorative spray (for cookies and cakes) and I sprayed the heck out of the Fruit Roll Up.  
As you can seen, mine did not turn out as polished or fancy as P.S. I Made This... but I'm fairly certain it tasted just as good!

Still proud of my creation either way!!  
Have you made anything crazy out of Rice Krispies?  If you're interested, take a minute to head to Mister Krisp's Instagram account to get inspired!  Next year a 2015 may be in the line-up!

Rice Krispie Treat Recipe
3 Tbs of Butter
4 cups of mini marshmallows
Food coloring
6 cups of Rice Krispie cereal

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Home Improvements: Chalkboard Wall

We are now to the point where we have a little bit of breathing room in our weekends to do take on mini-projects around the house.  The first one for us was to turn a recessed wall in our downstairs area into a chalkboard wall.  It was super simple, quite fast, and not too expensive!

Did you know that you can buy chalkboard from Home Depot?  Like, an actual chalkboard?  Instead of bothering with painting the wall, we hung two 2 x 7 ft boards on the wall with a framing nailer.  Then we primed the boards with chalk.
Then we purchased some trim and spray painted it gold, hanging it again with the framing nailer.  Once it was ready for the writing, I was super excited!  And here is the first month!
Since January is all about newness, I felt that this was fitting as a reminder to adorn our walls this month.  Not too shabby for one time free-hand!
I left space at the bottom for Winston to be able to add some artwork of his very own!  I love how the chalkboard fills the wall and will be a space of "living" art for our family to personalize time after time. I look forward to improving my chalkboard decorating skills over this year!

Materials & Cost
2 - Chalkboards cut to 2x7 to fit our wall - $20 total
Trim - $18
Gold Spray paint - $6
Total: $44

Other tools used
Pneumatic finishing nailer
Level
Air compresser
Miter saw

Saturday, January 4, 2014

2014: New and Clean

 Here it is a new year.  A fresh start.  A clean slate.  A new beginning.  A chance to start anew.  
Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
What does that mean for our family?  A year of finishing making the house our special place to call home.  A year of soaking up all of the small moments with our Winston.  A year of learning new things.  A year of joining a church and developing new relationships.  A year of continued mystery to exactly what each day will hold!
The new year means brand new opportunities to experience pure joy and the fulness of God.  One of my personal goals is to actually read Jesus Calling each day this year.  Last year our family was quite the hermit family despite being busy with things going on.  We're ready to ease ourselves back in to wherever God would plant us.

Sure, there are books I will want to read and trips that we'll take.  There are new recipes I'd like to try and more pinterest crafts than I'll have actual time to do.  There will be shopping to be done and zoo visits to be had.  There will be time spent with friends and family.  But above all I want to keep in mind this year to continually enjoy the life that I have been blessed with from all of the big events to the quiet tiny moments.  It was shocking how fast last year went and I can only imagine this year will do the same.  
I am looking forward to seeing how Winston will grow and develop.  What will his curiosity get him into?  What books and toys will he start gravitating towards as favorites?  Will he continue to love people as freely and uninhibited as he does today?  I pray that he does.  I pray that God continues to watch over him when I cannot.  I love that his true first word is "cracker" and cannot wait until he can string together sentences...  He's such a comical kid already, I can't wait to see what he has to say!  He loves his Daddy and enjoys going on Man-trips to hardware store and lunching at Chick-fil-a.  He is mesmerized by his fishies and adores his Lulu.  He and I love to dance and cuddle together, plus he is a really, really good shopper!

Benjamin will reach a one year mark at his job being a real orthodontist this year!  It's been so rewarding to watch him come home feeling fulfilled by the career he has been blessed with.  I pray that he continues to find favor with his boss, staff and the community that he services.  I also pray that he keeps all 10 of his fingers as he furthers his love for and skill of woodworking on the weekends!

Lulu has done so well with Winston being mobile and learning how to pet her!  She is such a part of his routine as he gets her collar for her every morning and helps us feed her each night.  She is constantly near him when he plays...even if it's under a blanket with her nose peeping out!  I think it's because he's good to make sure she always has a Lulu-toy to play with.  We continue to be mindful of her activity levels as she tires out quickly - a side effect of her surgery and just getting older I guess!

As for me - well, I am really open as to what this year will hold for me.  I keep learning that the best way for me to handle this season of life we're in is to take one day at a time and set realistic goals for myself!  

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you and your families the ability to rejoice in whatever 2014 brings your way!

2013: A Year in Review

2013 has been the most challenging year to date!  I became a full-time working mom, Benjamin finished residency and joined a practice, we built a house, moved, traveled, and spent any extra time in our waking hours to be with Winston!  While most evenings we were both tired from the day, Benjamin and I feel that this year was also quite rewarding.  We have seen Winston's personality develop into such a sweet nature, he has sprouted 12 teeth in his head, he picks up on things super quickly and is lovable towards us and Lulu.  He is a champ eater and sleeper, loves running around and has mastered the stairs.  Winston has done very well at school and I love having artwork to pin on the fridge.  He is the loudest person in the house and my favorite little cuddler in the evenings.  He is our joy.  And while being a parent is an adjustment, he is all worth it!

I haven't been as good at keeping up with blogging as I would like, but for the reasons above, I'm okay with that!  Here is a quick glance at our 2013.
I went back to work.  All free time was spent soaking up as much time as possible with WAC.  We went to the Monster Truck Rally.
Benjamin defended his thesis and did a fabulous job and (proud wifey moment) his work is published in the December issue of the ADOJO!  Winston visited family in Pennsylvania.
I turned 30!  Mom and I went to a Pentatonix concert.  We celebrated Winston's first Easter.
April was a big month for us as we took a 6 month old Winston to Aberdeen, Scotland.  He did fantastically through every leg of the journey.  It was truly a memorable trip!  This was also the month that we found our lot and made the decision to build a home!
Benjamin and I traveled to Philly for a mini-vacation for the AAO.  We attended Lego Kids Day.  Winston had his first swim!
We went to San Antonio for the AP Westfall conference.  Winston was in full on crawl mode and we had teeth making their appearance.  We had visitors from PA.  Winston ate at Manuel's and made a trip to Galveston.
July was a difficult month for us.  The photo above holds even more meaning because in July Lulu lost the use of her back legs and underwent major back surgery.  Although there was a chance we could have lost her, she is back to full strength!  Most of July was spent at home playing with Winston and caring for Lubaby.  Oh yeah...and we celebrated 6 years of marriage at the zoo!
We spent a lot of time in the pool.  Winston started walking.  Benjamin graduated from residency!  Zoo visits and discovered a love of Baskin Robbins chocolate ice-cream!
We said "Good-bye!" to Pearland and headed North to Spring!  We had Winston's dedication at Ecclesia.  
In October, our baby turned one!!  It was amazing to look back and see how fast time went!  We celebrated Benjamin's birthday.  Got more settled into the house.  Played outside and was a Bug for Halloween!
Benjamin and I took a quick trip to San Diego.  When we traveled to Kittanning to see family and celebrate the holiday, Winston played in snow for the first time!  We celebrated Winston's 2nd Thanksgiving (no roasters this time!) and started settling into our daily routines in our new home.
December was a busy month with hosting a baby shower for our dear friends, celebrating Christmas, fighting off sickness, and fitting in as much snuggling by the fire as possible!  Benjamin and I had a fancy night out was to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  We decorated a huge gingerbread person.
We are thankful for every day we had together in 2013 and all of the joys and tears it brought and we  eagerly look forward to 2014 and to seeing what it has in store for us!
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