Anyone Recognize these Faces?

The other night when cousin Nathan was over a package arrived from Uncle Brian and Aunt Lauren in Colorado..do you think the kids had fun??

I wonder what goes on in the Basement

I know these were your thought but really during a long winter what can you do in a basement. Well lots of things I might answer and one of those is building. Daddy decided to build the boys the coolest fort/castle/toy chest ever. It is going to house lots of guys and vehicles and have a "command center" a "hospital" and a "jail" so all the bad guys have a place to be locked into. I will give you some more pictures when the project is done.

The Rabbits Must Be Hungry

You know winter has been long when the rabbits start to attack the landscaping. These are my brand new rose bushes that were beautiful last year..they are being eaten to stubs. I am thinking of just covering them all up with snow and maybe the rabbits won't find them.

Making Maple Snow Candy

As this snowy afternoon continues to bring us inches and inches of snow we decided to make some yummy treats! As a little girl (and a grown-up I must confess) I have read and reread Little House in the Big Woods. One winter day Laura and Mary learned how to make Maple Syrup Candy. Seeing as how we are amply blessed with snow today and I happened to have some New York State Real Maple Syrup the boys and I decided to give it a try. We boiled 1 cup of syrup with 1 TB of butter till it was a dark deep amber color.

Joshua collected bowls of fresh snow and we poured the boiling syrup over the snow.

Almost immediatly the snow turns into a maple taffy and is ready to enjoy.

Here is Joshua pulling up the candy from where we had just poured.

Brenna was mostly really excited that

I would just let her eat a bowl of snow.

Matthew enjoyed his treat from the warmth of the kitchen.