With all four of us down with a stomach flu that makes the Exorcist look tame, I guarantee you don't want pictures this week.

We look forward to posting our shots of our adventures when we come back on through to the other side. Good night.

Yes, it's true: the 80's are back. With a vengeance.

Another gorgeous day found us driving west until we could go no further.

It's officially a month out, but for all practical purposes, spring is in the air. Days are getting longer and this is one. happy. mama. Now I yield to Winnie and Jez to let you know what we were up to yesterday.

W: The day our car won't start turns out to be a good day to stay at home, anyway. The sun is shining and the backyard calls me to explore...

..make fairy boats,

build bridges,

and play, Sink or Swim? with moss, sticks, rocks, leaves and grass.

I have to say that I like a broken car.

J. Also a good day to sit by the creek and check out the surroundings.

By which I mean, of course--

--eat the surroundings.

There are just so many things to taste test in this world.

It's also as good of a day as any to express, once again, my complete loathing for naps.

Seriously, you'd think they'd catch on.

WHile Jezzie "napped," we baked bread. I love to help cook and I'm getting pretty adept in the kitchen, if I do say so myself. Among other things, I can crack eggs (and actually keep the shell out of the dish), measure and sift flour and mix anything. I also do a bang up job of cleaning the spoons. (Does licking count?)

Happy Weekend!!!!

KISS... one for Valentine's Day and another for Keep It Simple Sister. This has become my mantra for the holidays as it seems that as soon as one birthday winds up, another celebration looms. To avoid burnout, apathy and scroogism from seeping in (I love to love the holidays!), I have to keep it simple. This is easy with a four year old, as talk of making a chocolate cake (above) can keep her in the most jovial of holiday mood for weeks. And the 9 month old--well, I'll post a video of her eating banana sometime soon and you can see how it really doesn't take a circus to entertain that one! So we cash in on these days of simple pleasures and try to keep it that way.

Pictured here--a valentine goody bag which doubles as a purse (anything that can be packed and unpacked is coveted and adored) and Winona's Jolly Jar-- a jar filled with laminated Knock Knock Jokes and riddles... also a fav these days. The hilarious one right now: Knock Knock. Who's There? Dwayne. Dwayne who? DWAYNE THE BATHTUB, I'M DWOWNING! (Like I said: Easily Amused). Also included: fruit stick, Panda's red licorice (yum) and a fruit juice sweetened lollipop and a glow stick. She's in heaven.

In an effort to make future yearly cycles of the holidays just that much easier--and inspired by some insanely creative women in bloglandia--I'm trying to make reusable decorations this year--LOVE banner seen here behind Winona the Explorer.

I must say, if you would have told the 23 year old me that within a decade I'd be making Love banners with O's in heart fashion, I would have been amused at how outlandish the thought. Well, here we are. Happy Valentine's...I'm off to figure out how to make Four Leaf Clover crowns out of recycled leprachauns.

We've been making valentines.

Lots and lots of valentines.

J: Join me on a little visual tour through a series of moments in my life which play out in a very similar fashion to what you see here about 47 times a day.

I play. Happily.

I find something of interest and crawl to it, 'cause, well, I can do that now.
I eat it.

Mom takes it.

I find another item of interest...