Garden of Life: February 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

project 365 {43-49}

Day 43

{February 12th}

We 'won' three different baskets that we had bid on at the silent auction at the Valentines party.

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Day 44

{February 13th}

Jake shoveling our deck. This has been a never ending project this winter!

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Day 45

{February 14th}

I made some Valentine sweets for my Valentines.

{Recipe for the best sugar cookies can be found here.}

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Day 46

{February 15th}

Drew (looking at the camera) had his 7th grade band concert.

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Day 47

{February 16th}

Our stash of Girl Scout cookies.

13 boxes in all. 3 boxes for each of the 'boys'.

I only let myself get one box--of my very favorite-Samoas. :)

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Day 48

{February 17th}

Jake's 'number 1' fan getting ready to go to the high school hockey game. :)

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Day 49

{February 18th}

Drew's hockey team had a weekend tournament in Duluth. Some of the team and parents went to dinner at Grandma's Sports Garden before the game that evening.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

project 365 {36-42}

I am only about a week behind on posting for the 'photo a day' project I am working on. Not too bad. :)

Day 36

{February 5th}

Made this treat for Superbowl Sunday.

After baking, these cupcakes look like just a plain chocolate cupcake- but there is a surprise cream cheese center.

{Recipe for Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes can be found here.}

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Day 37

{February 6th}

Drew had been sick all weekend so we decided to stay home and have a quiet day watching the Superbowl. We had a bunch of snacks and made some pizzas and appetizers.
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Day 38

{February 7th}

We had to make a gift basket for the silent auction at the annual Valentine's Party to benefit the High School hockey team. (This is a fun party that brings a lot of the parents of our hockey community from all the levels, out for a night of fun and socializing- and it is not at the rink. :) This is the coffee theme basket I put together.

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Day 39

{February 8th}

Cookies and Creme Cake (with amazing butter cream frosting)

that I made for Pete's birthday. So good!

{Recipe can be found here.}

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Day 40

{February 9th}

Celebrating Pete's birthday.

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Day 41

{February 10th}

Our 21st anniversary.

Pete gave me some beautiful flowers.
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Day 42

{February 11th}

Heading out to celebrate our anniversary.

We went out for fabulous dinner at a restaurant that we had never been to before (but will for sure be going back to)-- Fago de Chao in downtown Minneapolis. It is a Brazilian steak house with a fun and lively atmosphere with amazing food.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

project 365 {29-35}

Day 29

Semester grades came out and Jake earned higher than a 4.0! He has been working so hard at absolutely everything he is doing- between school and AP classes to high school hockey where he spends 3 hours after school every day at practice! We couldn't be more proud and decided to give him a little reward for all his hard work! And nothing speaks to a teenage boy's heart quite like fast-food gift cards! :)

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Day 30

Drew holding his DNA model project for science class.

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Day 31

A very cold winter day seemed like the perfect day to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

{My recipe for perfect chocolate chip cookies can be found here.}

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Day 32

A yummy salad that I made for dinner with just a bunch of things I had in my fridge:

spring mix greens, tomato, broccoli slaw, red pepper, red onion, turkey lunch meat, sunflower seeds and drizzled with my new favorite- 'strawberry basil balsamic vinegar'. Delicious!!

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Day 33

Pete is definitely the handyman around our house and he can fix almost anything. On this day his skills were greatly tested by Jake and Drew. Drew had a broken Kindle. And Jake brought home some pieces of his goalie gear that needed fixing- a strap on his leg pad came off and the string in his glove had broken. Thank goodness we have our very own handyman!! :)

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Day 34

Breathtaking sunrise.
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Day 35

Jake and I were chatting in the living room on a very cold evening and as I was complaining about being frozen he was sitting there in his normal year round attire- shorts and a t-shirt. I asked him how he could not be cold and his answer to me was; "I am a Minnesota boy." Makes sense to me.

{picture taken with phone in very low light}

Saturday, February 12, 2011

project 365 {22-28}

I am having a lot of fun with this photography project that I have been working on this year. So far it has been about 6 weeks that I have been taking a 'picture a day' and I can say that each day it has been fun to try to capture different pieces of my life. Some days the picture is an obvious choice for me but other days I have to look a little harder and look at those the smaller moments.

I have been doing real good taking a picture each day and each week I print them out to put in an album I am working on, but I have gotten way behind getting them on my blog- but I am hoping to get caught up soon.

Day 22

Some sweet treats from a dear friend!

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Day 23

Simple cherry cheesecake that my boys absolutely love.
{Recipe can be found here.}

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Day 24

My kitchen window sill.
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Day 25

Making a big batch of my spagetti sauce.
{Recipe can be found here.}

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Day 26

We hosted pasta dinner for Jake's high school hockey team: 35 boys.

We went through A LOT of food:

10 pounds of pasta

8 loaves of garlic bread

4 bags of salad

120+ pieces of dessert

7 gallons of milk

1 case of water
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Day 27

Tyler started a new job at his college campus, at one of the cafeterias. I had texted him asking how his first day went. His response made me chuckle!!

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Day 28